Light Rangers: Mending the Maniac Madness receives a 100(A+) from Al Menconi Ministries.
Light Rangers: Mending the Maniac Madness
Platform: PC
Category: Platform
Publisher: Digital Praise/Brethren Entertainment
ERSB Rating: E
Overall Score: 100
By Matt Yaggi
January 24, 2006
Light Rangers tells the story of 3 kids, Amos, AJ and Angel, who live in Angeltown and fight crime against villains who cause children to break Biblical values. The game is divided into five areas of town where Maniac Brainiac or one of his evil villains (Vanna Vanity, Dr. Nono, Fast Forward and Mimi Me and her sister Me Two) are causing problems by devising plans to make children go against God’s Word by means such as teaching them to be selfish or disobey their parents.
The object of the game is to go to each area of town and defeat each villain and bring order to that area of town. This is achieved by completing different arcade type games that appear to have been influenced by classic video games. For example, one level has you shooting at bubble gum bubbles in a way that is reminiscent of the classic Space Invaders game. Another level has you collecting Bibles along the street in a way that is very reminiscent of classic Pac-Man. I can also think of at least three other classic games that the designer seemed to draw influence from.
Another part of this game is the Bible Trivia and it works really well. When you are low on energy, you can go to the Bible Trivia screen and for every correct answer; your energy will be increased. This actually works very well and I thought it was a very creative way to include Bible Trivia.
In my opinion, however, the strongest point of the game is the story. The animation and voice acting were done very well. It felt as if I was watching a Saturday Morning Cartoon that could easily hang with other popular cartoons.
Scoring Note: Each category can earn up to 20 points. The higher the score the more appropriate the game is for family. Please see our grading key to see how these categories break down.
Violence Score: 17 out of 20
_x_ - Cartoon Type Silly, Non-Deadly Violence (Ex. Simpson’s Hit and Run, Crash Bandicoot) (-3 pts)
One game has you shooting robots that will blow up. Another game has you shooting viruses that disappear after being shot. It’s very much like watching a cartoon.
Language: 20 out of 20
There are no swear words in this game.
Nudity/Sexual Content: 20 out of 20
There is no nudity or inappropriate sexual content in this game.
Occult/Supernatural: 20 out of 20
There is no occult or supernatural in this game.
Cultural/Moral/Ethical: 20 out of 20
The game is good in this area.
Bonus Points:
_x_ - The story in this game delivers a good moral lesson. (+3 pts)
Light Rangers does a great job of teaching Biblical values in a fun and creative way, therefore earning it 3 bonus points.
Conclusion:
I found Light Rangers to be a very creative game, but it was also very easy. The whole game can be completed in less than 3 hours. However, I think anyone under the age of 10 would really enjoy this game. My son fits into that age category and he loved Light Rangers. Also, each area of town can be revisited so you can play the games again and try and reach a higher score adding a little replay value to it. Therefore, Light Rangers gets a 100 (A+) for being fun, creative and teaching Biblical values.