Not long after the completion of NiGHTS in 1996, Sonic Team began development of their second (and last) original Saturn title. It would become the last major brainchild of Sonic creator Naoto Ohshima before he left Sega, and would also serve as the somewhat garbled swan song of the short-lived Sega Saturn.

   Ohshima, who was thrilled to be working with a "hero" theme as opposed to the usual fantasy characters, had the idea for a game that departed from the traditional "good guys vs bad guys" motif. Rather than killing people all over the place, the idea was to create a game where you save people. Of course the theme of firefighting lends itself well to this concept, so development on Burning Rangers kicked off under the working title "Firefighter." Further enhancing the positive spirit, the team concocted a sci-fi world that portrays the future as a clean, happy place. The future, to quote the theme song, "that we are all hoping for." This altruist wonder evolved into the somewhat oddly-titled Burning Rangers, and was released to limited fanfare in early 1998.

   The February release in Japan was followed by an English version in May, where it became one of the last Saturn titles released in the US. While it enjoyed some success among hardcore factions, its performance on retail shelves was poor and critics had mixed opinions. From start to finish, BR was a very ambitious project and the underpowered Saturn proved somewhat incapable of handling the game's heavy technical demands. Clunky control, a choppy framerate, and enough texture warping to make you feel like you're tripping in a textile factory - hamper an otherwise fun, unique game. Despite the technical flaws, BR rightfully earned its cult following, and remains the sole badge of old-school fans who can claim they were Sonic Team groupies back in the day.

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