The object, simply enough, is to get to the end of the level, where you fight a boss. You'll be on your toes every step of the way, though. Naturally, these buildings are burning and falling apart all around you. There's fire all over the place, and it is your worst enemy. Put the flames out with the BR Pulse Laser. After you extenguish a flame, it will leave some red crystals behind...the proper name for which are Maztabaluxor Crystals. Collect as many as you can, because they act like Rings: if you take damage with crystals on-hand, the Crystals will scatter and you get a few seconds to gather as many back as you can. Take damage without any Crystals in the bank, and you're burned. (Sorry, I couldn't resist...)

   You can choose to play as either Shou Amabane or Tillis, two rookie Burning Rangers. There's no control difference between them, but they have seperate endings and it's well worth checking them both out. (You can also play the other four Rangers via secret passwords, but you won't receive transmissions and no victims you save will be recorded.)

   There are numerous types of fires and two ways to put them out: with a standard Pulse shot, or with a full-blown Laser Blast. The former is much weaker and will take numerous blasts. The latter can take out most fires with one blast, but it also destroys the Crystals the fires would otherwise leave behind. Here's a list of the varieties of flame you'll find yourself up against:

• Orange -- Standard fires, they just burn in place until you put them out. Worth one Crystal each.
• Blue -- Blue fires are much stronger than orange ones, but still just burn in place. They take more hits, but reward you with eight Crystals each. They're usually found in groups, so this adds up to alot of Crystals.
• Green -- These mean flames'll hurl fireballs at you. They're worth five Crystals each, but it's usually not worth the risk, so put 'em out fast and furious with a charged Laser Blast.
• Pink -- The rarest of the fires, Pink flames only appear regularly in Winged Cradle. As far as I can tell, they're just a slightly stronger version of orange fires, but not as strong as blue ones. Worth two Crystals each.
• Flaming Spheres -- Great balls of fire! (Sorry again...) They only appear at a few points in Fallen Memory and Winged Cradle, but they usually pop up in cramped places, and they don't let their existence known until you're up close and personal. These things hurl fireballs at you and are massively strong...pummel 'em with a barrage of standard Pulse shots and they eventually explode into a shower of Crystals.

   While some fires are there when you arrive, keep an eye on the walls. If they start glowing red and you hear a whistle-like sound, it's your warning to jump back ASAP. The wall is about to explode with fire, and your only escape is to backflip out of the way (simply by pressing back on the analog pad).

   Although you aren't timed, you should never neglect the danger meter. The danger meter steadily rises as you progress, and can only be set back by putting out fires. If the meter reaches 20%, a short burst of flames will explode around you. For every 20% you allow the danger level to rise, the explosion of flames grows more and more intense. Let it get to 100% and you're pretty much screwed...

   Think that's enough to keep you busy? Don't worry, there's more! You wouldn't have to risk your ass in these burning buildings either way if there were no people inside. Know what that means? That's right, rescue the survivors! You'll find people scattered about each level, and they react in numerous ways. Some take it cool, expressing their relief that you've finally arrived. Others scream like lunatics. Some bawl like babies. Some complain of injuries and some even express their disappointment that they weren't rescued by a member of the opposite sex (I can sympathize with that). Either way, you should rescue as many as possible, 'cause they all send you E-mail after they've been saved! You'll need five Crystals on-hand for each victim you rescue, but the more the better...if you save their patooties with a full 10 Crystals, you earn a continue. Here's a list of all 118 survivors so you can see who's missing from your own collection:

   And don't worry man, you're not alone in there. Your fellow Burning Rangers are always on the case as well, and you can keep updated on their progress via the voice navigation system. Chris instructs you on where to go, while the others call in with their progress or anything unusual they've noticed. This is how the story unfolds, and sometimes it's just good for a laugh, but it'll always keep you going through the level in the midst of fire-jumping and survivor-rescuing just to hear what happens next. Brilliant.

   You'll also find large, out-of-control mechs spotted about...they're best destroyed as fast as possible with a few Laser Blasts. I can't be held responsible for what might happen if you DON'T...

   Once the dirty work's over, head into the options screen to read the mail you've received from the survivors you rescued. Some will send you more than one message (up to three) based on how many times you save them, and some will send you attached artwork. You'll also find various Sonic Team members hidden around the levels...rescue 'em and they'll give you passwords and other goodies. (Except for Takuya Matsumoto, who just sends you obscure poetry...)

   Here's a rundown of the levels, and just what's going on in each:

• Fallen Memory -- There's been a breach of the core reactor at the 3rd Energy Plant, causing the central computer to go haywire and take control of the plant and its HST-2000 series robots -- Working Bees, as they are called. As it turns out, the plant's administrator, Dr. Bradley, had been experimenting with genetically altering the last specimen in an otherwise extinct species of flower. The flower - which was given to him by his deceased wife - mutated, took on a mind of its own and began growing faster than expected. BOSS: Anemoth
• Silent Blue -- Fire from an unknown source has set Ocean Park, an underwater aquarium and marine life research lab in New Zealand, ablaze. Apparently, the park is closed that day and the only victims in the building should be workers...about thirty of them. But as the Rangers begin finding children in the inferno, it becomes obvious that something is very wrong. As it turns out, although the park is closed, a special event is being held and over 200 children were invited. The only way to possibly save all of them is to destroy the central joint where the two halves of the lab meet -- which, in theory, would allow the upper half (the park) to float safely to the surface. The blaze started due to an "earthquake" caused by an old transmitting lab that was on the location where the aquarium was built. Although the origin and purpose of the lab are unknown... BOSS: Undulatus
• Gravity Zero -- An abandoned space colony is being dismantled by a cleaning crew, when the crumbling ship is hit by a meteorite. The Rangers must get the workers safely out the ship. This might be a bit easier if their leader wasn't so stubborn about the whole thing, coupled with the fact that there are two stowaway children on board: Neal Belmondo and his brother Mel. Neal went off to watch the meteorite, and as such landed himself in the most dangerous area of the colony: right at the point of impact. Radioactive energy prevents Chris from receiving any transmissions, and the only way off the crumbling ship is via the last emergency escape pod. The Rangers use it to send Neal to safety, leaving one Ranger left behind. The only exit comes in the unexpected form of a HUGE conglomeration of space junk as it collides with the crumbling colony... BOSS: Argoyle G
• Winged Cradle -- Chris' transmissions are unable to make it through to the massive cluster of space junk, but the seperated Ranger is guided by an unidentifiable female voice. After the junk ship's defense system (which is in the form of a blue crystal and was also responsible for the mechanical monsters at the end of Silent Blue and Gravity Zero) is destroyed, the mysterious voice reveals herself and unravels the mystery. She is Iria Klein, and at the heart of the massive shell of space junk lies the actual small craft, which contains the unit where she has been held in suspended animation for an unknown number of years. When Iria was sixteen, she contracted a fatal disease for which there was no known cure; thus her father secured her body in suspended animation and sent her off into space for safety until a cure would be discovered. In order to achieve this, he set a transmission lab (the one found on the site where Ocean Park was constructed) that would relay the news to Iria's ship; and in order to protect the ship, he programmed his own consciousness into its defense system. As a result, the "live" system began pulling in space junk to create a protective shield around Iria's vessel, but there's been an unforseen side-effect. Now that a cure has been discovered and the ship has received the message, it's heading back home, and is on a collision course with earth. The only way to stop it is to destroy the ship's central computer, one seriously mad dad...

   Phew! But don't put down the controller once you've beaten the game...the fun's only beginning! BR utilizes a cool randomization feature which is only activated once you've completed the game. With the randomization feature, the levels are randomly altered by opening certain doors leading to areas you couldn't access the first time through. There are hundreds of variations, and the only way you're going to see each level in its entirety is to utilize this randomization feature. Should you run into a design you find particularly cool, beat it and you'll get a password: use that password to access that particular variation anytime. Spiffy!

   After some research (as well as alot of help from my pal Martin Braid, his trusty scanner, and an old issue of Sega Saturn Magazine), I think I have solved the mystery of the fabled Burning Rangers 2-player mode. Looking at the screenshots below, one can see that it appears to be a versus mode taking place in the practice arena. The object is apparently to blow the Crystals out of your opponent using your spiffy BR Pulse Lasers. Without a doubt, there was, at one point in development, a 2-player mode planned. However, it's doubtful that this versus option made it into the final version of the game...at least, I've never uncovered it and I've played BR up the wazoo. If anyone has accessed the two-player mode and remembers how they did it (or even if you don't), please prove your discovery.

• Voice Test: "NAVIXXTEST"

• Movie Test: "MOVIETEST?" Replace the "?" at the end with a letter from A-I to play one of the following movies:
  • A: Introduction
  • B: Mission 1 (Fallen Memory) Complete
  • C: Mission 2 (Silent Blue) Complete
  • D: Mission 3 (Gravity Zero) Complete as Shou
  • E: Mission 3 (Gravity Zero) Complete as Tillis
  • F: Shou's Ending
  • G: Tillis' Ending
  • H: Mission 4 (Winged Cradle) Complete as Shou
  • I: Mission 4 (Winged Cradle) Complete as Tillis

• Play Fallen Memory as Lead Phoenix: GS4LEAD2ZU
• Play Silent Blue as Lead Phoenix: J5LEAD4XGA
• Play Gravity Zero as Lead Phoenix: 2LEAD6DHUY

• Play Fallen Memory as Big Landman: 3BIG2BPLCK
• Play Silent Blue as Big Landman: VZ5BIG5PGW
• Play Gravity Zero as Big Landman: J6BIG3OJYS

• Play Fallen Memory as Chris Partn: DH5CHRIS5H
• Play Silent Blue as Chris Partn: K3CHRIS4AS
• Play Gravity Zero as Chris Partn: ADG2CHRIS5

• Play Fallen Memory as Iria Klein: KB3IRIA5KF
• Play Silent Blue as Iria Klein: HTL2IRIA50
• Play Gravity Zero as Iria Klein: GHJK3IRIA2

• Fallen Memory as Shou Amabane with BGM: G2SHOU2JKY
• Silent Blue as Shou Amabane with BGM: 3SHOU5GHJK
• Gravity Zero as Shou Amabane with BGM: GFGF5SHOU5

• Fallen Memory as Tillis with BGM: NM3TILLIS5
• Silent Blue as Tillis with BGM: B5TILLIS2D

• Ami Shibata, a rare survivor found in Gravity Zero, is a personal friend of Yuji Naka's. She's a manga artist, and Naka-san was actually the star of one of her stories. A good friendship, or perhaps something more? Hm...
• In the prototype build of BR, Chris' voice was provided by Kayo Shimizu, financial administrator for the Sonic Team.