Bite-sized Review:
Grid Ranger

By Chris Picone, 30 March, 2025

Grid Ranger is a tough obstacle dodging racing/shooting game.  The game is essentially a huge challenging obstacle course and if that wasn't hard enough there's also a boss fight at the end of each level. 

Aesthetics

Grid Ranger features super slick vector graphics, mostly full of simple shapes, but the range of colours and all the other visual special effects are really quite flashy. It looks bloody fantastic.  The retro 80s-style synth wave tunes fit perfectly too, they fit the mood and get the blood flowing. 

Gameplay

Grid Ranger is frantic and adrenaline packed.  The level scrolls, fast.  There's no controller functionality yet so you're stuck using your mouse to move. You can't slow down but you can move forward and back as well as left and right.  Most obstacles are permanent and invulnerable but there are some you can blast through to get gems that eventually give you extra lives and others you have to blast through to progress.  Some enemies also move around the screen becoming moving obstacles while others launch themselves at you and some can also shoot at you.  The levels are hard and you'll need to memorise the track layouts to progress effectively. If you do make it through, there's a boss at the far end, who will happily zip around the screen shooting at you while absorbing your own bullets. You only get three lives but if you do manage to make it all the way to the end of a level (they're fairly long), you can start your next game on the new level.

Verdict

While Grid Ranger only has 3 levels, they're quite long and bloody hard, so you'll find yourself playing them over and over again, memorising the track and making it slightly further each time.  Make it to the end and you can unlock a "hard" mode (seriously!).  It's as fun as it is tough.

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2964400/Grid_Ranger/