San Francisco, CA – Earlier today we got our first comprehensive look at the upcoming 3v3 fighter Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid. Employees of nWay Games along with several special guests showed off the latest build to the delight of fighting game fans everywhere. Many enjoyed the heavy resemblance to the Marvel vs. Capcom series, but were ultimately disappointed by the complete and inexplicable absence of characters from the X-Men series.

The game features many familiar versus series mechanics such as assists, tagging out, and brutal air combos. The nWay team showed off quick and engaging fast-paced game play that had many Marvel vs. Capcom fans on the edge of their seats. But unfortunately the mysterious exclusion of fan favorites like Wolverine and Magneto had many viewers thinking twice.

We had a chance to interview nWay community manager Paul Roses, or DroppedComboFiend as he’s known in the fighting game community. He had this to say in regards to the lack of X-Men characters: “If you were to actually think about it, these characters are just functions. They’re just doing things. Magneto, case and point, is a favorite because he has eight-way dash and he’s really fast, right? Well guess what, the Red Ranger can do the same thing, Yellow Ranger can do the same thing. Green Ranger can do the same thing. Go ahead and try them out.”

“Your modern Power Rangers fan, maybe they don’t even remember some of the X-Men characters, but they know some of the Beast Morphers characters or Lord Drakkon,” Roses continued. “You know what I mean? Lord Drakkon may seem like a strange pick, but he’s fantastic. He fits the game play. He fits the story, and they’re gonna be really pushing him as a strong lead all the way up into the Shattered Grid movie. We’re trying to take everything into account and choose the best characters.”

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid is shaping up to be one of the most interesting releases of 2019. With a great IP and veteran fighting game players on board, the game is sure to provide the technical yet rewarding game play we come to expect from the genre. Despite the surprising lack of X-Men characters on the roster, Battle for the Grid looks pretty impressive and seems like it could have infinite potential.