From Mighty Morphin to Ninja Steel: Every Power Rangers Series Ranked by What Worked Best

A franchise finds its footing

When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers arrived, the concept was unfamiliar to U.S. television. A few years earlier, a live-action adaptation called Bio-Man had been rejected, and people behind the show struggled to persuade their bosses that the project was worth backing.

The series became an immediate success, generating millions of dollars in merchandise revenue. It began with five actors, then continued through changes in ownership, stories and team lineups, with new directions that included dinosaurs and space. Not every installment found the same success.

What makes a series work

The strongest installments combine broad comedy, memorable villains and large-scale fights with ongoing stories and dramatic turns. Their heroes are teenagers given the responsibility of saving the world while figuring out who they are as young adults.

That mix helped the franchise connect with different audiences at different points in its history. The ranking considers how individual series handled that balance, as well as the choices they made with their themes and characters.

Megaforce misses its mark

Created for the franchise’s twentieth anniversary, Power Rangers: Megaforce gave its team access to powers from earlier series and from future points in the show’s timeline. The concept promised a particularly powerful group of Rangers.

But the dialogue was stiff, the story moved too quickly and the characters seemed thin. The show was criticized for feeling more like merchandise promotion than television, and for dropping its pirate theme. Its final battle was praised, but the rest received a poor assessment.

Samurai and Ninja Steel falter

Power Rangers Samurai made its central characters inherit their abilities from their ancestors, with weapons and skills treated as family heirlooms. The series was criticized for having only two Rangers played by Asian actors, neither of them Japanese, despite its samurai premise.

The story also removed the Red Ranger and then returned the role to him a few episodes after Lauren became the first woman Red Ranger. It was further criticized for copying parts of Super Sentai Shinkenger without enough attention to cultural context or how those stories would work for a Western audience.

Power Rangers Ninja Steel centered on an alien game show featuring monster battles, giving the series a fresh premise. Yet its writing and tone were described as juvenile, while its ninja theme felt slight. The show was also faulted for moral lessons, uninspired choreography and dull villains, including Minus Odius and Cosmo Royale.