Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a great mix of ninja-themed titles that gamers may have experienced on the SNES. It has a wide variety of gameplay elements that make every stage feel fresh and new from the others. This challenging game will be a must-play for people who love ninjas and a challenge.

If you’re a fan of games like Shinobi, Hagane: The Final Conflict, or Ninja Gaiden, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a must-play love letter to the ninja action games of the ’90s.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is the most mature fruit of a development studio that never ceases to amaze with its ability to look at classic video games, identifying their strengths so as to replicate them perfectly.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider reminds of great classic games like Shinobi and Strider, demonstrating how the genre is still alive and kicking.

Thanks to a dynamic and an absorbing gameplay, huddled with completely mastered artistics, Vengeful Guardian Moonrider is an outstanding tribute the good days of video game and starts this year of gaming with verve.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a traditionalist game in a genre that has been getting a lot of modern takes recently. A lot of players might feel like there’s not enough here, in terms of both variety and innovation. But there’s value in giving modern players a game that understands the classics and offers both a universe and a set of mechanics that recall the best that they had to offer.

There's a level of expertise on display in Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider that makes me quite excited to see what’s next for JoyMasher.

I can’t recommend the game to everyone, and maybe not even to most people. But I think it’s commendable in what it’s trying to do. And if you, like me, have fond memories of picking up games you knew nothing about based on weird art and a love of cyborg ninjas on motorcycles for no reason… this is the modern descendant of those, and it’s having a good go at it.

This is a fantastic and authentic tribute to the 16-bit action platformers that successfully brings back the essence of franchises like Ninja Gainde, Shinobi or even Mega Man.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is an awful lot of fun. Those who appreciate the platforming games of yore will get a nostalgia kick that feels very close to those older titles, with some subtle tweaks to make things more playable. It may not be a game with a lot of longevity, but what's here is very enjoyable.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider conjures the spirit of the golden age of 16-bit gaming. Everything from the graphics to the soundtrack perfectly recreates the essence of early ’90s gaming, while the gameplay mechanics feel contemporary enough where it hits the sweet spot in blending modern with classic. The most important element that Moonrider recreated is making a modern 16-bit game that is just as fun and exciting as the titles that inspired it were back in their heyday. Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a retro-inspired title that shows just how fun a trip to a dystopian future can be.

Even if Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider stays almost too close to the Mega Man X formula, it still utilizes it well. The visuals and music are definite highlights that put this game apart, but it also just feels satisfying to play. The ride is over all-too-soon, but we’re happy to have taken it.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is not original and could be a little more challenging, but the honesty by which adheres to its core tenets (simplicity, tight controls, and balls to the wall action) will not go unnoticed by anyone over thirty.

One of the best things going for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is its length. Making your way to the last level and defeating the final boss only takes a few hours. In this way, it knows exactly what it is: a brief but enjoyable nostalgic experience that doesn’t overstay its welcome. By the time you start feeling like you’ve completed a full retro meal, credits are right around the corner and I appreciate it for that. Moonrider’s adventure likely won’t linger with you, but I don’t regret playing the short, familiar, and satisfying experience.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a good neo-retro game, but it might be too retro for it's own good. While it is a fun and engaging game, I believe it's high difficulty coupled with the "lives" system, might be off-putting for some people.

That’s going to be subjective, though. Even if it’s not going to be renting space in my mind, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a tight retro-inspired action game that I have very few gripes about. JoyMasher has already proven themselves with some solid titles, and Moonrider continues that trend. It doesn’t re-write the script for the games that inspired it, but it does a great job getting the mood across. If you enjoyed their previous titles, you can expect the same talent on display here. JoyMasher has stayed away from sequels so far, but if Moonrider got back on its bike, I’d happily scooch up behind it.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider has a lot of heart and very strong level design, but its weakened by a low level of challenge.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider harks back to a halcyon time before obligatory DLC and mandatory day-one patches. The demanding side-scrolling action relies on trial and error, where persistence permits players to topple apparently impossible challenges. It’s also a welcome reminder that the latest hardware isn’t necessary for a rousing experience.

Rather than being a game for people who miss the old school ninja platformers of yesteryear, Moonrider feels more like a game made for the people who miss the idea of them. The game borrows liberally from its inspirations and combines them into a game that looks and plays the part just fine. It just doesn’t push itself or the player on a level that will fully satisfy people who still regularly enjoy the games it takes from.

Overall, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a stellar homage to 16-bit action platformers of the 1990s. Every detail in the game successfully recreates the feeling of playing an SNES side-scroller that demands high levels of concentration and technical skill. Aside from a few boss fights, the gameplay feels quick, fast, and exciting, despite being intentionally dated mechanically. The fact that this game intentionally limits itself to an imitation of older games might bother some players, and while more effort could have gone into expanding certain areas of the game, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider stands on its pitch-perfect aesthetic and gameplay design and will most certainly appeal to die-hard fans of old school action games.

As it happened with JoyMasher's previous games, here too our engagement was ultimately deemed enjoyable, as Moonrider satisfactorily treads on the easily digestible dictates of the genre and transports us convincingly and nostalgically to the older days of two-dimensional action platformers.