Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

 PC
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Tech-Gaming
    Jan 12, 2023
    74
    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.
  2. GamingTrend
    Jan 19, 2023
    70
    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.
  3. Game Rant
    Jan 12, 2023
    70
    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.
  5. GameOver.gr
    Feb 4, 2023
    60
    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.
  6. PC Games
    Feb 5, 2023
    50
    Quotation forthcoming.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. Zski
    Jul 17, 2023
    7
    A great modern take on a classic genre that was huge in the 16bit era. As a fan of action platformers, this really brought me back. This gameA great modern take on a classic genre that was huge in the 16bit era. As a fan of action platformers, this really brought me back. This game genuinely plays like an SNES game, and I mean that as a pro and con. The gameplay is spot on to what they were aiming to achieve here. However anyone who played this genre back in the day knows there were rough edges with many of the games, so ironically, this stays true to that. I found the controls to not be as tight as I would like from a modern game in the genre, but instead it really does feel like the excellent but flawed games of the past. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something about the movement and attacks do not feel fluid. Obviously you get used to it and learn how to adapt so it’s not that bad, but I found it hard to ignore. Beyond that, the game is great. It has a Mega Man X format where you can approach the levels in any order you wish (after the initial level). The game itself is relatively short in terms of content, but depending on your skill, you can still get a solid few hours out of it. That is another similarity to the classic games that I appreciate - there were plenty of games that you never saw to the end simply because they were challenging, yet you still played them for months in end. It’s pretty reasonably balanced in this game as there are extra lives hidden in each level and checkpoints that are reasonable (not too generous, but not too frustrating). There are a few options to make the game easier, but I would recommend you play this like an old school game and challenge yourself, otherwise you’ll miss the point. The only other major complaint I have is that the power moves can make many bosses a bit too easy, as you can just spam the special attack and string together a couple three piece attacks and they all fall very fast. I would have much preferred bosses where you really have to learn their moves and find their openings, the only time I really felt that I had to learn the moves without cheesing was the last boss. Once you figure out the controls and adapt to them, it’s pretty easy just to run through the levels with minimal effort. . I really appreciate what was done with the art style and the pixel graphics, they did an exceptional job with the aesthetic design. It really is that impressive. The music felt a little out of place though, everything else channels that 16bit theme, but the music feels like a little too high quality and modern. Again, nothing that ruins the game, but it’s noticeable. All in all, I enjoyed it, and I think any fan of the 16bit classics and knows how to appreciate the difficulty should absolutely check it out. I believe this game is more of a fan service for fans of the genre, which is not a bad thing, but people who don’t like the genre won’t get much out of it. This game did an decent job at what it set out to do. If it weren’t for the controls and underwhelming difficulty (as opposed to level memorization and skill), I would have given it an 8.… Full Review »
  2. bokarsh-z
    Apr 12, 2023
    4
    =========
    only worth 5 dollar
    ========= - 1.20 - 1.50 hour long. - meh short 2d shinobi + megaman game, easy bosses (only final boss hard),    =========
    only worth 5 dollar
    =========
    - 1.20 - 1.50 hour long.

    - meh short 2d shinobi + megaman game, easy bosses (only final boss hard), bad story, and not tight control.

    -only good feel like genesis games and music.

    -buy instead shinobi 2 and 3    … Full Review »
  3. last_of_us
    Jan 31, 2023
    10
    wtf?
    why userscore is yellow :O
    A nice game its almost like shinobi games in sega its almost easy game for kill bosses just get closed    wtf?
    why userscore is yellow :O
    A nice game
    its almost like shinobi games in sega
    its almost easy game
    for kill bosses
    just get closed them & spam ur atack & special atack
    they die easy
    ty for this game    … Full Review »
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