➤ Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, the review of another great look at JoyMasher's past 🕹

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider review, another celebration of JoyMasher's past, looking at Shinobi and Mega Man.

Oniken, launched in 2014, followed a very simple philosophy, which was to recover a certain way of conceiving video games on consoles from the 80s, both mechanically and aesthetically. What was surprising was not so much the look towards the past itself, but the demonstrated ability to manipulate the original material, reinterpreting it in a modern key to create a very refined experience, almost authorial in the dedication shown. Oniken was not just an old game, but a great old game, one worth playing regardless of whether or not you lived through the era it harked back to. JoyMasher, the development team, has maintained the same vision of the video game even in subsequent releases, although always trying to refer to different models. Thus, Odallus: The Dark Call emerged as a perfect mix of elements taken from the Castlevania and Makaimura series (including the spin-off Demon's Crest), while the later Blazing Chrome is the best Contra of modern times, far superior to the attempts made. by Konami to revitalize the series (Contra: Rogue Corps... brrr).

In the Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider Review We will see how JoyMasher goes back to the 80s and 90s to find a perfect title for 2023.

Game mechanics

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, the review of another great look at JoyMasher's past — Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is inspired by several titles from the 80s and 90s

Let's immediately clear up some doubts: Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is not a metroidvania, it doesn't want to be and it isn't interested in following in the wake of modern 2D action. Its most obvious point of reference in the game mechanics is SEGA's Shinobi series, but it actually also resembles a multitude of other games, such as Mega Man (especially in the bosses), Hagane, and Cannon Dancer, to name a few. So expect essentially linear levels, in some cases very difficult (never impossible) with a few secrets scattered here and there to find. Not even the possibility of deciding the order in which to face the scenarios is a concession to modern times, given that it was not lacking in the aforementioned Mega Man series (to give an example). The strong point of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, which is also its most obvious limitation, is precisely its focus on mechanics from the past, but refined in an almost obsessive way.

So the protagonist, Moonrider, can basically jump, run, attack frontally with his sword, doing a maximum of one combo (no multi-directional attacks), can pounce on enemies and jump over walls. He also has an energy bar linked to some powers, such as a laser spear, a fire boomerang, a super dash, and more. The latter are unlocked by completing the different levels. Searching the maps you can also find gods. before purchasing, which you can activate (maximum two at a time) to obtain advantages... or disadvantages. For example, you can develop the double jump, or the power to recover energy by killing enemies. Harder players will also have the chance to die in one hit, raising the challenge level through the roof.

16 bit experience

So we have a Hardcore, pure 16-bit platform action style., in which you lead a rogue ninja warrior who decides to help humanity against the same oppressive regime that created him. In reality, his main objective is to take revenge on the established power and the super soldiers who defend it. It's all spread across eight exhilarating levels, the first acting as a tutorial and seeing Moonrider escape the lab where he was being held, then another six dedicated to finding and killing super warriors (which can be tackled in any desired order) and finally, the last stage, divided into two parts, where the story finds its natural conclusion.

Le maps of them are very varied. Moonrider will have to penetrate maximum security buildings, some partially flooded, jump over the spaceships of the oppressors' fleet, escape from a large robot in a forest, avoid laser traps, jump on moving platforms surrounded by electric discharges and, in general. , confront. Many dangers, until the final battle.

There is no shortage of sequences on board a motorcycle, designed to break up the rhythm of the platform sections and many small thematic variations that allow you to reach the end of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider without ever feeling the sense of repetitiveness. Talking about enemies, the bulk is made up of the super warrior army troops, ranging from classic soldiers armed with rifles, to ninjas armed with rotating swords, through killer drones and mutated creatures, such as decidedly aggressive fish or flying insects that, guess what. What, they can't wait to understand it.

Of course, there are also boss, more than one per level actually. Generally the rule followed is to have one or two mid-level opponents tied to it, and then conclude with a super warrior. Overall, the bosses offer a good challenge, but never keep you stuck for long. They all have their own attack patterns and some are particularly spectacular, including bio-cybernetic beasts, robots and giant spaceships. Everything really works perfectly and has no particular flaws, so much so that lovers of this type of operation should not think too much and embark on the adventure.

It must be said that in his stylistic radicality, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider can be difficult to digest for an audience with little tolerance for gameplay crystallized in time like the one offered, packaged in graphics reminiscent of some Mega Drive titles (not in vain the console on which they were released many chapters of the series). Shinobi). So it's only natural that if operations like this don't interest you or give you shingles, you might as well look elsewhere without too much drama. Obviously this is not the game for you and it doesn't even want to be.

Conclusions

Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Nintendo eShop Price 16,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.5 Readers (7) 5.1 your vote

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is the most mature fruit of a development studio that never ceases to surprise with its ability to look at classic video games, identifying their strengths to replicate them perfectly, while reworking them to obtain an increasingly unique result. The paradox is that its greatest strength is its greatest weakness, for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider doesn't seem interested in speaking to a modern audience, aiming exclusively at those capable of understanding and appreciating its many sources. Handsome and grumpy at the same time, almost ruthless in his unwillingness to compromise.