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- The Arcade Crew
- The Arcade Crew
- The Arcade Crew
- The Arcade Crew
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
Released On: Jan 12, 2023
77
6.6
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
77
78% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
22% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
77
78% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
22% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a fantastic game. It reminds you of how those old SNES and Genesis games were, enhanced with plenty of quality of life elements. If all your side scrolling melee retro games got together, and created a game in the lab of a maniacal government, it would be this. If you love retro 16-bit action games, you won't regret this. Cyber ninja vanish.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider reminds of great classic games like Shinobi and Strider, demonstrating how the genre is still alive and kicking.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 User Ratings
6.6
36% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
43% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
21% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 14 User Ratings
6.6
36% Positive
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
43% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
21% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
There's a level of expertise on display in Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider that makes me quite excited to see what’s next for JoyMasher.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 a higher rating.
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Олдскулы не свело
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider — новый проект от создателей Blazing Chrome. Если в прошлый раз разработчики выбрали в качестве главного вдохновителя Contra Hard Coprs, то на этот раз они явно поглядывали в сторону старенького Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master и подобных экшен платформеров из 16-битной эпохи.
Ностальгия забавная вещь, она может сглаживать острые углы старых воспоминаний, приукрашивая всё что с нами происходило много лет назад. Но в тоже время мы можем забывать про негативные аспекты или неприятные моменты. В отношении игр это работает схожим образом. Пелена ностальгических очков спадает и магия перестаёт работать. Именно такая ситуация случилась с Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider.
Мы играем за механического ниндзю, который просыпается в камере и начинает резать на фарш врагов и всех, кто встанет у него на пути. Из арсенала только клинок для ближнего боя, но по ходу прохождения дадут несколько дополнительных способностей. Выбираем уровень как в «Контре», доходим до конца, побеждаем босса, переходим на следующий этап и так до конца.
Игра очень простая даже для новичков, а кто закален олдскулом, то не встретит в ней никаких сложностей за всё 2-3 часовое прохождение, вынося всех боссов с 1-2 попыток. Почти в самом начале дают навык, сильно облегчающий жизнь игроку. Создатели явно прогадали с балансом.
С графикой и музыкой тоже не все гладко. Пиксель арт вполне сносный, но в глаза бросаются очень топорные анимации, деревянные движения врагов, главного героя и боссов. Доходит порой до смешного и ловишь себя на мысли, что игра 30 летней давности (тот самый Shinobi III на Sega Genesis) выглядит и звучит лучше проекта, вышедшего в 2023 году. Это печалит.
Вот и остаётся только умиляться отсылкам на старые хиты индустрии. Тут у нас стена с пушками преграждает путь как в Contra, вот побег от поднимающейся лавы как в Ninja Gaiden, а теперь в нас стреляют с заднего плана на передний как в Shinobi. Более менее запоминается и хоть немного выделяется эпизод с покатушками на мотоцикле. Но как было сказано выше, ностальгия работает в обе стороны и многим этого будет достаточно, не зря на данный момент Лунный Наездник находится на первой строчке Metacritic и OpenCritic за 2023 год на всех платформах. Естественно, игр толком никаких ещё не вышло и поэтому пока имеем что имеем.
Кому понравится:
- Кто хочет вспомнить детство и кто любит ретро игры.
Кому не понравится:
- Кто застал времена NES, Sega Genesis и хочет чего-то большего, чем простой ностальгии.
- Кто не переваривает слишком крупные пиксели.
Итог: Это просто обычный боевой 2D платфрмер, который делает референсы в сторону хитов старой эпохи и в этом его главная ошибка. Он делает референсы, но не старается быть лучше или хотя бы сравниться с играми на которые ровняется. Кому-то будет достаточного и этого.
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PC
Vengeful Guardian - Moonrider is a standard mega man esque action 2D side-scroller. It features 8 or so unique levels with a boss fight at the end that rewards you with a new special weapon ability. As far as I could tell it there is no best path or rock paper scissors boss weaknesses to these abilities. The moment to moment platforming and action is decent enough if underwhelming, the scope and zoom on the screen is too restricting, often blocking off what you need to jump to or dodge next.
Vengeful Guardian is light on story and high on simplicity, you are an awakened Guardian/robot/killer named Moonrider that has decided to turn on his own fascist regime/corporation/politicians. You do this by eliminating all the other guardians in turn to expose the organization/country/government to the people for their crimes. I am using a lot of general terms because the game doesn't really specify in any real way, which is fine. Throughout the levels you can unlock hidden passages and upgrades for Moonrider, I only found a few in my play through but they were pretty standard stuff like double jump, armor, color changes ect. only 2 upgrades can be equipped at a time and I really couldn't think of a reason to not use the double jump and armor. The armor upgrade almost trivialized the difficulty and experience. There are 2 motorcycle levels which are the only real break in game design from the base game and they are both pretty dreadful, you can almost just afk through them with very minimal effort or concentration.
The game is unfortunately simply not that great to look at, the 2-bit animation is decent but the world and levels are filled with ugly browns and grays. Details and enemies are repeated ad naseum, even the different guardian bosses don't stand out enough visually to remember them specifically.
Played exclusively on steam deck beat in under 3 hours.
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PC
Summary Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a side-scrolling action platformer that channels the golden age of classic 16-bit action games in a full-throttle quest for revenge. REVENGE OF THE MOONRIDER In the oppressed world of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, humanity finds an unlikely hero. After building an army of super soldiers as weapons of...
Platforms:
- PlayStation 5
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
Initial Release Date: Jan 12, 2023
Developer:
- JoyMasher
Publisher: The Arcade Crew
Genres: