What's Good About Vengeful Guardian Moonrider
We’re getting into the thick of the new release season. One of the big ones, the Dead Space remake is coming out next week; Atomic Heart is a few weeks after that, and the Lightfall expansion in Destiny 2 is a week after that. And that’s not even taking into account the Resident Evil 4 remake, Lo Wong: Fallen Dynasty and Star Wars Jedi Survivor being released in March as well. These and everything else dropping in Q1 means the first quarter of the year is gonna be a fucking bloodbath. This is why I’m using this week to talk about a game I think deserves some recognition: Vengeful Guardian Moonrider.
Developed by JoyMasher and published by The Arcade Crew and DotEmu, Vengeful Guardian Moonrider is a throwback to 16-bit action platformers. Specifically to the Shinobi series on the Sega Genesis. The story, what little there is, is told in-between levels in short cutscenes, telling the story of the titular Moonrider breaking free of his programming of being an enforcer of a fascist state and taking his revenge. It’s a simple story, but it’s one that showcases a lot of surprising depth, tackling themes of the nature of rebellion, whether or not the ends justify the means and a hearty dose of the meanings of free will and freedom. It’s some heady stuff and while I’m not sure a lot of it lands, it does get points for trying.
From there, Moonrider breaks out of his pod and rampages his way out of the facility holding him. But before the rampaging can commence you get a quick tutorial on the game’s mechanics. You get walked through the basics of walking, running, jumping, wall jumping, dive kicking and slashing. These make up the majority of the platforming challenges in interesting ways, from something as simple as climbing up walls and jumping across pits to ridiculous speed challenges with stage hazards closing in. The feel of the game is reminiscent of the Shinobi games on the Sega Genesis, and as someone who's largely only played the first half of Shinobi 3, Vengeful Guardian Moonrider feels Shinobi as fuck in the best way.
But there are also ways that Vengeful Guardian Moonrider differentiates itself from its inspiration. The main difference is that there is also a decent chunk of Mega Man in there for good measure. There are seven bosses you gotta fight in order to get to the main antagonist's inner sanctum and they all have their own special boss weapons to use on you. These range from the standard, like a flaming boomerang, to the weird and straight up rip off territory, like a portal that shoots out a spiked tentacle and a downward smash that fires projectiles out like one of Zero’s Command Arts from Mega Man X4 respectively. My favourite is the Photondash, which gives you a super dash that can also be used in platforming.
Another of these differences is in the platforming challenge. You can make the game as easy or as difficult as you like through in-game mechanics. There are hidden chips that augment your abilities like MP regen when out of combat, taking less damage, but you can’t get higher than a B rank, a double jump, and for the masochists out there: a chip that makes it so everything kills you in one hit. I mostly stick to the double jump because I like having the ability to reposition in mid-air, but the others are neat modifiers if you’re into that sort of thing. You usually have to go out of your way to find them, but it’s often worth it. Another way you can change things up is through speed. You can either use your run and Photondash to zoom through levels or take it slow to get through it more precisely. Since you get timed either way, it has you balancing risk and reward in equal measures.
None of this would matter if the feel was off, and I can assure you that the controls in Vengeful Guardian Moonrider are excellent. This is the best-feeling platformer I’ve played since Cyber Shadow back in 2021. The running, dashing, jumping, slashing, the weight of all of it feels so fucking good. So good that I essentially marathoned most of the game in two sittings. It was great. And short if you care about that sort of thing.
Vengeful Guardian Moonrider is an incredibly Early front runner for my favourite game of the year and it’s only January. Everything about it ties together to make a challenging, but incredibly fun and satisfying platformer that’s at its best when it respects its past, while also doing its own thing. Like Miles Morales. Go play it, it’s fucking awesome.
