The bright eyed boy sat before the screen, glazed with the blues, grays and mixtures of an era never even close to forgotten. An era of blowing into carts, slamming them into a tight gap, and hoping your developing understanding of forces and worth hasn’t betrayed you. A simpler time. It’s easy to find yourself caught off-guard while indulging in the pleasures of the past, or even hijacking the memories of those around you.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider
Developer: JoyMasher
Price: $16.99
Platform: PC / PS5 / Switch
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for review
Loading up Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider felt more like a ritual than it did the start of something new. Warming up those parts of my fleshy moist juice box results in the feeling I’ve been here before, but not quite in the same way. Like shredded memories thrown into the air, falling back into disjointed patterns…I’ve played this before…right?
Moonrider lays out a simple layout. Seven levels, each with their own min-bosses and final boss. Each final boss unlocks a special attack that can be used at any point during the game. It all starts to sound like games you’ve played in the past, and that’s because you have.
The success of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is in its execution. It’s less of a celebration of late 80s and early 90s side-scrollers and more of a refinement. A true understanding of why games of those eras worked and what aspects of them continue to work. A garnish of Mega-Man, a serving of Strider spiced with Shinobi. Everything comes together to form the accumulation of decades of fast-paced, side-scrolling experiences into one single life form.
Moonrider’s ability to master the pacing and placement of level design from the period provides a platform to build a modern classic experience. It should come as no surprise that this is exactly what Moonrider offers. Developer JoyMasher has a rich pedigree in crafting modern retro with masterclasses like Blazing Chrome and Odaluss: The Dark Call. Every little aspect of their work feels like it has been wrapped with meticulous attention. Moonrider’s basic combat flows into the zippy movement, which in turn washes between the foes and hazards the player faces. It’s all so perfectly done.
The Final Word
Look, I’m a kid of the 90’s so this is a hard game to truly review without some level of taint. It looks, plays and sounds like a refinement of games of the Mega Drive. An elevation to a new level, a classic of a system it’s not even for. It’s a strange experience to explain, but an experience I don’t think you or I should explain. Instead, simply play Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider. You’ll thank me.
– MonsterVine Rating: 5 out of 5 – Excellent
