Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider Assessment – Assessment

Revealed by The Arcade Crew, who additionally put out titles corresponding to Kunai and Infernax, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is an motion platformer within the vein of Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man, with ample references to each traditional video games. Whereas the cyborg-looking Ninja that you just management, Moonrider, strikes and strikes in a easy trend, the eight ranges you may battle by supply little selection, and there actually is not something right here you have not seen earlier than.

Earlier than hopping into the principle story, I would say it is value finishing the temporary tutorial to acquainted your self with Moonrider’s equipment. You’ve gotten a primary sword slash that may kind a three-strike combo, a particular transfer hooked up to an MP meter, and the power to leap off of partitions to navigate vertical areas. In almost each stage you’ll find energy modules that may be outfitted to Moonrider so as to add perks and buffs, corresponding to stronger armor, automated MP regen, and well being restoration from defeating enemies. Most of those modules are fastidiously hidden, typically inside secret passages, so it pays to be thorough in your exploration of every stage.

The eight complete ranges are divided into completely different areas and finish with a boss battle towards foes designed very similar to Moonrider. Consequently, defeating these figures rewards you with a brand new particular transfer that may be chosen from a wheel menu; as you would possibly count on, a few of these talents are significantly efficient towards sure bosses in different phases. A wide range of mini-bosses pop up all through the sport as properly, however the primary enemy selection is unquestionably missing. The degrees themselves, exterior of some underwater areas and a few bike segments, are a extremely related aesthetic, making it laborious to tell apart between them. Luckily, you do have a selection of phases after the primary one which opens the sport and may return to every to enhance your rating, time, rating and discover any hidden energy modules.

By way of visuals and its soundtrack, Vengeful Guardian completely seems and feels like a Sega Genesis or SNES title, and for higher or worse, it even retains somewhat little bit of jank, too. What hurts the aesthetic is how almost each degree seems darkish and gritty, with numerous blacks, greys, and browns that includes prominently on display screen. After some time, every part simply sort of blends collectively, and it’s simply not simple to distinguish one a part of a degree from one other. The pumping music coursing by every stage actually helps to alleviate a number of the monotony, although.

Specializing in the minute-to-minute gameplay, guiding Moonrider by corridors, up elevator shafts, and throughout platforms is generally satisfying. Slicing and dicing enemies or utilizing the completely different beams and projectiles acquired from the bosses works properly and can really feel acquainted to anybody who’s performed video games like this earlier than–Contra 3, Mega Man X, and Shinobi III all come to thoughts. Having initially skipped the tutorial, I believed the one approach to dash was to double faucet ahead; it’s a lot simpler, nevertheless, to easily press the ZR button, so right here’s hoping others can keep away from a number of the platforming complications I encountered by speeding headlong into the sport.

Whereas there’s actually nothing actually off placing about Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, it finally feels fairly by-product. It does an admirable job of conjuring up emotions and impressions of the 16-bit period, however it fails to push the envelope in any significant manner. There’s little question that it’s an honest approach to spend a pair hours so far as action-platformers go, and followers of the style–significantly the retro-focused sort–will get a kick out of one thing so clearly paying homage. For my cash, although, I’d have favored to see a couple of twists and a bit extra danger taking with such a well-worn kind of online game. Falling wanting being a full Moonrider, Vengeful Guardian does sufficient to make rolling credit worthwhile, if not a lot else.