Brazilian developer JoyMasher has quickly secured their place as one of our favorite neo-retro game developers over the past few years. Fresh off the heels of the run-and-gun action of Blazing Chrome, the developer is back with a new title — Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider — that turns up the action and looks to please old school SEGA Nerds out there.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a classic 16-bit style sidescrolling game, much in the same vein as Shinobi or Ninja Gaiden. However, much like previous JoyMasher titles, the game isn’t a simple “copy and paste” job based on the games it’s inspired by.
We got our hands on the latest preview build, which includes a tutorial and the first two stages of the game. We’ve been told this demo will become publicly available as soon as next week, so be sure to read our thoughts to get excited for Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider!
What’s Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider about?
The game takes place in a futuristic setting, where humanity is oppressed by an evil, authoritarian government that’s hellbent on waging war. The authoritarians have built super soldiers to unleash on the battlefield and turn war into an even bloodier ordeal. But little do they know that when they’re top secret weapon — a cyborg Ninja named Moonrider — comes online, it will reject its programming and turn against its creators and fellow super soldiers. Moonrider rises up to be humanity’s last hope against its totalitarian government!
One of the features that sets Vengeful Guardian apart from its predecessors are modifier chips hidden throughout the stages. Once found and equipped, these modifier chips give Moonrider new abilities, like a double jump. While there are only two slots available, these chips give players added customization options to give them an edge against their enemies and also a good reason to explore the stages.
We were left impressed with the short time we had with the game and are definitely looking forward to more when we can get access to more of the game.
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is developed by JoyMasher and published by The Arcade Crew. The game currently has a Fall 2022 release date and will be available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Switch, Steam and Amazon Luna.
