Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider Review

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider feels like a game from a different time. This is obvious on a surface level with its presentation. It is a retro-inspired action platformer with a 16-bit art style that prioritizes precision and challenge over narrative. But it goes one step further when it comes to its nostalgic pool of reference: invoking a mix of 90s cyberpunk and pulpy ultraviolent tokusatsu. The result is like discovering a highly underrated videogame tie-in to a film that doesn't exist.

I'd Buy That For A Dollar

The story of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is convoluted but familiar. It's set in the far future where a totalitarian regime has risen up. They're using robots, as well as mysterious cyborg super warriors, to keep the population scared and in line. You play as one of these super warriors, Moonrider, who awakens from a stasis chamber in the basement of a secret laboratory. Enraged by the oppression of the people, he takes up a laser katana and proceeds to fight a one man war against the bad guys.

While that is the basic outline of the story of Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, how it is told is disjointed at best. The first batch of cutscenes opens with some Robocop-esque channel surfing, showing snippets of the world outside of the levels. These scenes flounder between familiar vignettes of dark satire – a cooking show giving advice on how to make your rations last longer – and news reports of a greater conflict happening in the margins. The scenes are also intercut with Moonrider piecing together his past while giving long speeches about the dangers of fascism and the power of the human spirit.

These elements do give Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider a cheesy B-movie charm, but it doesn't hide the fact that the story is full of holes. I wasn't being dismissive when I compared the game's story to a licensed movie tie-in. There are multiple points throughout the game where characters leave, change sides, or are referenced for seemingly no reason. There's a subplot where a group of human resistance fighters starts attacking the corrupt leaders' headquarters, which is resolved in two cutscenes. Moonrider seemingly figures out everywhere he needs to go and has a dramatic revelation about his origins offscreen. This erratic narrative pacing kept making me imagine the slower-paced character drama and build-up that would have happened in the movie the game is based on filling in these gaps.

Move Correctly, Do Not Die

Thankfully, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is more interested in being a vehicle for high-speed action than telling a cohesive story, which is where it shines. The core gameplay takes a lot of hints from the Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi series. You move to the right, cut through enemies, navigate platforming challenges, and fight a boss at the end. To do all of this you have a three-hit combo with your laser sword, a wall jump, a drop kick attack, and some special attacks tied to a special meter.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider keeps each of its levels interesting with a ton of entertaining setpieces. These include being pursued by a killer robot, escaping a burning building, fighting waves of enemies on a motorcycle, navigating laser traps while moving through a moon base, and avoiding aerial bombardment while jumping across enemy fighter jets. All of these sequences are bolstered by a catchy techno soundtrack and art direction that combines Japanese sci-fi aesthetics, chunky mecha designs, and sprite animation packed with bloody satisfying punch.

No Game Genie Required

But while Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider excels in presentation and spectacle, there are a few issues that keep the gameplay from hitting moments of pure zen. Moonrider's wall jump is the biggest offender since it feels slightly off in responsiveness compared to quick and punchy attack animations. Eventually, you get used to it, but it can really mess up the rhythm of blazing through a level. Furthermore, while the game does have a Mega Man-style level select screen, there isn't much incentive to play them in a certain order. Every single special attack is equally effective against bosses: the biggest hitters by far being the Dark Portal and Photon Dash. The closest thing to an optimal path is collectible armor chips scattered throughout each level, which provide bonuses like a double jump or healing every time you kill an enemy.

Finally, despite pulling references from notoriously harder games, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider isn't particularly unfair or hard. While certain boss battles can be exercised in “Nintendo Hard” frustration, the majority of each level can be blazed through in a trance due to several modern design touches. Healing items, extra lives, and special attack energy are given away generously. Falling down a pit isn't an instant kill. Enemy attacks are all well-telegraphed with wind-up animations and reliable patterns. Finally, there are checkpoints outside each boss's fight arena. Couple this with a combination of certain armor chips and the game's sense of challenge changes from the stuff that raises your blood pressure to a light adrenaline rush.

This doesn't mean that Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider feels bad to play. In fact, once you recognize that retro inspirations are more about the look than the feel, it becomes a vastly enjoyable delight. If you're an action platformer veteran, you can easily clear the entire game in about two hours, give or take an extra hour if you hunt for all of the armor chips. The lean runtime is aided by how no setpieces are repeated or padded out, which marks good design. Also, if you enjoy speed runs or no-hit runs, there is a rank and score system for you to compete with your friends.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider | Final Verdict

If you ever wanted to capture the feel of renting a cult classic late 90s action platformer for an exciting afternoon, then I recommend Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider. It's not the most tightly designed throwback to the SNES/Genesis era out there, but when it comes to embodying the style of that time, it is a nostalgic rush that cannot be matched.

TechRaptor reviewed Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider on PC with a copy provided by the publisher. The game is also available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.