Some people around here may or may not have played it before or yet, but I enjoyed a really good game from JoyMasher, albeit the latest in their lineup, and it harbors some good nods from key past games, such as "Shinobi III", "Mega Man X", and perhaps "Hagane", but made into its own adventure.
That game is "Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider".
The premise is, a distant country, Penrai, has been under the controlled grip of a rather corrupt militant group called "The Commission", lead by Varad Duas himself, for 10 years, and has created their own group of bioweapon humanoid super-soldiers called "The Guardians" tasked with curbing different forms of resistance against them by less peaceful means.
"The Guardians" comprise of eight super-soldiers; Flamestalker, Photondrifter, Darkchaser, Geocrusher, Hydromancer, Stormdiver, Moonrider, and Sunseeker. Out of the 8, one had just begun defecting against The Commission's dictatorship, with very little Duas was knowing there, and springs out to fight back against them to ensure the country's freedom, but the bulk of The Commission are willing to risk everything to decommission him for good.
Being an indie 2D platformer harboring familiar gameplay roots from "Shinobi III", I can definitely enjoy the thrill of it. The stages are filled with many dangers, such as enemies, hazards, and placed traps. Each stages has midbosses to fight, many one, others more, and main bosses in the end, including the opening stage, Bioweapon Lab, where Moonrider begins his escape, and a bit close to few formulaic roots since "Sonic 3", but not completely from it, each main stage has about 2 Acts, Act 1 having a midboss against one of The Commission's creations in the end, be it a large combat robot, or a horrid, wretched bioweapon monstrosity, or even both in one, and Act 2 the main boss in the end. Some stages do have more than one midboss midway, which I like because of additional variety.
In a familiar vein from many "Mega Man" games, after beating each main boss, Moonrider acquires a new weapon to use against his enemies, some may be handy to get through tough challenges quicker.
There's even a Tutorial stage that teaches players all the necessary basics and moves needed to get around the game, ending with a boss of its own, too. Really neat, because I love having a tutorial stage, even if it does end in a boss fight.
The soundtrack by Dominic Ninmark is rather gorgeous to hear! Really enjoying the songs made there.
I have a video delving into the insights of Moonrider's development, straight from a YouTube channel, "Digital Foundry", specializing in behind-the-scenes processes of many games, and it explains a lot, including the programs used to make that game, such as Aseprite, Tiled, and Construct 2. The video link's here to watch -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6D16BVWes8I didn't know the game's blueprint was closely about to follow the likes of "Castlevania: Rondo of Blood", because from looking at what I've seen at minute 12:05 in the video I mentioned, based on what would've been on its previous plans, there was an optional path that got cut off leading to a vertical shaft in Hydromancer's stage that was presumed to formerly lead to another different stage of its own. It was interesting to see, but I see how the game's plans changed a bit to match the non-linear plans, like in past Mega Man games.
I would like to say, I've really enjoyed JoyMasher's latest game. Finished each stage and found, well, all upgrades in it... and I felt I kinda expected a bit more from it. The stages, on the other hand, may not be quite as large, long, and complex, but, they're still fun to finish.
I have a few favorite stages in mind to say.
"Asura's Fleet" is one of my favorite stages, having to jump from ship to ship to reach the fleet's leading commander, Stormdiver, enduring the Commission's troops. That stage has two midbosses, one fought in the end of Act 1, a nearly cool callback to Sigma Head from "Mega Man X5", and the second at Act 2's beginning after riding the elevator.
"Desalination Facility" is a rather good water facility stage, having to dive down into water to take down The Commission's troops to cease operations there. It has two midbosses, too. The first is a good callback to Metroid's Mother Brain endgame fight, and the second is a close nod to one of Mega Man X's past midbosses, Utuboros, from Launch Octopus' stages, but different and original. Hydromancer put up a good fight, though. Really enjoyed it.
"Iwondonilo City" is a very cool stage that has a 3D-esque super-scale based motorcycle stage, looking and feeling much better than SNES' Mode 7, dealing with The Commission's troops and robots, even ending in a miniboss fight against one of The Commission's super droids. Then, come the city's highway streets where getting through cars and trucks to avoid getting knocked off is a thrill to enjoy before facing Photondrifter. There are the occasions of avoiding laser barricades through some of it.
The game's good, but there's some things that game is quite lacking...
For one, the storyline felt a teeny bit hollow on some exposition about Moonrider's creation, The Commission's origins, and lacking some needed closure on the conflict against Varad Duas' organization.
In my perspective, it doesn't have any intermission stages, or rather "Middle Stages" to those that played Mega Man's later games, that should've been in the game, the first for beating half of the main bosses, and the second for beating the rest before going straight to the finale, which, I might add, is lacking a third stage with a boss rush against most of the defeated Guardians, perhaps in semi-solid hologram form, and a very fitting, multi-phase final boss battle against Varad Duas himself. I would've loved to have the story get some deserved closure. The final boss there is just [SPOILERS] the last of The Guardians, Sunseeker, in the finale's second stage.
Disappointingly, the finale only has two stages. Not four, not three. Just TWO. I expected a bit more from a grand finale there.
There's not even a bestiary that gives names to all enemies and bosses in the game, even the midbosses. I don't even know most of their names yet. If only I had some answers...
Another small thing to add, though... after beating about each main stage's midboss at Act 1's end, there's no ingame scenes showcasing Moonrider moving from Act 1 to Act 2 in them with no explanation to how he seamlessly got into said stage's Act 2's beginning on-screen there.
Of course, if having the chance, the game could be updated, if needed, to address what's lacking there. Just only saying.
I did see some of the midbosses from one of JoyMasher's founders behind it, Danilo Dias, from his Twitter/X account before the game's launch, but that got privated, so I can't see them now, nor the game's past development history.
There is his Bluesky account, though, so, that's a good alternative. Here's the account's link if anyone wants to drop by sometime -
https://bsky.app/profile/daysdanilo.bsky.socialWhat I'd really love to see in a sequel to it, longer, larger levels, a bestiary, more new original bosses, a few additional support items alongside new upgrades, and perhaps some unlockable side stages to up the replay value.
Overall, despite not seeing all the game's maps yet, the game's still really fun to play among others. If anyone hadn't played the game yet, I would recommend doing so when you can. To those who played, how did you like "Moonrider"?
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