{"id":5308,"date":"2022-08-18T13:24:15","date_gmt":"2022-08-18T13:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/18\/heres-a-16-bit-cybersamurai-epic-from-the-devs-of-blazing-chrome\/"},"modified":"2022-08-18T13:24:15","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T13:24:15","slug":"heres-a-16-bit-cybersamurai-epic-from-the-devs-of-blazing-chrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/18\/heres-a-16-bit-cybersamurai-epic-from-the-devs-of-blazing-chrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s a 16-bit cybersamurai epic from the devs of Blazing Chrome"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"youtube-video\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>With a name like a long-lost Japanese tokusatsu series and a slavish dedication to a 16-bit aesthetic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/blazing-chrome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blazing Chrome<\/a> developers JoyMasher are at it again. They&#8217;ve just announced their fourth game, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, an action platformer the the kind of 16-bit style that would have been right at home on the Sega Genesis\/Mega Drive, or even the glowing backlit screen of a Game Gear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider you&#8217;ll play the eponymous Moonrider, a super soldier who turns against the evil government that created it and fights for its overthrow. It&#8217;s an action platformer that draws from the classic era of action platforming, with the creators citing Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi as inspirations.<\/p>\n<p>Like Blazing Chrome, JoyMasher will partner with indie publisher The Arcade Crew to help Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider along. Yes, I&#8217;m going to type out the entire title Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider as many times as I can because 1) I think it&#8217;s an evocative title with some nice words in it and 2) while they&#8217;re badass words it&#8217;s still really unwieldy as a phrase.<\/p>\n<p>Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider (I didn&#8217;t lie) will be a bit more than you might expect from the precise inspirations, though. As you fight through its stages you&#8217;ll be able to find hidden modifier chips that customize your Moonrider&#8217;s fighting style to get new or upgraded abilities, promising more advanced gameplay than the older action platformers it draws on and mimics. That&#8217;ll help your unlikely hero succeed, I hope, in their &#8220;relentless battle for vengeance against its creators and fellow super soldiers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Which is kind of the draw here as well, isn&#8217;t it? Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider looks nice. At the very least it definitely has the gorgeous, deep pixel art that characterized Blazing Chrome&#8217;s world\u2014though here&#8217;s it&#8217;s applied to a much bleaker, quite literally darker setting. The cutscenes wouldn&#8217;t be amiss in a Robocop game, invoking as they do a world where &#8220;authoritarians have built super soldiers as weapons of war, but their creators have sealed their fate by bringing the warrior known as Moonrider online.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery  inline-layout\">\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-wrap\">\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 1 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"caption-text\">I don&#8217;t normally put the logo cards in galleries but COME ON that one rules. <\/span><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 2 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 3 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 4 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 5 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 6 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 7 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 8 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 9 of 9<\/span>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>JoyMasher has pulled off this retro inspiration before, building on and elevating the games it&#8217;s drawing from to make something wholly modern. Our Austin Wood called Blazing Chrome &#8220;a perfect successor to Contra and Metal Slug&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/blazing-chrome-is-a-perfect-successor-to-contra-and-metal-slug\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">back in 2018<\/a>, and the cooperative shoot-em-up didn&#8217;t disappoint with fans on release, holding <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/609110\/Blazing_Chrome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">90% positive reviews<\/a> on Steam.<\/p>\n<p>You can find <a href=\"http:\/\/airedale.futurecdn.net\/feeds\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1942010\/Vengeful_Guardian_Moonrider\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider on Steam<\/a>, though Blazing Chrome made its way to Humble and GOG as well so you can probably expect that. You can learn more about Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider developers JoyMasher on their website, <a href=\"https:\/\/joymasher.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joymasher.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One last time, ok? Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[#item_image]Here&#8217;s a 16-bit cybersamurai epic from the devs of Blazing Chrome<!-- wp:html --><\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-video\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>With a name like a long-lost Japanese tokusatsu series and a slavish dedication to a 16-bit aesthetic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/blazing-chrome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Blazing Chrome<\/a> developers JoyMasher are at it again. They&#8217;ve just announced their fourth game, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider, an action platformer the the kind of 16-bit style that would have been right at home on the Sega Genesis\/Mega Drive, or even the glowing backlit screen of a Game Gear.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider you&#8217;ll play the eponymous Moonrider, a super soldier who turns against the evil government that created it and fights for its overthrow. It&#8217;s an action platformer that draws from the classic era of action platforming, with the creators citing Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi as inspirations.<\/p>\n<p>Like Blazing Chrome, JoyMasher will partner with indie publisher The Arcade Crew to help Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider along. Yes, I&#8217;m going to type out the entire title Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider as many times as I can because 1) I think it&#8217;s an evocative title with some nice words in it and 2) while they&#8217;re badass words it&#8217;s still really unwieldy as a phrase.<\/p>\n<p>Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider (I didn&#8217;t lie) will be a bit more than you might expect from the precise inspirations, though. As you fight through its stages you&#8217;ll be able to find hidden modifier chips that customize your Moonrider&#8217;s fighting style to get new or upgraded abilities, promising more advanced gameplay than the older action platformers it draws on and mimics. That&#8217;ll help your unlikely hero succeed, I hope, in their &#8220;relentless battle for vengeance against its creators and fellow super soldiers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Which is kind of the draw here as well, isn&#8217;t it? Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider looks nice. At the very least it definitely has the gorgeous, deep pixel art that characterized Blazing Chrome&#8217;s world\u2014though here&#8217;s it&#8217;s applied to a much bleaker, quite literally darker setting. The cutscenes wouldn&#8217;t be amiss in a Robocop game, invoking as they do a world where &#8220;authoritarians have built super soldiers as weapons of war, but their creators have sealed their fate by bringing the warrior known as Moonrider online.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery  inline-layout\">\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-wrap\">\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 1 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"caption-text\">I don&#8217;t normally put the logo cards in galleries but COME ON that one rules. <\/span><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 2 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 3 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 4 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 5 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 6 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 7 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 8 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inlinegallery-item\"><span class=\"slidecount\">Image 9 of 9<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"image-full-width-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-widthsetter\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"credit\">(Image credit: JoyMasher and The Arcade Crew)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>JoyMasher has pulled off this retro inspiration before, building on and elevating the games it&#8217;s drawing from to make something wholly modern. Our Austin Wood called Blazing Chrome &#8220;a perfect successor to Contra and Metal Slug&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/blazing-chrome-is-a-perfect-successor-to-contra-and-metal-slug\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">back in 2018<\/a>, and the cooperative shoot-em-up didn&#8217;t disappoint with fans on release, holding <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/609110\/Blazing_Chrome\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">90% positive reviews<\/a> on Steam.<\/p>\n<p>You can find <a href=\"http:\/\/airedale.futurecdn.net\/feeds\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/1942010\/Vengeful_Guardian_Moonrider\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider on Steam<\/a>, though Blazing Chrome made its way to Humble and GOG as well so you can probably expect that. You can learn more about Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider developers JoyMasher on their website, <a href=\"https:\/\/joymasher.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joymasher.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>One last time, ok? Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:html --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bwgamespot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}