Game #1340: Vengeful Guardian MoonRider

  What if Megaman was a Ninja instead of a Robot.

 Made by the same people that made other retro-throwbacks like Chrome Steel and Oniken, Vengeful Guardian: MoonRider is sort of a 2-D SNES-inspired platformer that borrows a lot from Megaman and Shinobi.

 This is a run-and-slash plain and simple. You get to pick between 8 different stags in any order, and every boss you defeat grants you a new special attack. That said, bosses don't have weaknesses and there's no annoying boss rush at the end, so it doesn't follow Megaman's blueprint 1:1. Hidden in pretty much every stage are a few chips, of which you can have up to two equipped at the same time. These range from pretty neat perks such as health or special attack energy regeneration to... to dying in one hit.

 The game is no walk in the park, and you are running on lives, thankfully, continues are limitless, you are simply sent back to the beginning of the stage. That said, on your first game over you are give a chip that halves all the damage you take, which makes the game much, much easier.

 Stages are pretty decent, although a few go on for a wee too long. There are also gimmick stages, much like Megaman, in which you drive a bike. Bosses are really cool, and they look rather Guyver-like. That said, it's a pretty brief game, and there's not much in the way of extras. Being able to play as MoonRider's rival would've been amazing. Still, it's a fun game.

 7.0