Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider

A game by Joymasher for PC, Switch, PS4, and PS5, originally released in 2023.

Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is a sidescrolling slasher inspired by 16-bit genre entries like Hagane and the Shinobi series. You take on the role of Moonrider, a ninja-like bioweapon created by the scientists of a totalitarian state, with the sole purpose of obliterating anyone with the gall to rise up against them. However, you have managed to override your programming and decide to fight against the very system that created you, acting as a defender of the people and a sword of vengeance against the authoritarian regime and its instruments of power.

Ultimately, the story doesn’t do much more than establish a framework wherein you slash the absolute bejeezus out of every moving object in your visual range. And of course, there’s plenty of pre-fight posturing by the other guardians you encounter as they decry your actions and promise to put you down once and for all… giving you plenty of reason to cleave them in twain before moving on to your next target.

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 2023, Asteristic Game Studio, Joymasher, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, The Arcade Crew

Kunai

A game by TurtleBlaze for PC and Switch, originally released in 2020.

Kunai is an open world metroidvania with a focus on grappling. You take on the role of a robotic tablet with a serial number of TBY-1134… better known to his friends as Tabby. Set in a world where human life has been almost completely eradicated by the evil AI Lemonkus, robots now rule the Earth. You must explore the ruined planet, taking on the minions of Lemonkus as you slowly expand your arsenal of weapons and equipment, allowing you to reach new areas, per genre conventions.

The opening cinematic shows robotic marauders – with CRT screens for heads – fighting across the landscape and eventually making their way to an underground complex. Within this complex is some kind of laboratory containing a tube filled with red liquid, and suspended in the liquid is Tabby… the one they have been looking for. But while they try to free him, a security robot shows up and attacks, killing most of them as it rampages through the room. You take control of Tabby and burst out of the tube, and the game begins.

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 2020, PC, Switch, The Arcade Crew, TurtleBlaze

Blazing Chrome

A game by Joymasher for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, originally released in 2019.

Blazing Chrome is a run-and-gun shooter inspired by the Contra series – Contra 3 and Contra Hard Corps in particular – offering explosive over-the-top action, huge bosses, and 2P local cooperative play… bringing back memories of the halcyon days where Konami actually made video games. In the well-trodden year of 21XX, machines rule the planet, leaving behind crumbling cityscapes and a fiery red sky in their wake. Humans are on the verge of annihilation, and only you can fight back the onslaught to give humanity one last chance.

You take on the role of Marva, a human resistance soldier, and/or Doyle, a reprogrammed robot with a bright red rooster comb haircut for that extra dose of 90’s flavor. The duo volunteer for a suicide mission deep in enemy territory. The soldiers can equip up to four different weapons to mash their robotic overlords to bits, which mirrors the weapon systems used in Contra 3 and Contra Hard Corps. Along the way, they deliver destruction on foot, from the backs of hoverbikes, or within one of several empty mech suits that allow them to unleash additional firepower.

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 2019, Joymasher, PC, PS4, Switch, The Arcade Crew, Xbox One