Heard of Moon Diver? if you had the chance to see pictures or videos of this great game you’ll think it looks familiar, and You are not wrong. Koichi Yotsui, the creator of the fantastic Strider returns with this title, it is not a sequel but could be considered the spiritual successor to the classic arcade title we all know.
developed by feelplus Inc. and published by Square Enix, Moon Diver is a futuristic title which takes place in the 22 century.
A boy named Fausto controls the power of Mephistopheles and with an infernal army prepares to destroy mankind, only a group of ninjas trained in secret can stop him. Can they save the humanity from the evil Fausto and his spectral forces?
The story is not very impressive and is somewhat scarce but who needs it when the gameplay is pure dynamite? i know i dont.
Gameplay
This is a 2D side scrolling platform game in which your character can climb walls, hang from ceilings and more, something that reminds us a lot the style of the classic Strider.
You can learn different skills and level up your character as you eliminate enemies throughout the game, this is not as easy as it sounds, the game has a dose of difficulty and challenge that will make some people feel frustrated. But overall you gain levels and improve your skills, health, magic, etc, is part of the concept you eill find in this title.
Dejavu? designed by Koichi Yotsui (Strider)
The strength of the game lies in the multiplayer, and you can play with up to 3 other players online, something interesting and attractive are the combos and special attacks you can unleash in conjunction with your teammates, is quite impressive.
Another interesting aspect of the game is that your teammates can revive you, so do not think that if you are killed you will have to find another game to join, it pleased me a lot and I think is an original concept at least for this kind of genre.
The game features 12 levels of pure action, in which we must highlight the design is top quality.
Similarly we can mention the cool Japanese graphics of the characters, the character design is good and original, if the anime is your thing will make Moon Diver even more enjoyable.
Music is another of the great details you’ll find in this title, they go accord to the rapid dynamic of the game which gives a very unique feeling to each level.
Up to 4 player co-op action!
Downsides
Not everything it is perfect and Moon Diver has things that could have been better, i commented the Japanese Graphics, which are trully good, but the intro shows still images without any motion, this is something that does not look like it should. If we had a vibrant and bustling animated introduction as in “Hard Corps: Uprising” this game would make you feel hooked from the beginning in a spectacular way.
Something that is not negative but is very annoying, is the grinding. you have to do if you decide to play solo through the campaign, you have to repeat stages a lot to level up and progress more easily. For some people this can become boring.
In multiplayer is common to see others pick the same character that you selected, with all the action on screen is easy to get confused as we all have the same color. Other games let you choose the color of your character (St. Fighter series, Hard Cops: Uprising, etc), would have been good to have that option in Moon Diver.
Battle against poweful bosses
Extras
The game includes a total of 12 trophies, going from finishing a stage to level all the different characters up to level 50, so get that coffee jar and get ready to grind!
Overall
Moon Diver is an incredible spiritual successor of Strider, and honors the great arcade games of that generation, great graphics, good music and a frenetic game play style that makes you forget the lack of story.
If you love story with lots of content, Moon Diver maybe is not for you. The game is not perfect but definitely you should try if you like the genre, a title with good old school challenge. You can get it for $14.99 from the Playstation Store, i am sure you will enjoy this fantastic game.
we give the game an 8.5 out of 10!
~Mario
