Review – Neon Inferno

Contra. Metal Slug. Dolphin Blue. The 2D Run ‘n Gun genre has its legends. Zenovia Interactive’s Neon Inferno dares to be one of its most beautiful — and brutal. The crucial chaos of flying bullets, explosions, and air raids are all here, all ready to deplete your lives down to 0. Every gunner worth their salt also needs an immense, towering set of threatening mechs and armored-up military equipment prepared to assail them. That’s all present here too, no surprises there. And yet, Neon Inferno also dares to innovate on a genre that mostly stays in its lane. 

In Neon Inferno, you’re one of two playable members of The Family, a crime syndicate that takes down its opposition and strives for power over a corrupt New York City in the year 2055. As either Angelo Morano or Mariana Vitti, you’ll hunt down the Yakuza, the NYPD, and more in whichever order you choose, Mega Man style. An urban futuristic setting lends itself to incredible volumetric streetlights and detailed, fluid pixel art of explosions set against gritty, towering city backdrops. You’re playing through a neo-Cyberpunk action flick complete with a synthwave soundtrack. Of course, this makes for memorable set pieces. You’ll run from robot dogs through a burning skyscraper, fight your way across the city to reach smoky hotels and bars, commandeer motorcycles and jet skis while switching and shooting across lanes to avoid and destroy traffic, and more. There’s a great amount of emergent destruction programmed in too. Glass windows can be shot through and shattered, chandeliers can be shot down from the ceiling to use as cover, tables can be shredded down to splinters from gunshots, and who needs a switch to shut off lights when you have a machine gun? 

 

 

Neon Inferno is classically designed through and through. Short, action-packed levels with multiple mini-bosses, vehicle sections and a boss standoff awaiting you at each level’s finale is what you’re getting here. Between missions you can stop at a shop and use money you’ve earned by ranking high at the end of each level to buy new weapons and power-ups. You’ll blaze through its six missions in a single sitting most likely, even without shop purchases. It’s skill, not power-ups, that will get you far in this city. But where Neon Inferno adheres to its forebearers’ steep difficulties and fast gameplay, Neon Inferno also introduces an incredible set of additional mechanics that make its design so much more interesting. That is to say you’ll shoot to the right and occasionally to the left, but, unique to Neon Inferno, you’ll also shoot into the background with the press of a button. At any time, Neon Inferno can turn into a Cyberpunk dystopian Wild Guns. You can also embrace your inner Keanu or Angelina and stop green-trailed bullets in the foreground, aiming and sending them flying at whichever opponent you deem most worthy. If you do so, the bullets deal more damage than they normally would as well. This is one such 2D action game that isn’t afraid to also give you a sword attack in addition to your already impressive load out. 

 

 

A single playthrough is only part of the fun. Neon Inferno is at its core an arcade game that is meant to be replayed, both with or without a friend in co-op. That’s why you’re not only given the option to create a save file and select a difficulty but also to play it in a literal Arcade Mode where you’re challenged to clear all six levels with one “credit.” This task brings to light how fun balancing the act of stopping and shooting into the background and speeding through levels all-guns-blazing is. This lends Neon Inferno a unique flow through its levels that hopefully inspires a new wave of ambitious contemporaries. One great example of how this setup lends itself to clever design: In one of the later levels, a giant mech suit shows up in the foreground while two tanks roll into the background. Your only cover is a broken down car. The mech will aim at you before actually shooting into the background to destroy one of the tanks, leaving only the second of the two tanks still around. If you’ve been shooting at the mech, by this time you’ll probably have taken it down. If you haven’t, it’ll pretend to aim at the only remaining tank only to shoot at you instead. Another great example was a lounge level that had a series of windows in the background. Flying robots and military helicopters would blip in and out of your aim as civilians flew by in flying cars. If you mistimed your shots, you’d take down civilians instead of the robots and the level informed you of this. These moments were deliberate and smart.  

 

 

Neon Inferno is a stunning game filled to the brim with Cyberpunk vibes. However, it sometimes chugged on Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld mode and I can’t imagine it’s better on the original Switch. The frame rate tended to be 30 fps but would occasionally dip down to 25. The game also loads up with a CRT filter by default and this doesn’t emphasize the game’s visuals very well on a smaller screen. Thankfully, turning it off is an option and this causes Neon Inferno’s visual splendor to shine. The game is more than playable on Switch 2 and truly you’d have to be looking for frame dips for them to be noticeable. With so much fluid pixel animation to portray onscreen, it’s impressive the game is able to maintain its painstaking neon light show and many moving parts as well as it does. 

Retro action gamers are feasting this year. A new 2D Ninja Gaiden, a new Shinobi and a new Night Striker have all been highlights. Well, how about a newcomer to the genre that can stand toe-to-toe with such veterans? Not since Blazing Chrome have we gotten a fantastic indie Run ‘N Gun, so Neon Inferno is incredibly welcome. It also stakes its claim as a forward-thinking entry in a genre that is primarily about moving forward with your joystick. As the only 2D shooter I can think of that combines classic action with gallery shooting mechanics and Matrix bullet time, Neon Inferno may just be looked at as a game that breathed new life into an old corpse as time goes on. 

 

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