I had the opportunity to demo Neon Inferno at THE MIX Summer Game Showcase. It was a blast, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the full release. This game is a love letter to Contra, Wild Guns, Metal Slug, and all other sorts of pixel art. The fine folks at Retroware (the game’s publisher) provided me with a review copy.
The Story
The thing about games like Contra or Metal Slug is that I’m not expecting an absolute epic of a story where I’ll need multiple playthroughs to decipher what’s all going on. It’s the same deal as watching 80s action movies—you just need some cool heroes and cool boss fights. Neon Inferno is set in New York City in the year 2055, where criminal enterprises control most of the boroughs and battle an equally corrupt NYPD. I mean, some of the enemies look straight up like Judge Dredd. Some areas look like a war-torn battlefield, and of course, the super upper-class regions are full of ritzy neon.
You can play as either Angelo Morano or Mariana Vitti, lovers and members of The Family. The Family is a group of assassins that has apparently been in existence since the time of JFK. A few story bits mention they’re not as powerful as they used to be, and considering you’re playing as a two-person army, I wonder what the Family at its peak looks like. Additionally, the NYPD’s budget has apparently expanded to include tanks, mechs, and various other types of robots. It makes sense, since some of the enemies are rolling up with chain guns and laser pistols. Overall, the story gave me John Wick vibes, but with a slight hint of Shadowrun.
The Gameplay
I played through the game on Medium difficulty, but there are also Hard mode and Arcade mode options. Arcade mode is brutally difficult because you get one life and that’s it. All of the other modes feature checkpoints to make things a little easier. I wasn’t able to clear the first mission on Arcade mode, so I don’t know if your health replenishes between missions. I want to run this back on Hard mode to see if, like Contra, there are additional missions or endings.
Besides enemies in the foreground, there are also sections where you’ll have to shoot at enemies in the background. There’s a parry mechanic whenever green bullets or missiles come at you, and if you have the charges available, you can go into a bullet-time mode to redirect those projectiles for massive damage. The only time the controls felt a little clunky was with some of the platforming sections or when there was a section where your character(s) had to dangle from something. I’d constantly forget that while dangling, pressing the parry button would cause your character to fall and lose a chunk of the health bar.
You can tackle the first couple of missions in any order. Upon completing a mission, you are graded on time and damage taken, as well as any civilian casualties. You can use the money to buy power-ups between missions. I was wondering if any of them would be worthwhile, but they helped clutch some of the boss sections of later missions.
The Graphics
I really wish this game had an option to turn on a CRT filter. Someone in the Steam forums posted photos of playing the game on their CRT TV, and it adds so much to the aesthetic. As I mentioned previously, the pixel art feels like a love letter to the Neo-Geo, Sega Genesis, and the era of late 80s / early 90s arcade games. When I played the demo, I almost got distracted by the amount of animation happening. The credits listed quite a few artists
The Music
I’m biased here because I’m a massive fan of synthwave, darkwave, and all other things wave, but the soundtrack is awe-inspiring. There’s a section where there are ethereal and haunting vocals happening while you’re battling your way through a jazz club and a giant mecha boss, and it somehow works. Another mission has a part where you’re climbing the beams of a rave, trying to avoid civilian casualties, and it might be one of my favorite tracks, and it keeps building up as you climb the floors of the nightclub. The opera mission has an actual opera playing as you’re frantically dodging mechs. The boss battles have wailing guitar solos. This might be a small detail, but one of my favorite things is when you lose all of your health and restart, the music also resumes right where you left off.
Closing Thoughts
Even on Medium difficulty, the game proved to be quite challenging. It was also pretty short and sweet; I completed the game in about 3 hours. I’d love to run it back in co-op mode since that was a blast when I demoed it. I finished the first mission in Hard mode. I noticed that new bullet patterns and numerous other elements were added to ramp up the challenge. That said, though, the game was very concise and felt like it was all killer, no filler. I would love if a sequel were green-lit and it had branching paths or secret areas to discover.
I highly encourage grabbing this game when it releases. It’s a great send-up of one of my favorite genres and eras of gaming. And like I had mentioned before, if you have a concept that’s in the realm of dystopian future and/or cyberpunk, I’m already sold.
Neon Inferno releases on November 20th, 2025, on Steam, Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation. The base price will be $19.99, but there’ll be a 20% launch discount. They’ve partnered with Limited Run Games for physical releases of the PS5 and Switch versions, which will be available on November 25th. For more information about Neon Inferno, check out their website.
Neon Inferno
$19.99
Pros
- The graphics are fantastic
- The soundtrack is great
- Lot of fun bosses
Cons
- It's fun solo but I think playing co-op brings it to another level
- Unless you're playing on hard or arcade mode, it is a short game
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