The cyberpunk aesthetic and gorgeous 32-bit style of Neon Inferno immediately caught my eye. It was like something out of the Sega Genesis era, or all of those Cabal-inspired arcade shooters. Another person and I grabbed our controllers and locked in. I kept trying to think of which game Neon Inferno reminded me of, and when I got home, I finally figured it out – Wild Guns, an absolute banger from the SNES era that had a remaster a few years back. This was one of my favorite games at THE MIX Summer Game Showcase.
The demo had a brief tutorial to demonstrate the side-scrolling mechanics, and with the push of a button, you’d also be able to start shooting at enemies and objects in the background. Neon Inferno also adds parry mechanics, where a successful parry allows you to choose the pathing to redirect bullets and lasers back at the enemies. The game was pretty forgiving with health bars, which is good, because I’d catch myself getting distracted by something interesting in the background. There was a really cool driving section where one character controls the lane shifts of the motorcycle and shoots forward, while the passenger focuses on shooting at all of the enemies. The demo concluded after a boss fight that consisted of two phases.
Key Features
- Shoot close, aim far: A dynamic blend of side-scroller and gallery-shooter, where the action takes place in both foreground and background (like playing Contra and Wild Guns at the same time).
- Glorious 32-bit style: A sci-fi cityscape rendered in beautiful pixel art and backed by an evocative soundtrack.
- Two-player co-op: With danger lurking around every street corner, wouldn’t you be better off with a friend?
- Satisfying arcade challenge: Enjoy a playthrough on an easier mode… or put your skills and resilience to the test with the 1-credit-clear Arcade Mode!
Neon Inferno releases on October 1, 2025, on Steam. You can grab a demo or Wishlist it now!
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