Neon Inferno - Xbox Review

Neon Inferno by developer Zenovia Interactive and publisher Retroware—Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Neon Inferno is an exciting game that at first glance looks and plays like a retro action title from the 90’s. However, this game quickly reveals itself to have layers that I was not expecting, and as a result this action gem has proven to have staying power despite its somewhat short duration.

I’ve been on a bit of a shooter kick lately, having been playing classics like Contra and Super C with my son over the last few weeks. So when the opportunity to review Neon Inferno a few months after its initial release last fall, I was in the right mindset to settle in for some classic running and gunning action. 

 

The visuals are a bright, colorful, pixelated love letter to 80’s and 90’s action game. That’s not to say they’re simple. Quite the opposite, it’s actually quite impressive how much is going on visually. While it’s a 2D action-platfomer, there’s depth to the level designs. One stage might see you trotting straight left to right, but another might see your character on a motorcycle that shifts from the front to the back lane to avoid traffic. More than that, one of the cool tricks Neon Inferno employs is this idea of ‘background enemies’. 

You can’t run into them physically or slash them with your sword – you need to use another button to bring up crosshairs that target the background, giving some of the staged combat a sense of 3D depth despite being a 2D title. Many of the environments both in the foreground and background can be damaged, adding to the chaotic immersion. The presentation doesn’t stop there, as the music is excellent. It fits the cyberpunk theme and high octane action beautifully. 

Moving on to the gameplay however, Neon Inferno really gets to flex its muscles. I already mentioned the mechanic for shooting into the background, but there’s a couple of other actions worth discussing as well. You have typical run and gun mechanics that allow you to jump and fire at angles in similar style to Contra, but there’s a sword attack that is worth talking about too. It can do melee damage to enemies right next to you, but it can also be used to deflect certain projectiles such as bullets or grenades (indicated by the color green. Flashing projectiles can’t be deflected) back at your assailants. Hold that button down after deflecting and you enter a sort of Matrix-like bullet time where you can change / direct the angle of the deflected projectiles. You can even deflect them into the background environments that I previously discussed.

 

There’s also a dodge mechanic to help you avoid getting struck, and there’s aspects of the environment that you can sometimes interact with too. One example is a rave where people are moving about in panic once the fighting breaks out (pushing your character around a bit in the process). However, to avoid the sea of humanity, you can jump up and make use of the overhead railings to combat your enemies. There’s even a bit of additional texture to the characters in the environment, as Neon Inferno keeps track of the civilians killed by your inability to protect them, or sometimes getting help in some scenes by NPCs if you don’t take them out too quickly. While the dodge can feel a bit slow and the shooting can be downright challenging when you’re attempting to deal with enemies on your plane, enemies in the background and trying to jump around to avoid attacks coming from all directions.

That being said, there’s some nice quality of life options baked into the game. There’s a few levels of difficulty, there’s checkpoint (in the non-arcade mode), a few elements of choice between missions as you pick your next assignment, being able to save and come back (despite the game being relatively short in nature) and lots of control options you can adjust to your liking. There’s usually an objective or two sprinkled into each stage to optionally complete that gives some additional replay value above and beyond trying the game at harder difficulties or approaching missions in a different order. There’s also a shop you can access between stages. 

This is probably one of the weaker parts of the game, as you can buy some 1-time only items to upgrade your run through the stage. It feels like there could have been some cumulative upgrades to help you build your power over time instead of blowing most of your money on a single upgrade that you can only use during one stage. It feels like a shallow upgrade system that could have been something a bit more than it is.

Neon Inferno is a sharply made action game that has a retro coat of paint over some pretty modern mechanics. I could quibble about the game’s relatively short length or how power-ups are temporary purchases, but Neon Inferno should appeal to run and gun action fans the same way games like Contra get me to pick them up and replay them, no matter how many times I’ve already beaten them.

Score: 7.5 / 10