Neon Inferno, A Humble Review

Long levels must have varied backgrounds that don't repeat every five meters, yet they must not be so detailed that the player loses sight of the projectiles chasing them like furious mosquitoes. Neon Inferno absolutely excels in this.

The famous moment when someone wonders, "What the hell killed me"? Someone might throw the controller in an unknown direction, while someone else will just persistently press start and begin anew. In a genre where half the screen always wants to mount your head on the wall like a hunting trophy, clear visibility is always the decisive factor. 

Veterans of this style of game instinctively knew this from the dawn of arcades, while many of today's retro releases first stuff pixel art to the point of overflowing the video memory and only then think about where the player will actually die.

If you are in the mood for something completely different, check out our Escape Simulator 2 review!

How Neon Inferno Balances Chaotic Visuals with Perfect Playability

And then something named Neon Inferno comes onto the scene and tells everyone: "Here's how it's done, youngsters." This cyberpunk shooter is essentially a huge, fierce, and ultra-stylized tribute to everything we love in old-school action games. It's like having a checklist of what a title needs to carry with it to bear such an epithet. 

The pixel art is perfect, the effects are modern and well-defined but unobtrusive. A special treat in such games, i.e., the chaos on the screen, is epic, but it is legible. Ammunition flies in swarms, explosions glitter like expensive fireworks, but the game is never unfair at any moment. Every object carries a clear distinction, every danger is excellently marked, and whenever something is unknown or there's a bug in your brain after the chaos you survived on the previous screen – there is a dodge that gives i-frames for a second or two and provides a great chance to boast to everyone about how you are a pro player of this genre.

The biggest trick Neon Inferno has shown so far is its focus on just a few key mechanics and throwing out the window all the "mandatory" genre ingredients that have become a template over time. Although it's known that we make soup from certain ingredients, we can always add something new and enrich it that way. The trick is that there exists a delicate balance, and Neon Inferno excels at it.

From Katana Deflects to High-Speed Chases

In the story, we lead two protagonists: Anđelo and Mariana. Excellent names for some arcade characters we have loved since we were kids. There's a certain Capcom flair in all of this, and afterwards, the influence of certain arcade titles on the gameplay is clearly visible. Our two protagonists definitely follow the character design tropes for such games and fit perfectly into this world. 

He is a very dark, complicated cyber samurai, while Mariana is a lady "yearned for," and the two of them have the task of setting things right in a city full of crime and corruption.

To start, the two of them have an identical move set to avoid unnecessary circus. They run, shoot, crouch, jump, kick, shoot the background like in Wild Guns, and use their katanas to deflect green bullets. The beauty is that along with the optional bullet-time, you also get the ability to direct ammunition in the appropriate direction, and in this way, you can control the counter-move and bury even more enemies with great efficiency. 

If you thought this was the only gameplay you would see during the entire campaign, you were mistaken. Oh yes, we also have the mandatory vehicle sections here. Here, the motorcycle is the real deal, and while you fly down the highway at a dizzying speed, you will be able to shoot it out with opponents and jump over vehicles in your lane. For these two, there is no traffic jam, only a lack of skill and reflexes of the one controlling them. All of this is skillfully implemented to prevent the gameplay from slowing down even for a second.

Mastering the Rhythm of Neon Inferno's Bullet Hell Waltz

The first thing that will greet you when you turn on the game and what will burn your retinas and put a smile on your face is the visual component. Neon sidewalks, curbs where you wouldn't even place a local bum to sit, graffiti and "colorful filth," corrupt policemen who look like they fell out of some bootleg VHS tape from the 80s, yakuza with katanas under their coats as far as the eye can see… Everything is in service of this exaggerated and stylized aesthetic.

When the initial delight subsides a bit and you start playing and slowly progressing through the levels, you will realize something that can somewhat be viewed as a minus. That is the realization that there are no additional weapons or power-ups in the game. Whether it's a design decision or a balance problem is not known, but if they went for minimalism, then all of this is very well realized.

 As far as we're concerned, a very smart choice! Believe me, the standard weaponry you get is quite sufficient. When you get into the rhythm, the game feels like a hygienically clean bullet hell waltz that, however, isn't happening on the beautiful blue Danube. At the right moment, if you activate the katana and remember to enter bullet time, you can kill half the screen with just one bullet. Who needs a laser when they have guided enemy bullets at their service?

Authentic Retro Immersion: The CRT Shaders of Neon Inferno

When level design is concerned, Neon Inferno also shows the love invested in this title here. Movement is very fluid, like some of Capcom's arcade games. Here we can mention Mega Man X or Strider. You jump a little, hang from platforms a little, do a double jump, activate bullet deflect, kill a couple of enemies in the background, and realize that 3 hours have passed since you turned on the game. This was made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Greatest hits, but in one package!

And for lovers of the retro style, there is another treat, which are the very well-implemented CRT shaders, so you can, to a greater extent, imagine that you are playing this on some old-school system and on a CRT TV.

When you overcome all the adversities during the regular part of the level, of course, you must get to the boss. Each is characteristic, has 5-6 attacks that are random and fast but are so well animated that you will easily "telegraph" them to avoid moments of throwing the controller out the window. 

Like every retro boss we had the chance to bury after a few attempts. First, they seem like an inescapable hell, but then you notice you have plenty of openings where you can deal damage to them, and then you get the revelation that with proper handling, you can take off their entire health in less than a minute. O happy day!

Balancing Motivation and Challenge In The Campaign

The game is made to constantly motivate you to go further but not to be discouraged. The structure of Neon Inferno itself is interesting: you choose the sequence of the first few missions from a kind of HQ bar, a cyberpunk version of a tavern, and when the final showdown begins, it transitions into a linear structure.

As with all such titles, you have recycling. Mini-bosses return but are weakened before the final fight. A kind of boss run we could expect. Unfortunately, such a game could not pass without flaws, and that is the in-game store you can visit before every mission. Secondary weapons are too expensive, have little ammunition, and when you empty them, you can say goodbye to them. 

Weapons in the lowest price range cost too much, so the point of buying them is lost, and it will be enough for you to rely on your own skills. The only bright spot in that arsenal is the homing weapon because it melts boss health, and that is the only thing worth grinding money for to reduce your headache.

In Conclusion

All in all, Neon Inferno is an excellently balanced run 'n gun. Every level is thematically different: from driving, elevator sequences, shootouts on balconies, all the way to fights in overcrowded nightclubs. You just have to be careful not to hit a civilian, but whose fault is it that they entered the line of fire? 

Of course, joking aside, that is a big minus because the game returns you to a checkpoint, which is generally well placed. If you want replay value, then you have that too because you can very easily boost your rating in the levels and in that way show the world who is the main cyber samurai in town.

Neon Inferno takes old ideas, paints them with an '80s palette and CRT sheen. To all that, it adds a little bullet-time spice and serves them at a speed that makes the player want "just one more run." And just when you think it's over, the game will wink at you and say, "Come on, one more round, you know you want to."

Game Rating: 9.2/10 

It achieves a near-perfect balance of stunning retro-modern visuals, incredibly fluid and readable chaotic gameplay, and satisfying mechanics that respect both the genre's roots and the player's skill.

Age Recommendation:12+ 

Recommended for ages 12 and up due to intense cyberpunk violence, chaotic bullet-hell action, and complex themes of crime and corruption, which require a level of cognitive maturity and motor skills to fully engage with and appreciate.

Gemini AI Summary:

This 2025 review praises Neon Inferno as a masterfully executed retro-style cyberpunk run 'n gun shooter that brilliantly balances stunning, chaotic pixel art visuals with perfectly readable and fluid gameplay, focusing on a few polished mechanics like bullet deflection and optional bullet-time to create a challenging yet fair and deeply satisfying homage to classic arcade action games.