Instantly Fun, Instantly Tough
From the moment you boot up the game, it comes out swinging. No lengthy intro, no lore dump, You get a short and sweet tutorial and then It drops you straight into combat, guns blazing.
You are thrown into a crime-ridden cyberpunk city ruled by corrupt cops and Yakuza gangs, letting you play as Angelo or Mariana as you move from job to job with zero wasted time .
The controls feel shockingly smooth for a retro-style run-and-gun shooter. Switching between ranged shots, dodges, melee slashes, and even reflecting bullets in slo-mo like you're in the matrix. The game feels fast and fluid. It’s old school in spirit but modern in execution.
This Game Absolutely Kicked My Ass
As an arcade veteran (or so I foolishly believed), I picked Hard Mode thinking “yeah, sure, challenge me.”
Neon Inferno said: “Bet.”
But here’s the thing - even when it punishes you, it never feels cheap. It doesn’t pull nonsense unfair hits or impossible enemy waves. It just expects you to pay attention. Lean forward. Git gud.
The game really expects you to pay attention to a lot of things at once. Enemies can spring from anywhere - not just from left, right, up or down but also from the background. It's a 2.5D game so you really need to be on your toes at all times.
Great Blend of Retro and Modern
I played on an Xbox Series X on a giant 4K TV expecting it to look at least a bit crunchy and pixelated. Instead, it scales surprisingly well. The pixel art is sharp, the neon effects pop, and the cyberpunk backgrounds give it that “we’re living in a dystopia but at least it’s aesthetically pleasing” vibe.
And the performance? Smooth. Responsive. Zero lag when you need to pull off a clutch dodge or parry a bullet back into some cyber-goon’s face.
A Few Misses, but Nothing Major
Power-ups are basically nonexistent, which is… a choice. You can buy new guns, but they’re extremely expensive and temporary, so I didn't end up using them much .
Also, no healing pickups. None. Zero.
This game looks at your health bar like, “Protect that thing. I’m not helping you.”
Still, once you learn each enemy type and boss pattern, the whole flow starts feeling fair and rewarding.
Just like in the 90s, the game expects you to die a few times before you learn all the patterns, and when you do - everything clicks into place.
Co-Op Makes Everything Better
Two-player co-op is available, and it’s exactly what you’d hope for: more chaos, more bullets, more neon explosions. No forced co-op mechanics. Just pure two-person arcade mayhem. I forced one of my kids to play an entire level with me. he died a lot and blamed “old games” for being too tough. I allowed him to go back to Roblox.
Final Verdict
Neon Inferno isn’t pretending to be anything other than what it is:
A stylish, fast, ridiculously fun retro arcade shooter built with enough modern polish to keep you hooked.
Oh, and it let's you ride Kaneda's Bike (from Akira) which instantly bumped its score up a few points.
For me?
9 out of 10.
Highly recommend.
Dim the lights, Pretend you're in your childhood arcade and let the neon melt your eyeballs.
