Neon Inferno Switch Review – Thrilling Cyberpunk Action

Neon Inferno drops you into New York thirty years from now, a neon-soaked lawless utopia where corrupt cops and crime syndicates fight for control. Angelo and Mariana are assassins for a rival Family, tasked with taking out the competition. In this dystopian cyberpunk future, they’re the killers you want on your side—one bullet at a time.

Classic Run and Gun Meets Cyberpunk Style

Neon Inferno is a grizzled, beautiful cyberpunk future of bullets, explosions and mayhem all told through the perspective of classic 2D run and gun and gallery shooter mechanics. Think Contra, Sunset Riders and Wild Guns. Just full of chrome. It’s all style infused with a more than healthy dose of bullet shooter mayhem and bombastic action.

Action Across Snowy Streets and Rooftops

Neon Inferno throws you across the glitzy streets of a snow-covered New York, across rooftops full of snipers and highways full of traffic. There are Yakuza and armoured cops and giant mechs all looking to put you down. But you’re not some helpless babe in the woods.

You’ve got a gun with infinite ammo, a knife that can deflect specific coloured bullets back at the enemy, the ability to shoot into the background and a little bit of bullet time that lets you guide deflected bullets around the screen where they can do added damage. And you’re going to need all of those skills plus fast reflexes because Neon Inferno throws quite a bit at you at the same time.

Bullet Chaos and Fast Reflexes Needed

Now, while it doesn’t reach the insane levels of traditional bullet shooters, there are enough projectiles and explosions going on around you that can make short work of your assignments. Deflecting and dodge rolling are crucial to your survival, along with shooting into the background at a moment’s notice, as the game consistently mixes up and matches its two different play-styles. You’re just as likely to get attacked from the sides while shooting a gunship in the background that’s lobbing missiles and cops at you like an exploding piñata.

Angelo or Mariana – Co-op Included

While you can choose to play as either Angelo or Mariana, it makes no mechanical difference: they both control the same and have access to the same power-ups. What it does give you is the option to play the game in co-op mode, which is always welcome for this genre.

Power-Ups and Mission-Based Progression

There aren’t any ammo refills or other weapons in the levels. Instead, you have to buy once-off power-ups from a shop before your mission. Each mission is treated like a contract, with cash instead of a high score count and a rating to let you know how you’ve done. If you take too much damage or kill civilians, it all comes out of your pay cheque, so you’re going to want to be quick and efficient if you want to rake in the bucks and afford those power-ups.

Thankfully, the action is ridiculous and the gameplay addictive, keeping me coming back to try and earn a better payout and survive on the greater difficulties that add more complex enemy patterns to the fray.

Sluggish Controls and Performance Issues

That said, it’s not a perfect retro shooter, unfortunately. Neon Inferno’s biggest problems aren’t the number of things trying to kill you, but rather the controls you need to survive. The games playable characters move more slowly than they should. While you’ll get used to this and learn to anticipate when to jump and when to roll, it doesn’t stop the game from feeling sluggish on the control side. And sadly, the game’s gorgeous visuals do come at a price, on Switch at least, as the more complicated and beautifully laid out levels and backgrounds not only make you that much more sluggish, but also noticeably affect the frame-rate.

One other niggle has to do with shooting into the background. When you do so, you can’t move, which is a little on the awkward side with everything that’s going on. You’ll get used to it, but it never stopped me from wishing I could move and shoot at the same time.

Stunning Visuals and Soundtrack

And about those visuals? Well, Neon Inferno is thoroughly sumptuous to look at. The 2D sprites and animation work are really stunning but it’s the game’s sets, specifically the backgrounds, that are breathtaking as they light up this cyberpunk future with tons of details, neon lighting and destructible elements. The CRT filter makes the game look really arcade retro, but you can turn it off in the settings menu, along with volumetric lights, and the game still looks stunning with its cleaner artwork. Those visuals, though, do come at a cost.

Oh, and I’d be remiss to mention that the game’s soundtrack is kick-ass.

Explosive Set-Pieces and Arcade Energy

Whether you’re riding around on a motorcycle, avoiding oncoming vehicles or jumping from flying car to flying car, Neon Inferno throws an action movie’s worth of set-pieces at you. And none of that would mean anything if the game wasn’t a blast to play. And it is. This is a bombastic love letter to the age of Contra and Sunset Riders that does more than ape the conventions of the genre, throwing in the addictive quality of the arcades that, had it been in the arcade, would have had me pumping quarters after quarters into it to beat it.

Neon Inferno Trailer

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The game was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.