If you’ve been gaming for as long as I have, there’s now a period of your gaming life that falls into the ‘classical’ era. The 8-bit and 16-bit consoles forged gaming as we know it today, with 2D sprites and burgeoning 3D techniques transporting us to worlds we’d previously only imagined. Zenovia Interactive want you to remember those days, with their latest title, Neon Inferno, set to revitalise the 2D run ‘n’ gun genre, while leaning on modern technology to make this one of the best-looking side scrollers of recent years.
Angelo Morano and Mariana Vitti are assassins waging a war for The Family. This conflict has you facing off against the Yakuza and the corrupt NYPD, working your way through the enforcers and low-level cops, on your way to the people at the top.
As a run ‘n’ gun game, the overarching gameplay is instantly recognisable: run from left to right, shooting in eight directions, while ducking and jumping out of the way of the blizzard of incoming bullets. Neon Inferno has a keen eye for where to update the classic tropes, though, adding in a slick parry ability that sends bullets hurtling back to where they’ve come from, as well as an all-new feature that lets you fight on two planes.
You’ve got one standard button for shooting, while the secondary one shifts your focus to the back of the screen, altering the gameplay to a shooting gallery. You move your reticle around to dispatch all the villainous bad guys, and it becomes a real challenge shifting focus back and forth between the two. It’s a clever idea, not only breathing new life into the genre, but taking familiar concepts and merging them into something new. Well, new-ish.
Layered on top of that is bullet time. Using your ability to parry bullets, you can then hold the button down and enter a slow-motion state where you can utterly redirect those bullets in any direction you want. These redirected bullets also deal more damage, so it becomes a crucial technique in your arsenal, slowing the action, and sending bullets careening around towards different enemies.
Where Terminator 2D: No Fate aims to be a ‘lost’ licensed game from the era, Neon Inferno takes the classic run ‘n’ gun form and gives it a modern refresh, throwing a variety of gameplay mechanics in, and somehow, making them work as a cohesive whole. The different stage ideas are effortlessly cool, with early highlights including a motorcycle chase, and a club battle where civilians are getting in the way, leading to a showdown on a smoke-filled dancefloor. These consistent, exciting shifts give Neon Inferno a cinematic, action-packed feel.
It’s all just so damn stylish. The animation and art direction are absolutely brilliant, with Cyberpunk vibes and neon-infused 2D styling that riff on elements of Streets of Rage, all the way through to Cyberpunk 2077. It perfectly ties in with the engaging, if straightforward, storytelling, digging deeper into the criminal underworld you’re part of. I love the way it’s undoubtedly fooling you into thinking this is how games used to be, but while I can categorically say that they weren’t, there are perfect nods and callbacks to games of yesteryear.
Add in the energetic soundtrack from Gonzalo Varela and Qwesta, which blends old-school Blade Runner synth tones and sax with aggressive guitar riffs and the occasional high-quality vocal, and you’ve got one of the most surprising games of the year.
It is fair to say that Neon Inferno isn’t messing around. The standard difficulty selection is on Hard by default, and this gives you fewer checkpoints and lets you take fewer hits, making sure you don’t misunderstand how tough games like this used to be. There are two easier-going options, for those who want to experience the game without the risk of snapping your controller in half. The middle option gives you a decent challenge, without feeling unfair.