For as much as I like the overall aesthetics of the cyberpunk genre, I think it has both peaked and reached a point of utter saturation after the release of CD Projekt Red’s own Cyberpunk 2077. What else would anyone even be able to do with such a premise? Not only that, but that would eventually result in a LOT (and I do mean, a gigantic LOT) of games following the same premise. Nowadays, how to even make a cyberpunk-themed game stand out? You gotta make something downright impressive to stand out in a sea of sameness. One such example that manages to succeed at that is Neon Inferno.

This one goes for a different, less realistic take on cyberpunk. Neon Inferno is a 2D, pixel-based, action platformer with a slight anime-esque coat of paint, but not in a Ghost in the Shell kind of way. It’s got a unique art style and a premise that doesn’t tie it to the usual “rebel versus corporations” or “what makes us human” schticks we’re fed up with at this point. Instead, it’s a lot smaller in scope, and also more noir; you’re literally someone working for an Italian-American mafia from New York City. You’re not particularly a good guy (or gal!) at first, you’re a hitman for a mob boss.

I want to start off this review by stating that, visually speaking, Neon Inferno is one of the prettiest and most technically impressive 2D platformers I’ve played in a while. It’s not just the combination of amazing sprites with the “anime-but-not-that-much” art style and cyberpunk aesthetic, but also the way the developers were able to implement some really impressive lighting and shadow effects onto what’s essentially pixel art, making everything feel more alive, more detailed, more fluid, whilst maintaining a blistering fast framerate, even when there’s a ton of action happening onscreen.

Gameplay-wise, the best comparison I can give is Contra. It’s a run-and-gun 2D platformer, where you’re being attacked from all directions. Thankfully, your guns pack enough of a punch to get rid of anyone in sight, and just feel impactful enough for you to never feel tired of using them. You can aim and shoot at all directions, but this is not a twin-stick shooter; instead, you can either run and aim at the same time, or stand on a spot, hold down another aim button, and have at it. The latter is a bit tricky, as the sheer amount of crap happening onscreen rarely gives you time to just stand still and relax, especially when you consider the two main features that make Neon Inferno stand out gameplay-wise.

The first main feature is that you don’t just shoot at things at the same plane as you are. A neat thing about Neon Inferno is that an additional background layer may (and will frequently) contain enemies shooting at you, and you gotta take care of them with an additional firing-and-aiming button that essentially turns the game into a pseudo light gun shooter in certain sections. I ended up loving these parts for some reason. I don’t know if it’s because they were usually featured during cool setpieces, but man, it just felt good.

Another neat feature is the fact you can parry shots. Yep, you read that right. Parrying in a shooter. It sounds ludicrous and complex, but Neon Inferno does a good job at making it reasonable and sensible, as you can only parry green-colored shots, and they aren’t exactly fast projectiles. The game does a good job at teaching you how to react to visual cues, not only in the case of these green shots, but alerts as to when and where foes will attack with screen-plastering moves. It’s brutal and punishing if you don’t pay attention to these signs, but Neon Inferno never feels impossible or frustrating. It’s challenging in just the right amounts.

I actually have very little to complain about Neon Inferno. It’s just an incredibly well-crafted action platformer with amazing visuals, great controls, a tough-but-fair level of difficulty, and some visceral setpieces. Even if cyberpunk games just don’t impress me as much as they used to nowadays, this little gem stands out by simply being one of the most entertaining action platformers I’ve seen in a while.

Graphics: 9.5 Neon Inferno features some of the prettiest and smoothest spritework I’ve seen in a while, and it’s working in tandem with some actually impressive (for 2D standards) lighting and post-processing effects.	Gameplay: 9.0 Incredibly responsive action platforming with shooter elements. The parrying and background aiming mechanics are easy to learn and not very difficult to master, despite the game’s intense level of challenge.
Sound: 8.0 Its synthwave soundtrack is pretty good, but I wouldn’t call it amazing or innovative. It might be due to the sheer excessive saturation of synthwave soundtracks in every single cyberpunk-themed game out there.	Fun Factor: 9.0 Even if cyberpunk-themed games don’t feel as novel as they used to, Neon Inferno stands out by simply being incredibly polished, challenging in the right amount, and just a blast to play.
Final Verdict: 9.0

Neon Inferno is available now on PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.

A copy of Neon Inferno was provided by the publisher.