Neon Inferno

Two planes, one city, and a syndicate war to settle

Neon Inferno is developer Zenovia Interactive's dual-plane run-and-gun, published by Retroware and released 19 November 2025 for Windows. Set in a decayed, neon-lit New York City in 2055, players take control of Angelo Morano or Mariana Vitti, assassins working for the Family, a crime syndicate determined to crush its rivals and seize control of the metropolitan battlefield. Missions send players blasting, deflecting and slicing through waves of enemies across a series of tightly constructed levels, each capped by a unique boss fight, with the game's central mechanical hook, the ability to shoot and be shot at from both the screen's foreground and background simultaneously, running through every encounter. A second player can join locally or via Remote Play Together for cooperative runs, doubling both the firepower and the chaos on screen.

A run-and-gun reviewers say earns its genre comparisons

The single most consistent thread running through Neon Inferno's review corpus is genuine, specific enthusiasm for how confidently it executes its chosen genre. Reviewers repeatedly compare the game to classics like Metal Slug, Contra, Sunset Riders and Wild Guns, with one detailed review describing it as blending "the DNA of Nam-75... with the dual-plane shooting mechanics of older classics like Wild Guns" into something that feels genuinely fast-paced next to its influences. Another reviewer, writing after completing every achievement including a full one-credit-clear Arcade run, specifically credits developer Zenovia Interactive's earlier game Steel Assault for setting their expectations going in, noting Neon Inferno "looks outstanding, sounds outstanding, plays great once you get a handle on some of the 'tech'" the game offers. That pedigree recurs often enough across the corpus to function as the game's strongest selling point, with reviewers consistently framing it as a genre entry that respects its influences without simply repeating them.

A background-shooting hook reviewers call genuinely novel

Beyond its genre execution, Neon Inferno's dual-plane shooting mechanic, the ability to target and be targeted by enemies occupying either the screen's foreground or background layer, draws its own independent, specific praise. One detailed review calls the mechanic "innovative" and "super dynamic," noting it forces players to "manage the foreground and background as enemies will spawn on multiple planes," a wrinkle they say they'd never encountered handled quite this way in the genre before. A separate reviewer frames the same system in more technical terms, praising how "smooth the background-shooting mechanic works specifically," comparing the feeling favourably to titles like Steel Assault and Joymasher's catalogue without that comparison's usual focus on platforming. Visual presentation and sound design draw their own consistent, independent praise throughout the corpus, with reviewers repeatedly singling out the game's pixel art and soundtrack as standout elements even in reviews that are otherwise more mixed on the game's difficulty or length.

A mechanic reviewers say turns against them in the busiest fights

Set against that praise, the single most dominant and independently repeated complaint across Neon Inferno's negative reviews concerns screen readability once that same dual-plane mechanic is put under real pressure. One detailed review states the problem plainly: "readability of what's happening on screen is an issue," specifically citing the game's default CRT filter and busy, flashing backgrounds for making it hard to tell whether an incoming threat is in the foreground or background. A separate reviewer echoes the same frustration from a slightly different angle, describing the background-shooting system as "poorly implemented at times" in a way that "breaks the gameplay up in an offputting way," while a third detailed review specifically flags the game's default CRT filter and motion blur as compounding, rather than stylizing, the readability problem during its busiest encounters.

A curve reviewers say never finds its middle setting

A further, independently repeated complaint concerns difficulty balance. Multiple reviewers describe Neon Inferno's difficulty options as swinging between two extremes with little comfortable ground between them, with one writing bluntly that players are "either stuck with insultingly easy mode, or excessively difficult mode, with no real in between." That criticism compounds, for some reviewers, with a specific complaint about the game's co-op death penalty: one detailed review completing the campaign in co-op on Medium describes being "shocked" to discover there are "no extra lives, no health items," and that reaching a checkpoint doesn't revive a fallen partner or restore health, turning routine checkpoints into forced pause-and-restart rituals rather than genuine progress markers. A smaller, related complaint concerns overall length, with reviewers describing a story completable in roughly 90 minutes to two hours, arguing the game's asking price would be better supported by more levels or unlockable content beyond its harder Arcade Mode variant.

Value

At NZ$29.99, Neon Inferno asks a moderate-to-premium price for a short but visually and mechanically striking run-and-gun, and its Very Positive score, 399 positive against 28 negative across 427 reviews, reflects genuine enthusiasm for its pixel art, soundtrack and inventive dual-plane shooting mechanic from a review base that clearly recognizes its genre pedigree. That reception comes with the caveat of a specific, repeated complaint about screen readability during its busiest encounters, and an independently repeated concern that its difficulty curve swings between extremes without a comfortable middle setting. For fans of classic arcade run-and-guns willing to accept a short campaign and a demanding difficulty curve, Neon Inferno is well worth its price; for players wanting a more forgiving, extended shooter experience, the current review corpus suggests trying the game's demo first to gauge its readability and pacing before committing.