First Look: Neon Inferno Combines Contra-Style Action with Wild Guns Chaos

 

February 13, 2025. This week, we had the chance to get some hands-on time with an early copy of the Steam demo for Neon Inferno—and now, you can too.

Neon Inferno is a hybrid platform shooter/gallery shooter that thrusts you into a cyberpunk world as one of two assassins for "the family": Angelo or Mariana. In the demo, both characters seemed to play similarly, with no noticeable gameplay differences between them.

The game does its name justice, immersing the player in a neon-soaked world bursting with color and stunning visuals. Presented in glorious large 32-bit-style sprites with intricate futuristic designs, Neon Inferno truly nails the retro aesthetic.

The settings menu offers plenty of visual customization options, allowing players to tweak the intentional blur, adjust neon lighting, and even enable CRT overlays and screen curvature for that classic arcade feel. Personally, I found the blur a bit too heavy-handed. Instead of just an on/off toggle, a slider option would have been ideal, as a touch of blur can enhance the visuals without obscuring them. However, this is purely a preference, and regardless, Zenovia Interactive has undoubtedly captured the look and feel of a '90s run-and-gun game.

Accompanying the vibrant visuals is a thumping soundtrack that is an absolute feast for the ears. It complements the action beautifully and further enhances the distinct style the developers are clearly aiming for.

It's no surprise that Retroware picked up Neon Inferno, as it perfectly fits their portfolio of reviving 32-bit and 2D action platformers with a modern twist. The game balances hardcore, skill-based gameplay with accessibility by offering a range of difficulty options for players of all skill levels.

Where Neon Inferno really stands out is its unique blend of Contra-style run-and-gun action with the gallery shooter mechanics of Wild Guns. The demo starts with a short tutorial before giving players full access to the game's mechanics, which took a few rounds to fully grasp. During each level, enemies appear on both the foreground and background. To target those in the background, you press the RB button and aim with your cursor—a mechanic that feels intuitive but requires some adjustment, especially when using a controller instead of a mouse.

Because aiming in gallery mode uses the left stick, movement is temporarily restricted, meaning you must shoot, reposition, and repeat while dodging enemy attacks. Jumping provides some mobility, but not being able to strafe while aiming at background enemies can be frustrating, especially when the action gets hectic between both layers.

After a few rounds, I found my groove, making only a few mistakes in more chaotic areas before reaching the boss of the demo. The boss fight played out in multiple stages, culminating in a satisfying death scream from the big bad—then, just like that, the demo was over.

Short but sweet, the demo offers a tantalizing taste of what Neon Inferno has in store when it launches later this year. It already delivers a strong nostalgic hit while feeling fresh and stylish. Some gameplay elements could use slight fine-tuning for better responsiveness, but overall, it feels great. Hopefully, the dev team is refining the experience as launch approaches because I’m eager to play more sooner rather than later.

You can try the demo for yourself right now on Steam—so if this piqued your interest, go check it out!