Review: Neon Inferno — Both Amazing and Frustrating at the Same Time
November 26, 2025
It is an immense source of pride to be able to talk about video games that are based and developed in New York City. Neon Inferno is the first such game that I have the privilege of reviewing, and hopefully it isn’t the last. Going forward, I’d love to support more indie projects coming out of the city, so I’ll definitely be keeping a greater eye on that.
Now, to get to the actual informative part of this review, Neon Inferno is a cyberpunk, 2D pixel-art run-and-gun game developed by Zenovia Interactive. It is an arcade shooter in the truest sense, both in difficulty and its general vibe. It would feel like a time capsule, if not for its modern features. Maybe that’s a bit confusing to say about a game set in the future...
To get back on track, Neon Inferno is difficult to properly evaluate. While some aspects of the game are inarguably outstanding, like the pixel art and music, opinions will vary elsewhere. That’s kinda just what happens when a game is committed to an old style of difficulty. Neon Inferno is particularly frustrating, because it feels so close to being a standout title. Neon Inferno is still ultimately a good game, but it has a much more niche appeal than it should have.
Enjoyability: 8/12 — A Little Too Much Death
Single-player games that have you die a lot aren’t generally great when it comes to player engagement. There are exceptions to that rule, but there are few things more immersion-breaking than death. Neon Inferno really suffers from that. For the most part, the game’s checkpoints are pretty generous, but getting killed rarely feels justified.
The problem with Neon Inferno is that its designed to be a run-and-gun game when it would be significantly more enjoyable as a more standard action-platformer. Most of the levels are just too long, which doesn’t pair well with the game’s lack of healing. Most players won’t care if a game’s bosses feel overwhelming, but Neon Inferno goes a step too far, giving too much relevance to random fodder enemies. Fighting for your life for 15 straight minutes is fun until you get downed by a stray shot. That’ll happen often. Neon Inferno is just straight up aggravating. It has its highs, but it can kill your mood quickly.
Gameplay: 10/12 — Firing on All Cylinders
Neon Inferno isn’t particularly complex when it comes to the gameplay, but it does just about everything right. The shooting feels good, only held back a little by its 2D existence. One of the game’s most unique features, which allows players to shoot into the foreground and background, actually allows for the highest level of precision. Enemies on the same plane are harder to hit, especially the more mobile ones. This isn’t a big issue, though, and players can most certainly handle anything that comes their way.
Bullet time is another fun implementation in Neon Inferno, and it offers fantastic value. Slowing down the pace of a fight not only allows players to parry shots rights into enemy weakpoints, but it also offers some time to think in the heat of battle. It’s a great addition to the game. Really, I have no complaints about any of the game’s mechanics. More defensive options would have been nice, but Neon Inferno is very functional as is.
Atmosphere: 11/12 — Elite Pixel Art
Genre-wise, Neon Inferno may not be to everyone’s tastes, but its visual style is indisputably gorgeous. The pixel art is pristine. It’s especially impressive for a game that hasn’t been worked on by a massive development team. It’s hard to even pinpoint what’s best about the art design. The backgrounds are incredibly well done. The cinematic character sprites are stunning to look at. The lighting really sells it all. Neon Inferno has everything going for it visually.
The music may not be getting a lot of public attention, but it shouldn’t be overlooked. There are some amazing tracks in Neon Inferno that go way beyond setting the mood. The soundtrack is outstanding, able to amp things up as much as it is able to mellow things out. The soundtrack is able to bring the best out of the game’s cyberpunk mafia concept, which is no small feat. It’s a bit of a ridiculous idea, but the audio and visuals make it work.
Design: 8/12 — Genre Dissonance
Neon Inferno is a game that tries too hard to be something that it shouldn’t. Run-and-gun games do have a niche market, but Neon Inferno deserves more than that. It feels too advanced for a game of that genre. There is a dissonance when it comes to the game’s modern features and its decision to play like a strict arcade title.
Complete subjectivity aside, Neon Inferno doesn’t really fit into the run-and-gun genre properly. I’ve already mentioned this before, but the levels are too long. The game itself is relatively short, but each level takes up a sizable portion of time. Learning one boss fight isn’t enough, because stages will have no problem throwing multiple at you. This just aids in the unsatisfying gameplay loop based around death. It doesn’t feel like you actually get better at the game, because you’re mostly just surviving encounters.
Difficulty in Neon Inferno doesn’t feel natural. It’s just the sheer number of enemies that will usually do players in. And if it’s not the quantity of enemies, it’s the quality of the enemies. A lot of the bosses have completely broken moves that feel incredibly unfair to deal with during your first encounter with them. That’s a design philosophy that I’m not particularly fond of. Being able to experiment in battles is cool, but not when death is such a prevailing threat.
Direction: 8/12 — Ticket to Ride
Neon Inferno’s incredibly short runtime does the game a huge solid. It makes it pretty easy to push through all the levels, even if Neon Inferno hasn’t particularly captivated you yet. This is definitely more relevant in the early-game where Neon Inferno feels the most frustrating.
There’s actually a story and sense of progression that’s supposed to be taking place while playing through Neon Inferno, but it doesn’t leave that strong of an impression. The narrative only really starts to feel relevant at the very end of the game. Neon Inferno’s attempts to slow down its pace really aren’t very effective. Never does it feel like you’re building the playable characters up. Considering how short the game is, though, I understand the game’s approach.
