It’s been a great year for sidescrolling action games. In the past few months alone, games like Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and Absolum brought back classic platforming and beat ‘em up gameplay with enough inventive twists to make them feel entirely new. Now, a new game is doing the same for sidescrolling shooters, merging two distinct arcade genres into something fresh, stylish, and extremely difficult.
Neon Inferno feels like a perfect throwback to old-school arcade games and simultaneously like a totally original idea. For the most part, it’s a sidescrolling shooter, where you’ll race across a cyberpunk version of New York City blasting enemies that run in from all angles. But at the same time, the action isn’t strictly limited to 2D. From time to time, enemies will appear in the background, turning Neon Inferno into a shooting gallery game as you aim into the distance to dispatch foes. The real magic of the game is how those two parts seamlessly mix into one chaotically fun shooter.
