Neon Inferno review – the best-looking video game of 2025

Stunning 2D artwork and old school arcade gameplay combine in this new cyberpunk style shooter, but does it play as good as it looks?

The early 90s may have seen the magic of pixel art reach an early peak but when the original PlayStation launched in the middle of the decade 2D graphics suddenly became deeply unfashionable. It took until the rise of indie gaming in the 2010s before there was a second renaissance, but that’s been going on long enough now that, at least on a technical level, it’s far surpassed anything from the last century.

However, there is a tendency for many of these faux retro games to focus too much on the visuals, without the old school gameplay to back them up. Too much of their time is spend paying homage to famous games, or clever little background details, that the gameplay becomes secondary.

The priority for Neon Inferno, from the makers of Steel Assault, is definitely the presentation, and in terms of the graphics and the soundtrack it’s absolutely pitch perfect. But that only makes the failings elsewhere harder to bear.

Technically, developer Zenovia is based in New York City, but the team all work remotely and include developers from the UK, France, South Africa, Brazil, Uruguay, and Japan. In other words, they’re all fans, brought together by their love of the old school gaming aesthetic; a fact that shines through in every aspect of the game.

Neon Inferno isn’t a direct clone of any particular game – it’s not trying to be a spiritual sequel to anything – but many of its set pieces are clearly influenced by individual titles, such as shimmying along railings, that are inexplicably hanging above a nightclub, in the style of Contra. Metal Slug and Gunstar Heroes are the other major inspirations, with some obvious nods and others that only hardcore fans will recognise.

You play as either of two assassins, Angelo and Mariana, who pick up contracts at a bar, that sees them going up against regular video game street punks, rival gangs, and corrupt police. Initially, you’re free to take any mission you want, but later on the story comes more to the fore and progression becomes linear, which makes the initial set-up seem a bit pointless. Especially as there’s no difference in story between the two characters.

Although the core gameplay is simply running from left to right across the screen, shooting anyone in front or behind you, the game does have several twists to try and distinguish itself as more than just a pretty face.

The main one is that you can aim into the screen, to shoot enemies in the background, which is not an unknown concept in 2D games (Sunset Riders comes to mind, although even the original Contra had behind-the-shoulder sections) but the reason for its rarity is made plain here, as you fiddle awkwardly with the shoulder button and aim a crosshair, while your character is suddenly rooted to the spot.

It’s a nice idea in theory, but in practise it’s irritating and ruins the pacing, as you constantly have to stop what you’re doing and mess around with the awkwardly imprecise aiming. There’s so much going on in later levels, with an unmanageable amount of enemies on screen at once, some moving between the foreground and background, that it almost becomes dizzying to look at, let alone play.

The other big idea is a sword which sends you into slow-mo bullet time if you use it to deflect special green bullets. This is pretty neat as you can direct the bullets anywhere you want, including into the background, but it works on a cooldown so it’s not always available.

There’s also a number of vehicle levels, where you’re chasing after bad guys, and avoiding innocent people, while the whole game has a cyberpunk style aesthetic that means a lot of your opponents tend to be robots or high-tech tanks and other sci-fi staples.

Beyond that, though, the only complication is special ammo you can buy before a level starts, but once you run out that’s it. You also can’t carry it the next mission, which is annoying because you don’t earn a lot of money from completing a level and you quickly resent having to spend it.

Like most retro style games, Neon Inferno is extremely difficult, but in a particularly aggravating manner, where you have to start the entire level if you you’re playing on the Normal difficulty – which we don’t advise doing.

You can play in local co-op, although whether that makes it easier or not depends on who you’re playing with. We only found it a distraction but if you don’t have anyone that’s interested to hand there’s no online option, so you’ll be forced to play alone anyway.

In terms of 2D graphics, Neon Inferno is a stunning technical and artistic achievement. It looks incredible – at least the equal of any other pixel art game we’ve seen – with tons of moving parts and amazing attention to detail in terms of the little animation quirks and background details. The music is great too, with lots of grungy electronica that fits the tone perfectly.

Sadly, though, it’s just not much fun to play. As has been true since the dawn of gaming, no matter how good the graphics are, if the gameplay is sub-par it’s all for nothing. Neon Inferno is an impressive achievement, by a dedicated and enthusiastic team, but it’s far more fun to watch than it is to play.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £15.99
Publisher: Screenwave Media
Developer: Zenovia
Release Date: 20th November 2025
Age Rating: 16

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