Neon City Riders brings 2D pixel adventure to Blade Runner streets
Neon pixels up to your eyeballs.
Pixel art and neon is just a match made in heaven, isn’t it? Especially when you throw that combo into an 80’s influenced cyberpunk setting, oh boy. Atmospheric pixel magic. Neon City Riders, originally successfully Kickstarted in 2016, has bundled together all these wonderful elements in its 2D action adventure, due to be released in 2020.
Developed and published by Mexico-based indie, Mecha Studios, Neon City Riders casts the player as Rick, a masked man on a mission. The crumbling neon world he finds himself within is ruled by four powerful gang leaders, and in order to defeat them, Rick is going to need some fire power.
Roaming the streets of Neon City, Rick can hoover up collectables, superpowers and even companions to help him in his plight. Each leader has captured their fair share of Rick’s family and friends so with every death comes the release of people back to the wild streets. The game aims to have a light narrative tone, but is not afraid to stray into some of the darker sides of cyberpunk – one filled with BDSM fetishes and vanilla ice impersonators, apparently.
The world is littered with inhabitants to talk to and contains multiple story threads to unravel. The map is open-world, so if you want to explore this pixelated beauty at length, it’s absolutely your oyster. As well as dash and parry-led combat, there are also plenty of puzzles to solve within the environment itself. And of course, all of this is set to an 80s inspired soundtrack.
To find out more about Neon City Riders visit the games website. It’s set to release in early 2020, and the team are also currently working on a consoles.