Infernax is a retro homage to classic NES games Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. We’ve had an opportunity to play it before its release on Monday and can wholeheartedly say that this game nails what it is going for perfectly. Not only that, but it’s added plenty of unique elements to help it stand on its own and feel like a very modern game despite its classic look.
Of course, it’s one thing to just look retro. A good homage needs to create that feeling classic NES games created. Infernax does a really great job of this with a fair challenge, but it also has one more really important detail for a retro game, especially one that has so clearly taken inspiration from the Castlevania series: the Konami code. The most famous cheat code in all of gaming, many games have taken inspiration from the code and used it for their own purposes. Infernax was no different, but the way the devs have implemented it is really cool.
After inputting the famous cheat code at the title screen, the player is taken to the beginning of the game and they’ll see it has become a full on Contra clone with music changes and everything. Contra is, of course, the game that made the Konami code so popular in the first place.
Once the code has gone through, the player is given 30 lives and a machine gun to beat the entire game. As far as Easter Eggs go, this is easily one of the best we’ve seen. Not only is it yet another great homage, but it gives Infernax a lot of replay value.