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INFINOS
review | SWITCH
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Publisher: PixelHeart.
Developer: Picorinne Soft. Released: October 2025; 2013 (PC). Genre: Horizontal-scrolling shoot 'em up. Other versions: PC; XSX; XONE; PS5. Posted 7th August 2026. By Tom Clare © 2026 |
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One of a number of long-time PC-exclusive shmups making its belated console bow on the Switch, Infinos arrived on Nintendo’s hybrid system twelve years after the original freeware, releasing on the same day as its 2015 sequel on the eShop. A significant delay, but better late than never. A no-frills homage to 16-bit side-scrollers, Infinos is a faithful but unremarkable interpretation of the genre.
Designed to mimic an early-nineties arcade experience rather than a home release, Infinos throws players straight into the action with simple, accessible side-scrolling action. There are no options or additional modes, just your ship, the Foria, versus an armada of galactic enemies over six challenging levels. Just like the old days, you might say. You’ll need plenty of practice, as five credits (each with three lives) is your lot, and you’ll have to make them last if you want to reach the end.
Clearly inspired by Gradius and R-Type, Infinos struggles to forge an identity of its own
The core gameplay is serviceable, though nothing particularly stands out. The ship responds well, there’s a challenging array of mobile enemies and, like R-Type in particular, a propensity for tight environmental spacing and strategic weapon use. Dense enemy attack patterns call for focused fire, but in confined surrounds and areas where enemies occupy the ceilings and the ground, you’ll need a far greater directional spread. Players can hold only one weapon type at a time, however, so sometimes the best plan is to pass on certain power-ups if they’re a poor fit for what’s to come.
There’s not so much a difficulty curve as a difficulty cliff after the second level. After a couple of runs, you’ll be able to breeze through the first couple of areas without dropping a life, whilst the next two would repeatedly drain all 15 or so that I had. Losing a ship tends to precipitate a domino effect that’s hard to recover from, as it strips the player of weapon upgrades and speed boosts, leaving your craft easily overwhelmed. A few decent early boss fights (one that tunnels through rock faces is a particular bright spot) are soon followed by some uncomfortably tough ones, with devastating, rapid attacks guaranteed to leave most players flat-footed and haemorrhaging lives. Matters aren’t helped by patchy collision physics and a tendency for enemies to bombard players with fast, difficult-to-avoid laser attacks. A lot of deaths feel frustrating; the product of overwhelming design, and the game feels broadly unrewarding. I was unable to make meaningful progress after the first few runs, my progress ending in more or less the same spot, over and over again.
There’s not so much a difficulty curve as a difficulty cliff after the second level. After a couple of runs, you’ll be able to breeze through the first couple of areas without dropping a life, whilst the next two would repeatedly drain all 15 or so that I had. Losing a ship tends to precipitate a domino effect that’s hard to recover from, as it strips the player of weapon upgrades and speed boosts, leaving your craft easily overwhelmed. A few decent early boss fights (one that tunnels through rock faces is a particular bright spot) are soon followed by some uncomfortably tough ones, with devastating, rapid attacks guaranteed to leave most players flat-footed and haemorrhaging lives. Matters aren’t helped by patchy collision physics and a tendency for enemies to bombard players with fast, difficult-to-avoid laser attacks. A lot of deaths feel frustrating; the product of overwhelming design, and the game feels broadly unrewarding. I was unable to make meaningful progress after the first few runs, my progress ending in more or less the same spot, over and over again.
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Visually it’s also a little austere. There’s nothing wrong with a 16-bit aesthetic, and the “look” is right, but its locations comprise generic, nondescript space station settings that do little to get players’ pulses racing. The design as a whole lacks inspiration or flair, with levels appearing samey and unimaginative. The music fares a bit better, though. Doomy space-synth wails set a dramatic tone, as do the rousing battle anthems: the gameplay simply doesn’t build on them.
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Tough bosses and a myriad of tricky enemies means this shooter demands lots of skill
Infinos offers players a passable slice of side-scrolling shooter action at a modest price point. It’s difficult to recommend, however. Newcomers will likely find its cheap deaths, absence of options and bland presentation tricky to drum up excitement over, whilst there’s nothing seasoned genre fans will not have seen elsewhere, and to a better standard. Perhaps, back in 2013, Picorinne Soft’s blaster might have been viewed as a novelty due to its adherence to 16-bit genre conventions, but more than a decade later, with the sheer market saturation for retro revivalist shmups and the competition on Switch, there are many similar games more worthy of your time.
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VERDICT
"Infinos is a serviceable shooter lacking excitement and features. Genre fans will find it a faithful retro throwback, but frustrating gameplay and a lack of options will turn many away." OVERALL: 5/10 |
OTHER SIDE-SCROLLING SHOOTERS REVIEWED
U.N. Squadron (1992, Super Nintendo)
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Darius Gaiden (1996, Saturn)
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