Blazing Chrome understands exactly what made the older titles tick. It has the look and sound of classic titles, and it emulates the gameplay really well. The action is relentless, and boss fights reward skill over pure ammo dumping. The game doesn't go for adding on extras from other genres, relying instead on pure gameplay to drive the title. The short length, which was normal for offerings from that time period and genre, is buoyed by gameplay modes that feel worthwhile instead of tacked on. For run-and-gun fans, Blazing Chrome is an essential addition to the gaming library.

Blazing Chrome is the coin op you didn't play in the arcade, the cartridge that never came out for Neo Geo, the game you didn’t know you missed so much. A game with spasmodic, sadistic and punitive action, just as we liked in the 90s.

Blazing Chrome is a great game for its kind, as it could easily be declared as a sequel of Contra, without anyone being misunderstood. If you want to test your skills on a hard-boiled old school run 'n' gun game, you will not find anything better than this one.

If you want a new Contra game, that’s exactly what Blazing Chrome promises and delivers. Joymasher has done this better than any indie developer I can think of, bringing Contra back with absolutely everything that entails.

Although Blazing Chrome sticks fairly closely to the formula of games like Metal Slug and Contra, its great boss encounters, responsive gameplay, and 16-bit pixel art make it a faithful homage to an underrepresented subgenre.

Beating Blazing Chrome is a badge of honor, the latest test of skill tossed onto a pile of old cartridges. You can spend hours and hours grinding out this handful of stages, experiencing both intense frustration and the rush of victory. In a world where there are so many options for your free time, the thought of grinding away at a game like this just seems insane. But to all the crazy people who disagree and want a throwback like this, I raise my glass.

A frantic co-op shooter in the same vein as Contra, Blazing Chrome is an electrified, 16-bit inspired run-and-gun game that will keep your trigger finger numb and your profanities loud.