Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

"Nitro Express" is a very stylish pixel run-and-gun game developed by "Grayfax Software" in 2025 and is the follow-up to their 2020 release, "OrangeBlood" (taking place in the same world). Developed in the "Action Game Tsukuru MV" engine, the reality is that NE spent MANY years in development and was shown-off in its early form even before OrangeBlood released (as early as 2018), generating a decent amount of hype on "X / Twitter" a year or two prior to actually being released. It was published by "Playism" on their own platform as well as "Steam" and has yet to be ported to consoles. For a lover of 2D pixel graphics, this game is aesthetically fantastic and you can tell Grayfax put painstaking detail into the game's look, but there's a few caveats to the actual gameplay itself.

The story takes place in Nitro City within the Tokyo Special Administrative Region. The metropolis of Tokyo is a bit different from what we know, but the streets are just as nostalgic, or, depending on where you're from, they're just as good as the place you've always wanted to visit. Working for the special task force within the Nitro City Police Department (AVDS or "Atypical Vehicle Disposal Squad"), it's up to the tough Yoko Asahina and smart Tamaki Yagyo to work together in the service of the city to stop crime that the ordinary cops can't. Most of the destruction is commited by rogue A.I.s taking over machines and autonomous drones throughout the city, but who is the true mastermind behind all this?

The player controls Yoko on foot and communicates with Tamaki and other characters via remote comms. who impart knowledge, tips and funny banter as you go. Tamaki in also controls a special autonomous drone or "K-9 Companion" that assists Yoko by damaging and stunning enemies in the vicinity. There are numerous weapons and gadgets at the player's disposal that can be purchased with cash earned from doing missions, completing mini-games and filing reports, and these tools can become more capable the more you use them, leveling them up. While this is cool in theory, most weapons won't be leveled unless you intentionally grind missions as the game is quite short and can be completed in about 2hrs, so you'll want to identify a few tools early on based on your playing style and stick with them. Your main weapons utilize ammo while your gadgets utilize a percentage gauge based on their function which gradually refills over time. The player essentially moves with the left analog, aims with the right, can kick nearby enemies by pushing in the right analog, shoot with the right trigger button, change weapons with the Y-Button, crouch with the left trigger, jump with the A-Button, etc. All of this is important as each weapon has different damage potential based on if you're moving, jumping, standing still, crouching, so on and so forth... more on this later.

The game uses music from "DOVA-SYNDROME", which is essentially the Japanese "Kevin MacLeod" of royalty-free, open licensed or creative commons music. If I didn't look into this beforehand, I would've thought the music was composed specifically for this game, cause it all kinda goes together, but no complaints here. The visuals really paint the picture of an alternate somewhat futuristic Tokyo with each sign, building, NPC, PC and Easter Egg meticulously crafted and is the major selling point of this game. If bullets, go into the water, the water will create a splash. If you shoot at wood, fragments will chip away. If you blast a car, the glass will be shredded off and the vehicle will be filled with holes. With A.I. gradually taking over and 2D pixel quality of this level becoming increasingly rare, the game is worth it for the spectacle alone. Now on to the other stuff...

Prior to and just after launch, feedback was provided to the developers on various areas of opportunity for the final product, much of which was ignored (even though some of the criticism was apparently valid, such as the framerate, which showed the game running at 60FPS in various promotional posts as early as 2020/2021 but launched in an unoptimized, roughly ~30FPS state), which left a bad impression on the game's lasting appeal and even prompted fans to make unofficial mods to get the game to run at higher (albeit not entirely stable) framerates. There's also been a lot of criticism around the "clunky" controls and slow movement speed of the player and agility of the average enemy, making it fairly rare that you'll be standing in one spot for long (and as there is a whole gameplay system built around this, I kinda get it). The controls aren't "terrible", but I do believe they are over-complicated for over-complications sake. The performance issues also make some things difficult to telegraph and combine to frustrate numerous players.

This is a video of the game in action. You can get it at:

store.steampowered.com/app/3088250/Nitro_Express

Enjoy.