~/neon-rush snake boulder dash byte runner ☕ Support me apps ← back

Neon Rush — a free speed platformer in your browser

4 zones · 8 acts · 4 boss fights · loops, slopes & springs · synthwave music · full screen · keyboard, gamepad or touch · free · no download · no login

Arrows / A D run · Z / X / Space jump (hold for higher) · Down while running: roll · Down + jump standing still: charge a dash, let go of Down to launch · Up look up · P pause · F full screen · M sound · gamepad and touch work too

Guide — run fast, grab sparks and beat the bosses in 4 zones

Neon Rush runs in this browser tab. Your progress is saved on this device, no account needed.
1Pick an act

Press Enter or tap the game. The act menu opens: choose an unlocked act and press Enter again. Every zone has two acts and a boss.

2Build up speed

Hold right to run. Flux speeds up slowly, runs through loops and up walls once fast enough, and slows down uphill. Boost pads give an instant burst.

3Jump and roll

Z, X or Space jumps; hold it for a higher jump. Press Down while running to roll. Jumping and rolling both turn Flux into a spinning ball that breaks robots and crates.

4Keep your sparks

Sparks protect you: when you get hit, they scatter and you can grab some back. Get hit with zero sparks and you lose a life. 100 sparks give an extra life.

5Reach the goal

Touch the beacons to save your spot and run through the goal gate. Bounce on a boss while it is open to damage it, then reach the goal to unlock the next zone.

What is where

CONTROLSKeyboard, gamepad or touch
Run
Arrows / A D, d-pad or left stick, or the arrow buttons
Jump
Z, X, C or Space, gamepad A B X Y, or the A button
Roll
Down while running, or the B button
Charge dash
Hold Down while standing, tap jump, let go of Down
Other
Up looks up, P pause, F full screen, M sound
CRATESBreak them for an item
Sparks
10 sparks at once
Shield
A bubble that takes one hit, your sparks stay
Turbo
15 seconds of double speed
Star
20 seconds invincible: robots break on contact
1UP
One extra life
ROBOTSSpin into them
Crawler
Patrols the ground: jump on it or roll into it
Drone
Floats back and forth and drops orbs
Hopper
Jumps towards you
Turret
Aims orbs at you from a ledge
Chain
Several robots without landing score more each time
ZONESFour zones, four bosses
1 Neon City
Hills, loops, ramps, springs · boss Hover Tank
2 Data Highway
Boost lanes, loops, moving platforms · boss Patrol Copter
3 Crystal Cave
Bumpers, spikes, crumbling ledges · boss Shard Drill
4 Sky Fortress
Lifts, gaps, spikes, springs · boss Core Sentinel

A free speed platformer you can play in your browser

Neon Rush is a fast side-scrolling platformer in the style of the 16-bit era. You play Flux, a fox with goggles and a pink scarf, racing through a synthwave world at night: a neon city, a data highway, a crystal cave and a fortress in the sky. The game is about momentum. Run down a hill and you gain speed, run up a slope and you lose it, and with enough speed you go through loops and along curved walls. There are four zones with two acts each, and every zone ends with a boss fight. It runs in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone, in a window or in full screen. Nothing to download and no account.

Everything in the game was made for this site: the sprites are drawn in code when the page loads, the acts are put together from hand-made pieces of track, and the music and sound effects are played live by the browser's audio engine. The whole game is one web page.

How to play

Run to the right, collect sparks and reach the goal gate at the end of the act. While Flux jumps or rolls, he is a spinning ball: robots and crates break when you hit them like that. Touching a robot while you just run means a hit. A hit makes your sparks fly out in all directions; grab what you can before they fade. If you get hit with no sparks at all, you lose a life. Two beacons per act save your spot: after a lost life you start again from the last beacon you touched.

Speed, slopes and loops

Flux needs a run-up. He speeds up gradually, and slopes push him faster downhill and slower uphill. A loop only works at speed: run into it slowly and you fall off halfway. Rolling keeps your speed better downhill but you cannot steer much. The charge dash is the trick for a standing start: hold Down, tap jump a few times to charge, then let go of Down and Flux shoots off rolling. Boost pads (flashing arrows on the ground) and side springs launch you at full speed; up springs throw you onto high ledges.

Controls

ActionKeyboardGamepadTouch
RunArrow keys or A / DD-pad or left stickArrow buttons
Jump (hold = higher)Z, X, C or SpaceA, B, X or YA
RollDown while runningD-pad downB or the down arrow
Charge dashHold Down, tap jump, let go of DownHold down, tap AHold B, tap A
Look upUp or WD-pad up—
PauseP or EscStartPause button
Full screen / soundF / M—Buttons top right

The four zones

Stars, sparks and par times

Each act gives up to three stars: one for reaching the goal, one for crossing the goal with at least 50 sparks, and one for finishing within the par time shown in the act menu. Beating a boss gives one star, so a perfect game has 28 stars. At the goal you get a time bonus if you beat par and 100 points for every spark you still carry. The act menu keeps your stars and best times.

Tips

Full screen, phones and gamepads

Press F or the button at the top right of the game for full screen; the pixels are scaled up sharply to fit your screen. On a phone, turn it sideways in full screen and use the buttons on the screen: arrows on the left, A to jump and B to roll on the right. A gamepad works as soon as you press one of its buttons; a standard controller layout is expected.

Privacy

The game runs completely in your browser. Your progress (unlocked acts, stars, best times, top score and settings) is stored in your browser's local storage under the key jb-neonrush-v1; nothing is sent to a server. Page statistics come from SimpleAnalytics, which uses no cookies.

An original game

Neon Rush is an original game made for jasperbernaers.com, inspired by the fast platformers of the 16-bit era. The hero, robots, zones, acts, sprites and music were made from scratch. It uses no characters, names, graphics, sounds or music from any commercial game.

More games on this site

Jump through 16 levels in Byte Runner, play Snake, dig for diamonds in Boulder Dash, set off chains in Chain Reaction, or make your own chiptune in the 8-bit studio.