August 28, 2023
Retroware

Prison City

Prison City might cop Snake Plissken’s style, but this side-scrolling adventure proves that there is room for a new grizzled hero. While it provides a hefty challenge, those looking to the futuristic year of 1997 will have a blast.

83%Game Brain Score

music, gameplay

story, grinding

88% User Score Based on 48 reviews

Critic Score 80%Based on 3 reviews

Platforms

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About

Prison City is a single player arcade platformer game. It was developed by Retroware and was released on August 28, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

"Prison City is a side-scrolling shooter that pays homage to 80s and 90s action movies and games, with customizable difficulty and gameplay. Players fight their way across an entire city, battling through various level zones and powerful bosses, to uncover hidden upgrades and compete in 'Boss Rush' mode, all set in the futuristic year of 1997."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 48 reviews

music16 positive mentions

story2 negative mentions

Prison City is a nostalgic homage to classic NES platformers, featuring tight controls, beautiful pixel art, and an outstanding soundtrack that captures the retro vibe perfectly.
The game offers multiple difficulty settings, allowing players to customize their experience and providing great replay value with various modes and collectibles to discover.
Boss battles are creatively designed with interesting attack patterns, and the level layouts encourage exploration, making for a rewarding gameplay experience.

The game suffers from frustrating design choices, such as inconsistent controls for grabbing ledges and hit detection issues that can lead to cheap deaths.
Some levels, particularly the final stretch, are excessively long and can feel tedious, with a sudden spike in difficulty that may overwhelm players.
Many boss fights rely on memorization of attack patterns, which can feel unfair and lead to a trial-and-error experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment.

music
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
17%
13%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising its nostalgic 8-bit style reminiscent of classic NES and Konami tracks. Composed by Matt Creamer, the soundtrack is described as "incredible" and "fantastic," effectively enhancing the retro aesthetic and gameplay experience. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, elevating the game to a must-play for fans of retro platformers.
- “The soundtrack is incredible, it has some nods to classic 8-bit tracks that the connoisseurs will identify with ease.”
- “Fantastic retro throwback with tons of fantastic platforming, stellar soundtrack (seriously every track is 10/10), and chock full of yesteryear references and nods to tickle every nostalgia bone in your body.”
- “Its soundtrack is also top notch, and it feels straight out of a Natsume game which will take you right back to your childhood!”
- “Visually it's got it going on with great colors, the basic gameplay of throwing chakrams at enemies which weaken the more you lower your weapon energy keeps me careful in how I attack and damn the music.”
- “I'd only really heard the boss music in a lot of the pre-release material, but Matt Creamer is knocking it out of the park and I'm very happy to buy the soundtrack to support these tasty jams.”
- “The soundtrack is a banger.”
gameplay
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of innovative mechanics and frustrating elements. While many players appreciate the tight controls, original ideas, and engaging level design reminiscent of classic titles, some express annoyance with late-game mechanics that are introduced without adequate preparation, as well as issues with specific moves like the slide jump and grab mechanics. Overall, the game offers a fun and replayable experience, though certain aspects may lead to unnecessary difficulty.
- “Tight controls and fun gameplay.”
- “Great tunes, smooth gameplay, cute easter eggs throughout, and a lot of fun to replay over and over!”
- “The structure of the game is very Mega Man - you pick one of 8 stages, then go on to the final stretch, but the gameplay is unlike anything I've seen.”
- “There's another problem with the 11th level where you need to plant bombs at several locations on the map, but it introduces some new mechanics very late in the game. Before getting comfortable with them, the chances of dying needlessly are quite high, which is... annoying.”
- “The slide jump mechanic works quite strangely, and on top of that, the wording for it is horribly wrong in the advanced tutorial section. It tells you to let go before going off the platform, but it actually works after your legs leave the platform completely, making it quite difficult to use this move efficiently.”
- “My biggest issue is the final boss, as there is a mechanic that, in retrospect, makes sense but I didn't think about on my first attempts, resulting in a lot of deaths.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
17%
25%
The graphics of the game are praised for their authentic NES-style 8-bit aesthetic, effectively capturing the retro vibe with solid visuals and thematic references to 80s movies. While the overall design is appealing and well-suited to each level, some users noted issues with sprite clarity and attack visual effects that could affect gameplay perception. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's nostalgic experience, complemented by an excellent soundtrack.
- “The whole game looks good, the developer managed to nail the NES aesthetics, there are some references to Mad Max, Rambo, and several movies from the 80s, and the soundtrack is so good that they feel like they're from a Natsume game.”
- “Awesome old school NES style 8-bit graphics.”
- “Graphically it was appealing and each level's appearance was well suited to the name of the level.”
- “My main criticisms are related to certain graphics, be it sprites blending or drawn in a way that makes it unclear which portions are available to stand on or be grabbed, or some attack visual effects messing with the perception of the actual hurtbox.”
- “The whole game looks good, the developer managed to nail the NES aesthetics, but there are some issues with clarity in the graphics that detract from the experience.”
- “While the game nails the retro vibe, there are moments where the graphics can be confusing, particularly with sprite blending and unclear visual cues.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The story of "Prison City" revolves around a quest to find and defeat the wardens, blending elements from classic action films and games with its own unique characters. While the narrative is engaging, some players find the penultimate stage overly lengthy and challenging, though the abundance of extra lives helps mitigate frustration. Overall, the game offers a fun and thematic experience, enhanced by its retro-inspired mechanics.
- “Prison City combines elements of classic games like Power Blade and Shatterhand, infusing them with a narrative inspired by Robocop and Escape from New York, while introducing its own fun characters and story.”
- “I've seen other concerns regarding the penultimate stage being too long, and I would agree since it's a giant sprawling complex where you have to find 9 specific spots for story reasons, and progress being lost on game over. However, the level is fairly generous with extra lives, which does balance it out.”
- “A quest to find and defeat the wardens of Prison City.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
50%
Players appreciate the strong replayability of the game, citing multiple difficulty levels and the addition of a unique bomber mode that enhances the experience after the initial playthrough.
- “Multiple difficulty choices which give some great replay value!”
- “There's another game style mode called Bomber Mode, which adds more replayability after finishing the game for the first time.”
- “There's another game style mode called bomber mode, which adds more replayability after finishing the game for the first time.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability with smooth performance and high quality; however, some users feel that the lack of community interaction and a disappointing ending detracts from the overall experience.
- “This game runs great, and the quality is high.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the option to farm lives and chakram power-ups in minigames, which can be utilized in any stage, making the grinding process more manageable and strategic.