Prison City Has Retro Action Platformer Feels, Coming PC & Switch
Prison City, a new retro-inspired action platformer, is coming to Steam and Nintendo Switch in August 2023. The gameplay we’ve seen looks fantastic, and publisher Retroware is keen to show off with an extensive 15 min gameplay video on their YouTube channel.
According to Lead Developer, Programancer, Prison City started life as a Game Jam project. A year has passed since then, and the title is now ready for a full release. In an interview with Publisher Retroware, Programancer says the title is inspired by games he enjoyed growing up, citing Mega Man, Shatterhand, and Powerblade as standouts.
We already know the gameplay is solid, and the Steam page eludes to the title being full of “nods and homages to classic action movies and games from the 80s and 90s.” This ‘on the nose’ approach won’t appeal to everyone, but as a player who likes to pat themselves on the back when they get a reference, I’m all for it.
When asked about the porting process, Programancer said: “I had the Nintendo Switch in mind, so I made sure everything I did making it worked on the Nintendo Switch as well. It made sense to me to have a game that’s inspired by those Nintendo games go on a Nintendo console.”
It’s great to see some love put into the Nintendo Switch version, as the console is no stranger to poorly optimized ports. As for PlayStation and Xbox, there’s nothing to report just yet but hopefully, that changes closer to launch. Although there’s no exact release date, there’s a playable Steam demo where you can try the title out for yourself.
Anthony is a freelance writer and has worked in the industry for four years. He’s furiously competitive and is always looking for the next big multiplayer hit. Anthony is a passionate PS1 collector and firmly believes in playing his retro games rather than letting them collect dust on a shelf. He also loves speedrunning and always looks forward to the next GDQ and ESA events.
