P.O.W.: Prisoners of War

RETRO NEWS

It’s a hardware-heavy week for retro gaming, with dual screens and plastic bricks stealing the spotlight.

The onslaught of retro handhelds continues. Retroid teased its new Pocket Duo, while Anbernic showed off the RG DS Plus tackling everything from Nintendo DS to Dreamcast and Saturn games.

Meanwhile, LEGO is taking us back to 1994 with a brick-built original PlayStation, complete with a little Ape Escape nostalgia.

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

Some prison escapes require careful planning, stolen keys, and months of preparation. P.O.W.: Prisoners of War gives you two fists and points you toward the nearest wall.

Released by SNK in 1988, this arcade beat ’em up drops you into the boots of an escaped prisoner trying to fight his way through an entire enemy military base. Apparently sneaking out was never considered an option.

What follows is a wonderfully straightforward slice of late eighties arcade action. Soldiers swarm the screen, weapons are there for the taking, and freedom waits somewhere beyond a small army determined to send you back to your cell. Grab a second player and the escape gets even better.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

P.O.W.: Prisoners of War is a side scrolling beat ’em up built around one simple mission, escape.

After breaking out of your cell, you fight through an enemy base on your way toward the rescue helicopter waiting at the end. Most problems are solved with punches and kicks, although fallen enemies occasionally provide much more persuasive options.

Combat uses separate punch, kick, and jump buttons, with different combinations producing additional attacks. You can jump kick, perform a back punch, and pick up weapons dropped by enemies.

Knives give you extra melee power, while machine guns briefly let you turn the tables on groups that were happily surrounding you a few seconds earlier.

Weapons are temporary, which keeps you moving between armed combat and good old fashioned fist fighting. Enemies arrive from multiple directions, so positioning matters almost as much as attacking. Getting surrounded can drain your health quickly, especially once tougher soldiers and hazards start joining the fight.

The arcade version also supports two player simultaneous play. Adding another escaped prisoner makes crowd management easier and gives the game the cooperative chaos that works so well in this genre.

It is also simply more entertaining to have someone else around when the screen starts filling with soldiers.

Visually, P.O.W. has the chunky sprites and exaggerated animation you would expect from a late eighties arcade brawler and the visuals hold up pretty well.

Soldiers tumble backward from heavy hits, motorcycles and military vehicles appear throughout the journey, and the environments move from prison grounds into increasingly fortified areas.

The soundtrack keeps things appropriately urgent, while punches, gunfire, and explosions provide much of the game's personality. It is not especially complicated by later beat ’em up standards, but that simplicity also makes it easy to understand. Break out, keep moving, grab anything useful, and try not to get punched back into captivity.

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GAME INFORMATION

WHERE TO PLAY

• Arcade Archives - Nintendo Switch and PSN.

• SNK 40th Anniversary Collection - Steam, Nintendo Switch, PSN.

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GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

Playing P.O.W.: Prisoners of War today is less about discovering a lost masterpiece and more about visiting an interesting point in beat ’em up history. It arrived after Renegade and Double Dragon, but before games like Final Fight pushed the genre further, making it a fascinating snapshot of where arcade brawlers stood in 1988.

It is simple, repetitive, and occasionally rather mean. That is also part of its arcade DNA. Bring along a second player and those rough edges become considerably easier to forgive, especially once machine guns start changing hands and enemies are flying across the screen.

Modern releases make the trip much easier. The Arcade Archives version offers a straightforward recreation of the original, while SNK 40th Anniversary Collection adds conveniences such as saving and rewind.

If you enjoy exploring the history behind familiar genres, P.O.W. is worth breaking out of storage for. Just don't expect the guards to make your escape easy.

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RETRO HARDWARE

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