Prison City: 100% Achievements Guide + Useful Tips + Boss Strategies

This guide will help you obtain all Steam achievements and give you some useful tips about bosses and other stuff. Be prepared, though. You’re in for a world of pain!

Introduction & Useful Tips

• Not to discourage you, but Warden Rush achievements are nearly impossible. I asked the developer for less punishing requirements, but he said it’s very unlikely. You can reach out to him from Twitter/X and ask him to alter the requirements a bit. Who knows, maybe he’ll listen to the masses.

• There are two mandatory things you need to know: slide jumping and diagonal aiming. Although the game teaches them to you in Advanced Tutorial, I wanted to remind them again since you’ll be using them a lot.

• Slide jumping works not before your whole sprite leaves the ledge, but when your legs are out of it. So, when you see Hal‘s legs out of the platform, hit jump and you’ll pull it off. It’s a bit difficult to master but patience, patience, patience…

• Diagonal aiming is actually easier than holding down two directional inputs at the same. Holding down the left bumper button will lead to low diagonal attacking whereas holding down the right bumper button does the opposite. However, when it comes to Fury Rhoads, holding down the left bumper button helps you attack backward diagonally and vice versa.

• Better keep them in mind because you’re going to be using diagonal aiming A LOT! Slide jumping? Nah. Not that much.

Story Related

Fighting Spirit
Complete the Game
Story related. Cannot be missed.

Miscellaneous

Car Smasher
Successfully Smash the Car
Quite easy, but can be troublesome on Classic difficulty. This mini-game unlocks after the Rooftops level and can be selected anytime. Just smash the car. It’s as simple as that.

Juggle? Oh!
Successfully Juggle Sportballs
Quite easy, but can be troublesome on Classic difficulty. This mini-game unlocks after the Stadium level and can be selected anytime. Just hit balls enough for them to make their way behind the crowds and you’ll unlock this one.

Oh Dam!
Successfully Disarmed Bombs on the Dam
Quite easy, but can be troublesome on Classic difficulty. This mini-game unlocks after the Factory level and can be selected anytime. Just disarm the bombs within the time limit. It’s as simple as that.

Target Breaker
Successfully Break the Targets
Quite easy on any difficulty. This mini-game unlocks after the Sewers level and can be selected anytime. Just break the targets. It’s as simple as that.

Dolphin Rider
Ride a Dolphin on the Freeway
You have to talk to the Dolphin in Preserve level and then complete it (not sure if it’s required but do it just in case), then select Freeway level and hold down attack and jump button simultaneously until the level starts. If it’s done right, you’ll hear a sound effect before Hal enters the scene.

Bomber Man
Complete the Game in Bomber Mode
Self-explanatory. Bomber Mode unlocks right after you beat the game once.

Beats By Radd
Unlock the Sound Test Menu
This unlocks after completing the game in Bomber Mode.

Upgrades

Upgrade Master
Obtain All Upgrades
See my other guide for this one.

No Damage Achievements

GENERAL STRATEGY
These achievements may sound discouraging, but they’re actually a cakewalk. Play on Easy since enemies have a higher chance of dropping a Shield and the only thing for you to do is grind for Shields and move on after getting one. To make things a bit more interesting, you can go to Cold Storage level and grab that power-up piece right at the beginning. Quitting and re-entering the level will replenish that pick-up, so you can get 2 more to get more power. It might get boring sometimes, but patience child. This is the only way out.

Train Master
Complete the Train Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Rooftop Master
Complete Rooftops Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Freeway Master
Complete Freeway Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Stadium Master
Complete Stadium Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Cold Storage Master
Complete Cold Storage Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Sewer Master
Complete Sewers Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Power Plant Master
Complete Power Plant Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Factory Master
Complete Factory Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Preserve Master
Complete Preserve Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Outer DCP Master
Complete Outer DCP Without Taking Damage
See GENERAL STRATEGY.

DCP HQ Master
Undoubtedly, the hardest, or should I say, the longest one in this batch. I know you’re looking for an easy way out, but there really isn’t. As I said before, patience. See GENERAL STRATEGY.

Escape Master
Complete Escape Without Taking Damage
This took me longer than the previous one mostly due to RNG-oriented final boss. Just gotta memorize its pattern. There’s not much you can do except for that. Unfortunately, GENERAL STRATEGY does not apply to this one. Even if you managed to snag a Shield out of one of the escaping enemies, it will go away as soon as the boss fight starts. Small ceiling pieces can be destroyed with your chakram, but the big ones are the real run killers. Good luck!

Boss Strategies

Boss Name

Difficulty

Strategy

Tech Engine

Quite easy. You can even prevent it from shooting projectiles at you by standing far enough. Don’t worry, your chakram will easily reach it from where you’re standing.

Hind D

Not difficult at all. It has a predictable pattern. A few practices should be enough to master it.

Fury Rhoads

***

Annoying, but decent. As soon as the fight starts, hold down the left bumper button, jump, and attack him. Then move forward, after he shoots once, move back and jump to bait the next projectile and hit him. Once he’s out of the screen, keep attacking diagonally. You’ll hit him a few times even when he’s out of the screen. Once he’s back, watch out for molotov cocktails while diagonally attacking him and his gang. Once he’s in front, hold down the right bumper button and attack him until he’s dead. There’s only one occasion where you won’t be able to hit him when he’s in front, and that’s when he’s holding a handgun. Just avoid projectiles if it happens and don’t get greedy by taking unnecessary risks.

Jumbotron

Another easy one. The first head shoots homing projectiles. Start hitting it while avoiding the projectiles it shoots. Once the next head gets into the picture, get under it and keep attacking until it’s down. The next head will try to crush you, so move out of the way quickly and start attacking him while avoiding the fast projectiles it shoots. The final head will spawn electrifying small mechs. It will start with one and end with five. Keep moving right to left while attacking diagonally to avoid their attacks. After taking it down, if the first head is still alive, keep moving left to right since Jumbotron shoots a projectile out of the destroyed head’s places. Once the next head appears, destroy it and be done with it.

Mistress Drosera

Very easy. Predictable pattern. The only thing you need to worry about are the pink flowers she spawns every once in a while, but they are very easy to deal with. Be patient because it takes a while to kill her.

Coolant Drive

*****

The infamous run killer. Pure RNG. There isn’t a guaranteed way to deal with it since you’ll be basically playing ping-pong with this mech. If the ball is too fast, it will react fast, and if it manages to hit the ball somehow, you’re done for. It’s all about luck and how fast you can react. Good luck! If you can deal with this without getting hit, try to stay calm because the rest isn’t as bad as this guy. The desired score table should be 6-0.

Mod Loader

**/****

This can be easy or very hard depending on your approach. I’ll tell you the easy method. Get under it before it fully spawns and start attacking. After attacking for a few seconds, move to the side and start attacking diagonally. Once it drops some bombs, slide under its leg and wait for it to move. Once it starts moving, focus on its feet, once it’s up, slide under and repeat the first step. It may take a while, but this is the safest way to deal with it.

Voltaic Nodes

***

The one in the center drops down on you after shooting five projectiles and moves up after a while by releasing gas from the left and right sides. As soon as the fight starts, move slightly left or right to avoid the projectiles it throws. The one in the bottom tries to crush you by moving towards you. Try to deal with it first since it gets really fast after destroying a few nodes. The ones in the left and right move towards the opposite direction and move back by releasing gas. The top right one moves in a reverse L shape and shoots three projectiles after it stops. The top left one shoots three projectiles first, then moves in an L shape. Not much to do except memorizing their patterns. Not a difficult boss, just a time-consuming one.

Doc Diver

****

This one gave me a lot of trouble but I figured it out eventually. The rising and depleting water makes things harder but I’ll tell you how to deal with it. As soon as this guy comes in, start attacking by getting behind him but keep your distance because he drops bombs every once in a while. After dropping about five bombs, he will go into hiding and drop two rats from random pipes. Deal with them quickly and once he comes out of hiding to turn on the ventilation, attack him diagonally a few more times. He will drop another two rats and then come back. If you’re on the left side, he won’t raise the water level. Get behind him and start attacking. If you’re on the right side, he will raise the water level halfway through. Hang from the fence and be patient. Attack him whenever he comes close. Be patient and he’ll be dealt with eventually. I hope you won’t take too much damage from him.

Hellevator

***

Not too easy, not too hard. As soon as the fight starts, crouch and wait. Once it comes into the picture, attack until it’s gone. Avoid a few more attacks and it’ll come again. After it takes enough damage, two mechs will come and trap you between them. Attack diagonally while avoiding them. The rest of the fight is pretty much the same as I’ve described. Keep avoiding its attacks until it’s destroyed.

Chief Payne/Maximum Payne

Very easy boss to deal with. The only thing you need to watch out for is during his first phase where he shocks himself. Attacking him during this state will reflect your shots back at you. The rest is quite easy and predictable. The screen in the back shows you what you need to do. Another flawless boss, if you’re calm of course.

Spirit of Detroit

*****

If you can make it to this guy with only three HP points, then you have this in the bag. He’s mostly RNG but I’ll try to give you some tips nevertheless. He’ll place ceiling parts above and start shooting at you. Try to avoid his attacks and ceiling parts. You can destroy the small parts with your chakram. Then he’ll shoot a laser and you’ll want to go towards the direction of where he started shooting it. Once his chest is open, you know what to do. Once he closes off his chest, he’ll shoot a rocket from his left hand and you’ll want to hang from his right hand to avoid it. After that, he’ll shoot lasers again but you’ll need to hang from his hands to avoid the second one this time. As soon as his chest is closed off, he’ll summon homing projectiles from his right hand while shooting regular ones from his left hand. Stand under his right hand to bait homing projectiles and immediately run to the left one to hang from it since he’ll shoot another laser. Now you’ll need to avoid some bullet hell projectiles while keeping an eye out for ceiling parts. You’ll want to run to either side after the chest closes off since he immediately shoots two fast projectiles and you’re bound to take a hit from them if you’re not fast. The rest of the fight is either him summoning homing projectiles, or bullet hell ones while placing the ceiling parts above. Good luck!

Warden Rush Achievements

Warden Rush (Easy) Master
Successfully Complete the Warden Rush on Easy
See BOSS STRATEGIES. Even this one isn’t easy if it’s your first time.

Warden Rush (Modern) Master
Successfully Complete the Warden Rush on Modern
See BOSS STRATEGIES.

Warden Rush (Classic) Master
Successfully Complete the Warden Rush on Classic
See BOSS STRATEGIES.

No Fill-Up (Easy)
Ignore the Pickups in the Warden Rush Refill Room on Easy
See BOSS STRATEGIES.

No Fill-Up (Modern)
Ignore the Pickups in the Warden Rush Refill Room on Modern
See BOSS STRATEGIES.

No Fill-Up (Classic)
Ignore the Pickups in the Warden Rush Refill Room on Classic
See BOSS STRATEGIES. Undoubtedly, the hardest achievement. All I can say is good luck!

Conclusion

Well, congratulations on attaining 100% completion rate from one of the hardest games ever! I’m not going to lie, Warden Rush achievements almost made me hate the game due to their extreme requirements, but I hope reaching out Programancer will bear its fruit for you guys. If you’re not satisfied, I recommend playing Power Blade and Tokkyuu Shirei: Solbrain/Shatterhand for the NES since this game is heavily inspired by them! Take care and good luck!

By Yaerveth