I’ve been following the great story of UrbX Warriors, a new adventure title in development for the Spectrum Next and PC. The game is shaping up well, and the recent demo that I sampled only confirmed that this is looking to be a great action-adventure game. It’s being developed by industry veterans Tony Warriner and Stoo Cambridge, and Tony was kind enough to answer some of my questions for this feature.

Before we dive into what Tony has said, it’s worth mentioning that UrbX Warriors has surpassed its crowdfunding goal, and there is still over a week to go to secure your copy. The game will be released digitally and as a physical edition, available in a big box format or a standard DVD. There are also lots of extras, including a very nifty retro-style joystick, to be had for those wanting to expand their experience. The game is set for release in 2026, but for now, let’s hear from Tony.

We start by asking Tony how the collaboration between him and Stoo came about. “Well, we actually met on that very day a couple of years ago when you interviewed us both on a panel at Zzap! Live!” He starts. “Later we sat around and chatted about this and that and realised we had quite similar stories – mine at Revolution, and Stoo’s at Sensible Software. We joked that we should team up and write a game, and the germ of an idea was planted.”

I also wanted to know what the discussions were that took place in those early moments. “Initially, we were going to get up to speed on Next development by porting a ‘well-known Spectrum classic’ to it, but that project actually fell through fairly quickly. Then we said – let’s just write our own game then. Then we talked about stuff we liked and how we thought games had gotten too complicated, or were just not fun anymore.” Tony explains. 

He continues with. “From this, the basic UrbX Warriors concept emerged and then just developed from there. We don’t really believe in trying to define everything on paper before development begins, because new ideas are always springing up based on what we’ve already done. So we like to keep it fluid, and let the game write itself, to some degree.”

Tony then explains what the reaction to UrbX Warriors has been like at game shows. “Astonishingly good! The first time we showed it was at Crash Live back in November 2024, and person after person would pick it up for a quick go and then play the whole demo through. Then they’d look slightly baffled and ask what it was playing on? We’d say a Spectrum Next, and they’d say wow, I thought it was a Mega Drive or Neo Geo. So we were very pleased with that.”

I then asked Tony what the challenges are in creating retro-style games today. “Well, we’re very happy to forget all about certain aspects of the modern world, such as DLCs and IAP and the like. The biggest challenge has been to keep the game running on the comparatively low-spec Next as we’ve expanded it with all our new ideas.”

“In a way, this is a good thing as we’ve not fallen into a feature creep spiral that afflicts a lot of games. This has forced us to concentrate on the core gameplay. In other ways, it’s actually easier these days as we have better tools than we did, even in the 1990s, as well as a fair bit of game dev experience to lean on.”

UrbX Warriors has gone through the crowdfunding treatment, to great success. How does Tony feel about the community’s reaction? “For us, it was really important to have high-quality physical packaging for the game. It’s part of the experience of buying and owning a game. Having something you can touch and look at.” 

He continues with, “speaking of the modern world again, something that can’t be taken away from you because some license expires, or a server somewhere gets switched off. I can’t wait to get our UrbX Warriors big boxes back from the printers and to place them on my game shelves along with the others. It’ll be a great moment.”

In regard to the development, what’s left to do? “Always more than you think! As you can see from the demo, most of the engine is written, and the gameplay itself is proven. We have quite a lot of maps to build and populate. No doubt we’ll keep thinking of cool stuff to put in the world right until we run out of time.” It certainly sounds as though Tony and Stoo are knuckling down and it’s exciting to hear that there may be more aspects added to the gameplay.

I finish up by asking Tony if there are plans to port the game to other consoles. “Yeah, most likely. We’ll take a step back from this first version and then decide what we can bring in addition to further platforms. We’ll likely look at various 16-bit devices that we’re fond of and see what we can do. And I can certainly imagine how great the game would be on Nintendo Switch.” I certainly agree that UrbX Warriors will shine on Switch. It also feels like a good fit for Mega Drive or Neo Geo, as those who have played the demo have mentioned, so I’ll look forward to news on that front.

I’d like to thank Tony for his time and best of luck with the release, that’ll of course be keeping tabs on and reviewing next year. In the meantime, make sure you check out the Kickstarter and get your order in before it finishes. Those still on the fence can download the demo for their Spectrum Next or PC and give this great game a whirl.