Prince of Persia
| PRINCE OF PERSIA
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| Developer:
| Brøderbund
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| Publisher:
| Brøderbund
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| Designer:
| Jordan Mechner
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| Release date:
| Between 1989 and 1999 (see article)
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| Genre:
| Platform
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| Game modes:
| Single player
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| Platform:
| PC, Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Master System, MD/Gens (ported to Mega CD), NES, sNES, GB/GBC,
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| Media:
| 1 CD / 1 Floppy disk / 1 cart
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| Input:
| Keyboard, joystick (PC)
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Prince of Persia is a platform game that was released by Brøderbund in 1989. It was widely seen as a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games. Jordan Mechner, the author, studied many hours of films of his brother running and jumping in white clothes to ensure that all the movements looked just right in a process now called rotoscoping. Also unusual was the method of combat; protagonist and enemies fought with swords, not some sort of projectile weapons, as was the case in most contemporary games.
Prince of Persia was released on a wide range of platforms, including the Amiga, CPC, Apple II, Apple Macintosh, DOS, NES, Game Boy, SNES, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, ZX Spectrum, and SAM Coupé. The game managed to surprise and captivate the player despite being, at first glance, repetitive.
The game is, naturally enough, set in Persia. The sultan is away at war, and the evil vizier Jaffar plans to seize the throne for himself. Jaffar has imprisoned the princess and given her one hour to make her decision: marry him, or die. The player assumes the role of an adventurer, the princess's true love; he must escape from prison and rescue her before the hour is up, defeating the vizier and earning the princedom of Persia.
The twist is that the game is played in real time, so the player must quickly complete the quest without breaks. However on some platforms it is possible to save the game at the start of each level. The only way to lose the game is by letting the time expire. If the player is killed, the game will restart from the beggining or a mid-way checkpoint. It was also the first game that used the concept of the power bar. While other games (mostly arcade ports) only had a number of lives and a limited number of continues, the player's had a power bar that. Medium falls, blue potions, being hit by falling platforms and sword hits took one bar, major falls (over 3 floors), being hit unarmed, falling/running on spikes and blades killed the player instantly. The player could increase the number of power bars by drinking larger red potions, usually hidden or in dangerous places. There was also a green potion that made the player float or flip the screen, depending on the level.
Release dates
Originally released for thr Apple II in 1989, Prince of Persia was ported to several other platforms. One year later it was ported to other personal computers such as the Amiga, the Atari ST and the IBM PC Compatible. In 1992, when the home console market was growing steadily, versions for the Master System, Mega CD, NES, sNES and Game Boy were released. A Mega Drive/Genesis followed in 1993. The final port was for the Game Boy Colour six years later, in 1999. Java versions for mobile devices appeared in the early 2000s.
Legacy
Prince of Persia has the following official sequels:
In 1994, an unofficial sequel called 4D Prince Of Persia was produced by a fan of the game. In 2003, another group of fans created a level editor for this game called Karateka
