Prince of Persia Games

Prince of Persia is a long-running series of action puzzle games that recently made the leap to 3D. The first game was a 2D platformer that made huge splashes in the gaming world with its smooth animation, realistic physics and puzzles, and sword-based combat. The 3D Prince of Persia games successfully repeated the formula in a realistic 3D world.

Early Prince of Persia

The original Prince of Persia game was released in 1989 by Brøderbund for the Apple II and was eventually ported for the Amiga, Apple Macintosh, NES, Game Boy, SNES and Sega Genesis. Author Jordan Mechner studied hours of films of his brother running, leaping and moving in white clothes to imitate those movement in his game. The story involved the prince of a powerful Sultan who was away at war. His evil vizier, Jaffar, planned to capture the throne by imprisoning the princess and giving her one hour to make a decision: marry him or die. You are the prince, imprisoned in the depths of the sultan's castle. As you begin the game you must escape from prison. Then, climb your way to the high tower to save the princess and defeat the vizier. The catch: the game plays out in real-time. You have one hour by your very own wrist watch to save her, otherwise you lose. This was the only limitation of the game, as you could die and re-spawn as many times as you wanted, the only penalty being lost time.

Prince of Persia Realism

Another innovative idea in Prince of Persia is the system of combat. Most games at the time used projectile weapons, but with the strong medieval Arabic theme in Prince of Persia, swordplay was an integral part in fighting enemies. Players could sheath or draw their sword with the press of a button. Wielding the weapon put the prince in a different stance and shifted controls to allow for finer combat motions. The prince is a very acrobatic guy. He can leap, cling to ledges, scramble up walls and roll across the floor. However, we're not talking about Mario-style agility. Prince of Persia featured remarkably life-life physics. The prince could leap and grab ledges that were just barely above his head. His horizontal jump carried him only a meter or two. This made navigating puzzles, which often involved hidden switches, movable floor panels and the like, more interesting and involving.

The World of 3D

The first 3D Prince of Persia game was released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast, titled Prince of Persia 3D. The game has been largely ignored and shunned by fans of the series, however, due to poor gameplay mechanics, controls, and camera movements. Considered the first "true" 3D Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was released in 2003 for the Xbox, GameCube, PS2 and PC. Ubisoft Montreal handled the painstaking work of fine-tuning the play control and remaining faithful to the original, 2D adventure.

Early Prince of Persia

The original Prince of Persia game was released in 1989 by Brøderbund for the Apple II and was eventually ported for the Amiga, Apple Macintosh, NES, Game Boy, SNES and Sega Genesis. Author Jordan Mechner studied hours of films of his brother running, leaping and moving in white clothes to imitate those movement in his game.

The story involved the prince of a powerful Sultan who was away at war. His evil vizier, Jaffar, planned to capture the throne by imprisoning the princess and giving her one hour to make a decision: marry him or die.

You are the prince, imprisoned in the depths of the sultan's castle. As you begin the game you must escape from prison. Then, climb your way to the high tower to save the princess and defeat the vizier. The catch: the game plays out in real-time. You have one hour by your very own wrist watch to save her, otherwise you lose. This was the only limitation of the game, as you could die and re-spawn as many times as you wanted, the only penalty being lost time.

Prince of Persia Realism

Another innovative idea in Prince of Persia is the system of combat. Most games at the time used projectile weapons, but with the strong medieval Arabic theme in Prince of Persia, swordplay was an integral part in fighting enemies. Players could sheath or draw their sword with the press of a button. Wielding the weapon put the prince in a different stance and shifted controls to allow for finer combat motions.

The prince is a very acrobatic guy. He can leap, cling to ledges, scramble up walls and roll across the floor. However, we're not talking about Mario-style agility. Prince of Persia featured remarkably life-life physics. The prince could leap and grab ledges that were just barely above his head. His horizontal jump carried him only a meter or two. This made navigating puzzles, which often involved hidden switches, movable floor panels and the like, more interesting and involving.

The World of 3D

The first 3D Prince of Persia game was released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast, titled Prince of Persia 3D. The game has been largely ignored and shunned by fans of the series, however, due to poor gameplay mechanics, controls, and camera movements.

Considered the first "true" 3D Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was released in 2003 for the Xbox, GameCube, PS2 and PC. Ubisoft Montreal handled the painstaking work of fine-tuning the play control and remaining faithful to the original, 2D adventure.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time features a lush setting in an Indian raja's castle, largely at night. The music crafts a wonderful mood and adds to the medieval Indian feel of the game. The prince still has his signature acrobatics and more lifelike physical limitations. However, because the world is 3D, the prince has more moves than before. Running along walls, climbing poles, wall-jumping and much more has been added, making the prince a Persian ninja of sorts. Intricate sword-based combat is still an exciting part of gameplay.

The sequel to Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Warrior Within, added an in-depth combat system but removed the narrations and storybook-like tale aspects. The game wasn't as well-received as the Sands of Time.

The latest Prince of Persia game, Prince of Persia: Two Thrones, released in late 2005, is being haled as the true successor to the stellar Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. A deeper combat system from Warrior Within was kept, while the narrations and story-like presentation were brought back from Sands of Time. Two Thrones is available, as its predecessors, for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox systems.

Inspiration is Contagious

Many games have claimed inspiration from the Prince of Persia series. Here are just a few.

• Out of This World (Another World) - Realistic physics and similar gameplay as in Prince of Persia in a science-fiction setting.
• Tomb Raider - Considered a 3D Prince of Persia of sorts.
• Flashback