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Prince of Persia (1989 video game)

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Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia Mega CD Cover
Prince of Persia Mega CD Cover
Developer(s)Brøderbund
Publisher(s)Brøderbund
Designer(s)Jordan Mechner
Platform(s)PC (MS-DOS), Apple II, Apple Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, Master System, MD/Gens (ported to Mega CD), Sega Game Gear, TurboGrafx CD, NES, SNES, GB/GBC, SAM Coupé, Amstrad CPC, Mobile Phone, ZX Spectrum (complete but unofficial port by Nicodim)
ReleaseBetween 1989 and 1999 (see article)
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single player
This article is about the video game. The Prince of Persia is also a character who appears in Act I of the Puccini opera Turandot.

Prince of Persia is a video game of the platform game genre that was released by Brøderbund in 1989 for the 8-bit Apple II series. The game is named after the "prince of persia" which is a demonic principality mentioned in the Bible in the book of Daniel.

The game 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 David Mechner running and jumping in white clothes to ensure that all the movements looked just right in a process 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.

File:Prince of Persia Motion Capture Jump.jpg
Animation reference image

After the original release for the Apple II computer, Prince of Persia was ported to a wide range of platforms, including the Amiga, Apple Macintosh, DOS, NES, Game Boy, Game Gear, SNES and Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis. The game managed to surprise and captivate the player despite being, at first glance, repetitive.

As the title suggests, the game is set in Persia, and is similar to the tale of Aladdin. 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. On some platforms it is possible to save the game at the start of each level, however the time limit still applies. The only way to lose the game is by letting the time expire. If the player is killed, the game will restart from the beginning of the level, or in some levels, a mid-way checkpoint. The game also included a power bar. Medium falls, blue potions, being hit by falling platforms and sword hits took one notch from the power bar, while major falls, being hit unarmed, falling or running on spikes and blades killed the player instantly. The player could increase the number of notches in the power bar 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.

Ports

Originally released for the 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, and Game Boy were released, as well as a version with enhanced artwork for the Apple Macintosh. A version for the SNES was released in 1992. A Mega Drive/Genesis version followed in 1993. A port for the Turbo Duo also appeared in 1993, using the Super CD-ROM format. Another port was for the Game Boy Color six years later, in 1999. Java versions for mobile devices appeared in the early 2000s. For the revival title, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Macintosh version was put in to be unlocked by beating the game once or by finding a secret area (The GameCube version of the game also has a third method of unlocking the original game by finding 3 switches in the Game Boy Advance game, with the GBA being connected to the GameCube). The game also turned into a secret minigame in The Sands of Time.

The SAM Coupé version, released in 1992, is unique because it was programmed unofficially using graphics painstakingly copied pixel by pixel from paused frames of the Amiga version and only shown to Domark (the UK distributors of Prince of Persia) for potential release near completion. Although the computer had a very small user base and no other mainstream support, the release was allowed because of the very high quality of the conversion and the fact that it would incur almost no further development costs. Due to its independently produced status and the fact that the work was done almost entirely by one individual, Chris White, this version of Prince of Persia has several unique bugs.

The Sega CD and Turbo Duo versions used the CD format to incorporate animated cutscenes with voice tracks and CD Audio soundtracks. The games both had graphics that seem to be based on the Macintosh version, where the Prince had a turban and colored clothing.

The Super Nintendo version is also unique. Aside from graphic and aural enhancements, the game has 20 levels instead of the original's 13; the original levels that remained had some extra rooms or different routes. Also, there are boss battles, some of which are not the typical swordfighters, and that involves not only swordfighting but dodging as well. The player was also given two hours to rescue the Princess (all other versions only gave you one). This version was ported and developed by NCS and published by Konami in America.

Legacy

The Prince of Persia series has the following official titles:

Title Developer Platforms First Released
Prince of Persia Brøderbund Apple II, Apple Macintosh, DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Master System, Mega CD, Game Boy,

Game Boy Color, NES, SNES, Sam Coupé, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Game Gear, Mega Drive/Genesis

1989
Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame Brøderbund Apple Macintosh, PC, SNES 1994
Prince of Persia 3D Red Orb Entertainment Windows, Dreamcast 1999
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Ubisoft PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Windows, and Game Boy Advance November 4 2003
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Ubisoft PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Windows December 2 2004
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Ubisoft PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, and Windows December 1 2005
Prince of Persia: Revelations Ubisoft PlayStation Portable December 6 2005
Battles of Prince of Persia Ubisoft Nintendo DS December 7 2005

In 1993, a level editor for the Mac called PoPMap was released, and can be found in the Info-Mac HyperArchive. 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 Princed and a graphic and sound editor called Princed Resources, opening the door to numerous homebrew level sets such as Prince of Persia: Shadow of Castle and Prince of Persia: Revolutions.

Some clones with gamesplay and animation similar to Prince of Persia have been released, like Makh-Shevet's Cruel World or (more loosely) Delphine's Flashback, relying on realistic running, crouching and platform jumping. Tomb Raider is considered a 3D incarnation of this kind of gaming.

See also


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