3 October 1989, a date when the world first got a taste of one of the earliest fantasy adventure games that changed the way the industry played video games: Prince of Persia. The era of 80’s had some of the best games in the industry which later went to achieve the legendary status. Games like Tetris, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Street Fighter among many others. Prince of Persia stood out among these heavyweights and carved out a different path for a new kind of games altogether.
The John Mechner game turned 25 this year and looking back one would only have fond memories of the game. The intro music with the castle on the start screen, the pixilated graphics, the oh! so impossible jumps and the boss fights, each aspect of the game was unique in its own way.
Prince of Persia debuted in 1989 on Apple II and has since been to almost every device that has video game playing capability. The original trilogy, the reboot series, the spinoffs, the game has been touched by all and is even played today because of its great game play and nostalgia factor.
The story was inspired from many things of the major one being Arabian Nights, a fable based in ancient Persia. When the king of the land is away from his land, the Vizier Jaffar takes over the kingdom and imprisons the daughter to force her to marry him.
This is when our Hero in white enters the screen and wants to save the princess from the hands of vizier. The players have a time limit of one hour to complete the game and to say the least it gets real crunching when you look at the sand timer dropping each time you die.
The game play was different than the games which were coming out at that time. The acrobatic jumps, the ability to hang from the ledges, the secret passageways that would lead you to a number of potions which could either give you extra life or harm you or sometimes even give you extraordinary powers (floating in the air till you touch the ground).
The only two moves the prince had were attack and block. But the combat was a rather complex one, with the fighting system being the enemies having unique attack patterns. Every death would not only cost you the time but also the agitation factor could get to your nerves when you died after reaching so far in the level.
Well, the game had its critics and lovers all over the world, but there would never be anyone from our generation who would dare to say, “Prince of Persia… never heard the name of this game!”
Thus, remembering the fond memories and what Prince of Persia meant to them, AnimationXpress.com reached out to a number of industry experts and this is what they had to say.
Excerpts:-
Rushabh Shah of Runestone Studios, “The first thing that comes to my mind when someone says ‘Prince of Persia’ is the original trilogy that took place between 1989 and 1999. Countless hours spent to clear trap doors. Of all the games, I liked the 2008 ‘Prince of Persia’ game for its art and the gameplay which was different.”
Ninad Chhaya from Robosoft Technologies, “Original prince game with the intro tune and pixilated screen with the text ‘Broderbund Software Presents’, ‘A Jordan Mechner game’, basically the classic game was awesome in all ways. The sword fights, boss levels and the ultimate fight with Grand Vizier Jaffar. I loved the first two Prince games with the preference clearly to the first one over the second.”
Rajat Ojha of The Awesome Game Studio, “The fluidity of animation was the best considering the limitations back then. This was also my first brush with multiplayer game in a single player game where one person would be playing and other screaming to tell him what to do. The 1st ‘Prince of Persia’ and ‘The Warrior Within’ are the two of my favourite ‘Prince of Persia’ games.”
Krish Das of Toonheart Studios shares, “I remember getting my hands on the game in 1998 and sneaking into the school’s computer lab to play the game during physical sports class. Soon the word got out and then the whole class got hooked to the game, even the teachers. Definitely the classic comes to mind first, but from ‘Sands of Time’ the series took a complete new mechanics and aesthetics change. Between ‘Warrior Within’ and ‘Sands of Time’ I will go with the latter.”
Kinshuk Sunil, Hashstash Studios, “The iconic music and the way the prince would stop from the sprint left a lasting impression on my young, impressionable mind. I always failed to finish the game on time but the love for the game had me try it for a number of times. No game has made me so determined to finish it since. I loved the first two games but lost interest with the third game. But, the fourth game ‘Sands of Time’ got me hooked again.”
Diptoman Mukherjee, Zombie Indies House, “Played ‘Warrior Within’ when it first came out on PC, and I played the heck out of it. Played ‘Sands of Time’ and ‘Two Thrones’ later but ‘Warrior Within’ still remains my favourite.
Maruti Sanker, 7Seas Entertainment, “The way the game was designed was too addictive. I liked the ability to hang from the ledges, avoiding traps of lethal spikes and completing the game within one hour. I remember playing the game in my engineering college on the college’s computer lab. We would insert the floppy into college computer and play on for hours. The original trilogy remains the favourite.”
Amit Goyal, SuperSike Games, “Original game is the reason for me getting into playing video games, and eventually making them. The ‘cutscenes’ from the original Prince of Persia were the first time I saw story being told in a video game in that manner. I was amazed when the princess turned head and her hair moved. It was just some pixels going crazy but it was amazing.”
Vaibhav Chavan, Underdogs Gaming Studio, “The very first game on my Black and White 486 machine. It hooked me up for 3 straight months. The last level from ‘Prince of Persia 2’ kept me awake and all I kept dreaming on how I will crack it. That level was innovation, it taught game designing. ‘Sand of Time’ is definitely one of the best games from the latest Prince franchise.
Anup Sarode, Xaxist Arts, “The magical time freeze mechanic from the ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ was ground-breaking. Dahaka was a relentless, brutal badass boss. Dark Prince was my favourite. Always reminds me of my college days. ‘Two Thrones’ is the best games from the series.”
Priyadarshi Chowdhary, SAGE Info Labs, “The first scene from the original game: Prince in not so princely clothes, jumping out of the dungeon cells. Traps of various sorts have been integral to the series and escaping the room with full of them is an extremely satisfying experience. The original game holds a special space due to nostalgia factor. But, the new ‘Warrior Within’ was a fun combat.”
Anand Jha, Nilee Games, “8-bit, side scrolling platformer is what first comes to my mind when I remember ‘Prince of Persia’. I was addicted to the game in my childhood.”