Prince of Persia

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Rate this game

10 (highest)
3
50%
9
2
33%
8
1
17%
7
0
No votes
6
0
No votes
5
0
No votes
4
0
No votes
3
0
No votes
2
0
No votes
1 (lowest)
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 6

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AutoAdmin
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Prince of Persia

Post by AutoAdmin »

Feel free to rate and discuss this game.
If RGB Classic Games matters to you, tell someone!
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MrFlibble
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Re: Prince of Persia

Post by MrFlibble »

A definite all-time classic, and one of my first computer games ever. It used to be such a hit in Russian in the early nineties, Viktor Pelevin even wrote a story called Prince of Central Planning about this phenomenon :) The "classic" DOS version is very cool by itself, but the improved Super Nintendo port might be even better at times, with more levels and enemies, greatly improved graphics and very good music that captures the atmosphere of the game just perfectly.
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MrFlibble
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Re: Prince of Persia

Post by MrFlibble »

Just found a very interesting article about the creation of Prince of Persia at Hardcore Gaming 101:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/prince ... persia.htm
Prince of Persia was one of the milestones in how video games were made and perceived as a narrative form, but it almost didn't get made. After it got made, it almost flopped. In summer 1985, not too long after his first game Karateka was released, a young game designer / aspiring screenwriter named Jordan Mechner first came up with the idea of a game in an Arabian Nights setting. By the end of the year, a contract was drafted with Karateka-Publisher Brøderbund, and Mechner had shot footage of his brother David performing various movements intended for the game, only the first of many recording sessions in Prince of Persia's development.

Mechner had first applied rotoscoping—that is, a live actor is filmed by a camera doing a variety of movements, and then an artist traces those images on a computer—for Karateka, and for his new game he would refine the technique. Even in the earliest demos, the hero of the game still frequently referred to as Baghdad (the title Prince of Persia was first thought up by the producer at Broderbund a year later) had remarkably fluid animation. He didn't just jump up - he'd squat, leap into the sky and grab ahold of a ledge, swaying in the air before he pulled himself up and over. Considering most game characters at the time were lucky if they had more than three frames of movement animation, this was an extraordinary achievement.
There are pics and sketches from early development, excerpts from Jordan Mechner's journal and other stuff.
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rainwarrior
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Re: Prince of Persia

Post by rainwarrior »

Might be my very favourite DOS game. Playing it changed my life for sure. I love the quiet exploration of this, the unique but very precise control scheme, the organization of space, the limited time that raises the stakes on wasting time exploring. Incredible animation for its time too, and a nice soundtrack, what little of it there was.
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MrFlibble
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Re: Prince of Persia

Post by MrFlibble »

Have you played the SNES version? It's probably the best version of the game there is apart from the original.

I remember how Prince of Persia felt simply magical when I was a kid. I cannot describe this but it felt like a living world behind the computer screen, even though it was created from very simple elements. For some reason many games don't fell like that at all to me, especially modern ones that boast very realistic graphics. No idea if there's indeed something special about the game, or just my childhood imagination and a relative lack of experience with video games back then created this effect.
Callan
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Re: Prince of Persia

Post by Callan »

MrFlibble wrote: December 8th, 2018, 3:43 pm Have you played the SNES version? It's probably the best version of the game there is apart from the original.

I remember how Prince of Persia felt simply magical when I was a kid. I cannot describe this but it felt like a living world behind the computer screen, even though it was created from very simple elements. For some reason many games don't fell like that at all to me, especially modern ones that boast very realistic graphics. No idea if there's indeed something special about the game, or just my childhood imagination and a relative lack of experience with video games back then created this effect.
Love Prince of Persia! Never played the SNES version. What makes the game so good on SNES btw?
Last edited by Callan on August 24th, 2023, 2:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
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MrFlibble
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Re: Prince of Persia

Post by MrFlibble »

It has improved graphics, more levels and enemies and an excellent soundtrack, all the while preserving the original feel and play mechanics of the PC version. Some other console ports botched the combat mechanics pretty badly, and almost none have any extra levels.
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