How the game "Prince of Persia" was created: 11 interesting facts about the game (17 photos)

Many gamers first became acquainted with the 3D "Prince of Persia" in the 2000s, when the series of games about the sands of time came out. But in our childhood we had our own classic "Prince of Persia", which we played on Dendy and Sega Mega drive consoles, as well as on personal computers.





In 1 hour of real time, we had to get out of the catacombs, destroying the guards, fight the vizier named Jafar and save our beloved. And today I would like to tell you about the history of the creation of this game, as well as tell you some interesting facts about it.

1. The history of the game "Prince of Persia" began in 1985. Game designer Jordan Mechner, who five years earlier released the cult game "Karateka", decided to create a new game in a similar setting, but with improved gameplay and a longer passage.



Jordan Mechner

By the way, you can see some similarities between the games "Prince of Persia" and "Karateka":

2. But despite some similarities, "Prince of Persia" was still very different from "Karateka". The game itself was divided into levels, the graphics were noticeably better, each level had a lot of puzzles, buttons and traps, and the prince's movements were very realistic.





By the way, about the movements of the main character. Such realistic movements were achieved thanks to rotoscoping technology. Jordan Mechner dressed his younger brother in white robes, then made him run, jump, squat, etc., recording all his movements. After that, the brother's movements were converted into a digital form.



3. The first version of the game "Prince of Persia" was released in 1989 specifically for the computer "Apple II". And later it was ported to other platforms.



Apple II

I think it would be difficult to find a platform that did not have its own version of the game "Prince of Persia". Some of them looked pretty poor (for example, Amstrad CPC or ZX Spectrum)



ZX Spectrum

The versions for 16-bit consoles looked more graphic and were very different from the original.



Sega mega drive

But still the most popular in my opinion is the DOS version of the game, as well as the version for the NES (Dendy) and Amiga, which looked almost exactly the same except for some little things.



4. By the way, a little more about the versions of the game. The game "Prince of Persia" for the Super Nintendo console was wider than other versions. In particular, many new levels and opponents were added to it, due to which the timer was increased from one to two hours of real time.



5. All the guards in the game differ from each other only in color, health and the difficulty of the duel with them, but still during the game you can stumble upon the commander of the guards, who differs from his wards in excess weight.



Also, we can't forget about the skeleton from the third level, which cannot be killed, no matter how many times you poke it. The only thing you can do with it is to throw it from a great height.



6. I would also like to mention another enemy, which has become a real thorn in the side for gamers. Yes, we are talking about the negative prince, who appears when we pass through the mirror.

This villain will really bother us a couple of times during the game. One time he will drink a health potion right in front of us, and another time he will close the gate right in front of us, causing our hero to fall down.

Only at level 12 we will have to meet him face to face. And this is another small puzzle, since fighting with the negative prince and causing damage to him, we will harm ourselves.



In order to get rid of our negative reflection, you need to put your sword in its sheath and run straight towards it, after which both princes will reunite.

7. Initially, Jordan Mechner wanted to implement a built-in level editor into the game so that gamers could create their own locations. But as it turned out, the whole thing is quite difficult to implement technically, so it was decided to abandon the idea.

8. The game has a small life hack that speedrunners actively use. As you know, on the first level we need to find a sword to get through the guard guarding the entrance to the second level. But in fact, this is not necessary.



If you suddenly run up to the guard and jump over him, then he simply will not have time to do anything and the prince will end up behind him, after which he will get to the door leading to the second level. Well, the prince will start the second level with a sword.

9. In 2007, Ubisoft, which was previously responsible for the Prince and the Sands of Time series of games, released a remake of that classic Prince. By the way, the game is called "Prince of Persia classic".



The game completely repeats the original "Prince" in terms of passage, and is still a platformer. But, naturally, the game is already made in new graphics, and some new acrobatic elements were added to it.

10. In 2010, a film was released called "Prince of Persia. Sands of Time", based on the eponymous series of games from Ubisoft. And although this film has nothing to do with the classic "Prince", Jordan Mechner, who created the original game "Prince of Persia", was involved in its creation.



And despite the fact that in no game about the prince (neither old nor new) the name of the main character is indicated, in the film they decided to give him the name - Dastan.

11. After the success of the game "Prince of Persia", Jordan Mechner thought about a sequel, and already in 1993 the second part of the game was released under the name "Prince of Persia 2: The shadows of the flame", the actions of which unfold 11 days after the end of the events of the first part.



The gameplay remained approximately the same as in the first part, but the graphics, naturally, were already better and juicier. Moreover, the game had many new elements and features, and the game's action went beyond the palace.

This game was less popular than the first part of the game. Well, it is understandable, because the game itself was released on a much smaller number of platforms. For example, this game was not released on the NES and Sega mega drive consoles. And only users of personal computers (DOS) and the SNES console could play it.

And in 2013, a remake of the second part of the game was released, which was made in the spirit of "Prince of Persia Classic".

Well, in 1999, the last part of the trilogy was released, which was very different from the first two. And the main difference was that the game was made in a fully three-dimensional format. I admit honestly, I did not play this game at all.



Well, then, as you probably know, the company "Ubisoft" decided to reboot the series, and in 2003 the game "Prince of Persia: Sands of time" was released.