played using SDLPoP thanks to the PoP Original Trilogy site
The original Prince Of Persia from 1989 is something I feel people know, but haven't played. Granted, this is in large part in it not having seen that many ports in a while, which like, I don't really know why considering how influential and historical it is to the gaming landscape, buuuuut there's been worse cases out and about...
Jordan Mechner was onto somethin with this one, on note of that. It being his second game following Karateka, he pooled a lot more influences - Raiders Of The Lost Ark, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and (obviously) the Arabian Nights for notable cases - and rotoscope tech when creating this, and while it wasn't an immediate success, it slowly but surely started to get the acclaim and appeal it has today thanks to ports and word of mouth. I recommend watching an interview he did for ArsTechnica back in 2020 for more detail and behind the scene processes, it's quite a fascinating thing to see unfold. It's no wonder this basically kickstarted the "cinematic platformer" subgenre, even if I think the terminology is a little corny.
And honestly? This still holds up pretty dang well, all things considered. Controls are heavy and clunky, sure, but considering the design and intent of the game it's w/e, plus you can get a feel and get used to how they handle pretty easily (well, maybe not the jumping, but even then it's fiiiine). Running/walking, jumping, swordfighting, it all feels and flows pretty well with one another, rarely did they get in the way of doing the basic tasks. What actually mangles that aspect, is the level design, which is something that definitely felt like was getting stretched thin as development went along. I hesitate to call it bad, cause it really isn't, but I do have to wonder if Mechner intended for it to become an errand of trail-and-error, getting everything done in a perfect shot or risk failing completely. Having to figure out you need to jump and hit specific platforms to fall in order to climb up and progress, with almost nothing telling you that, is A Moment for sure.
I mean, there is truth to that anyway. You have a set timer of 60 minutes to complete the game, meaning you basically have to memorize (or uh, savescum, thanks to the aforementioned SDLPoP port) the level design in order to mitigate and work out the the best possible strat in order to have sufficient time leftover. In essence, it's training you to speedrun, which in hindsight is pretty funny. I'll say though, it definitely got me to figure out little optimizations, such as instead running from sword fights when necessary, or knowing the exact movement and jump pattern to bypass spikes, falling platforms, pits, and guillotines. On top of keeping task of all of this, there's also collectibles in the form of Mega Potions, of which there are 7 hidden, and lemme tell you getting all of them while still having enough time left over is no easy task. I barely managed to get to the end and defeat Jafar with just 3 minutes to spare, though I'd be lying if I said most of it wasn't a thrill.
There's also one last bit to share, and it's that there's a Shadow Prince that appears after jumping through a mirror in one of the levels halfway in. After doing so, he appears as sort of an obstacle and troll, stealing away an MP from you, forcing you down from the end of Level 6 onto Level 7, and culminating in a penultimate boss where to win you must... put away your sword, merge with it, and afterwards an entire row of platforms appear, letting you get to the exit and Jafar. Granted, by 1989, Zelda II was a thing that's existed for two years and had shown its take on the formula, but still, very cool thing to see done regardless, especially considering PoP89's story is just "rescue the girl".
PoP89 is far from a game I love - I'll sing praises to Sands Of Time either in a review retrospective or when I replay it again down the line - but it's definitely a game I admire and like all the same. Considering how short it is in the grand scheme, I might just keep the files on standby, in case I want to kill an afternoon's worth of time while doing something. There's also like, all those ports, but from the looks of it they really just fancy up the graphics and such. Did you know the Sega CD version has cutscenes and voice acting? I didn't until now! It's also boasting a little more blood, which is surprising to see. If I was to give any port a lookover, it'd probably be the SNES one considering that has 20 levels compared to the original's 12, and from what I've seen they're all vastly different and in some cases, harder. Also, the OST for it kinda bangs? I genuinely wasn't expecting that lmao.
The original Prince Of Persia from 1989 is something I feel people know, but haven't played. Granted, this is in large part in it not having seen that many ports in a while, which like, I don't really know why considering how influential and historical it is to the gaming landscape, buuuuut there's been worse cases out and about...
Jordan Mechner was onto somethin with this one, on note of that. It being his second game following Karateka, he pooled a lot more influences - Raiders Of The Lost Ark, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and (obviously) the Arabian Nights for notable cases - and rotoscope tech when creating this, and while it wasn't an immediate success, it slowly but surely started to get the acclaim and appeal it has today thanks to ports and word of mouth. I recommend watching an interview he did for ArsTechnica back in 2020 for more detail and behind the scene processes, it's quite a fascinating thing to see unfold. It's no wonder this basically kickstarted the "cinematic platformer" subgenre, even if I think the terminology is a little corny.
And honestly? This still holds up pretty dang well, all things considered. Controls are heavy and clunky, sure, but considering the design and intent of the game it's w/e, plus you can get a feel and get used to how they handle pretty easily (well, maybe not the jumping, but even then it's fiiiine). Running/walking, jumping, swordfighting, it all feels and flows pretty well with one another, rarely did they get in the way of doing the basic tasks. What actually mangles that aspect, is the level design, which is something that definitely felt like was getting stretched thin as development went along. I hesitate to call it bad, cause it really isn't, but I do have to wonder if Mechner intended for it to become an errand of trail-and-error, getting everything done in a perfect shot or risk failing completely. Having to figure out you need to jump and hit specific platforms to fall in order to climb up and progress, with almost nothing telling you that, is A Moment for sure.
I mean, there is truth to that anyway. You have a set timer of 60 minutes to complete the game, meaning you basically have to memorize (or uh, savescum, thanks to the aforementioned SDLPoP port) the level design in order to mitigate and work out the the best possible strat in order to have sufficient time leftover. In essence, it's training you to speedrun, which in hindsight is pretty funny. I'll say though, it definitely got me to figure out little optimizations, such as instead running from sword fights when necessary, or knowing the exact movement and jump pattern to bypass spikes, falling platforms, pits, and guillotines. On top of keeping task of all of this, there's also collectibles in the form of Mega Potions, of which there are 7 hidden, and lemme tell you getting all of them while still having enough time left over is no easy task. I barely managed to get to the end and defeat Jafar with just 3 minutes to spare, though I'd be lying if I said most of it wasn't a thrill.
There's also one last bit to share, and it's that there's a Shadow Prince that appears after jumping through a mirror in one of the levels halfway in. After doing so, he appears as sort of an obstacle and troll, stealing away an MP from you, forcing you down from the end of Level 6 onto Level 7, and culminating in a penultimate boss where to win you must... put away your sword, merge with it, and afterwards an entire row of platforms appear, letting you get to the exit and Jafar. Granted, by 1989, Zelda II was a thing that's existed for two years and had shown its take on the formula, but still, very cool thing to see done regardless, especially considering PoP89's story is just "rescue the girl".
PoP89 is far from a game I love - I'll sing praises to Sands Of Time either in a review retrospective or when I replay it again down the line - but it's definitely a game I admire and like all the same. Considering how short it is in the grand scheme, I might just keep the files on standby, in case I want to kill an afternoon's worth of time while doing something. There's also like, all those ports, but from the looks of it they really just fancy up the graphics and such. Did you know the Sega CD version has cutscenes and voice acting? I didn't until now! It's also boasting a little more blood, which is surprising to see. If I was to give any port a lookover, it'd probably be the SNES one considering that has 20 levels compared to the original's 12, and from what I've seen they're all vastly different and in some cases, harder. Also, the OST for it kinda bangs? I genuinely wasn't expecting that lmao.
4 Comments
I do need to get to that at some point since it seems super interesting and another reboot/alt take on the idea
I really need to play this. I was never too interested in it until the Ars Technica review (glad you linked that, their War Stories stuff is always great.)
Growing up with SoT meant that I had to check this out myself eventually, especially since it contains secret easter egg that's just the first level almost recreated 1:1. I knew about some of the BTS details beforehand, but I also figured there was more to it, so I'm glad I found the Ars Technica video when I was looking into it.
FallenGrace
1 year ago