I agree with Tim Rogers when he says that this was probably the most influential game ever. By a sheer conjunction of time, place, and aesthetics, this game from 1991 may have pulled of a Pixies and became formative for the designers that worked on a good part of the greatest games of all time.
Now, I can't say that this game derives from Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia, but that might be the case. The vision is fantastic, but the execution is certainly of its time.