(a bit of background: I'd seen my friend play this when I was a kid, but didn't really know much about it until I picked it up recently)

I find it pretty amusing that when I played Deep Space Nine: The Crossroads of Time recently, my first thought was "what kind of Prince of Persia-inspired game would control like ass and throw tons of timed missions at you?" And I guess now that I've played this, I know the answer to that question is Prince of Persia. Because this does control like ass, and the entire game is a timed mission. The fact that the timer is actually very unforgiving and you can save and load your progress means that you're encouraged to repeatedly savescum, playing the same stage again and again until you get a speedrun-worthy time.

There is also plenty this game gets right. The minimalist approach to the graphics and the music is very memorable; nothing is wasted, and every graphical detail and short musical jingle means something. The rotoscoping is impeccably done, ensuring that the game looks silky smooth (even if the controls don't always feel that way). The sword duels are a particular highlight!

I highly respect what this game did especially for its time; it's probably the best game I am totally okay with not returning to.