Prince of Persia

When the prince first broke into a run, leaped and grabbed the edge of a ledge, it was as if a real person had come to life — and players all over the world couldn't believe their eyes. Prince of Persia was a revolution in character animation, and its port to the Amstrad CPC was among the finest things the 8-bits ever offered.

Jordan Mechner used the technique of rotoscoping — he filmed his brother's movements and redrew them into the game, so that running, jumping and sword fights felt incredibly smooth and realistic. On top of that, the game added a merciless one-hour time limit to rescue the princess and a labyrinth full of deadly traps: falling slabs, spikes, chasms and slicing blades. Every jump had to be measured precisely, otherwise an instant — and often gruesomely spectacular — death followed.

The game originally appeared on the Apple II and was released in 1989 under the Broderbund banner; the CPC conversion arrived in 1990 and ranked among the most accomplished 8-bit ports of all. The fluid animation the CPC managed to preserve was a genuine experience for players of the time.

The combination of cinematic platforming, puzzle-based level traversal and blade-edge duels created an entirely new genre recipe that would later influence countless games. The prince couldn't simply charge headlong forward — he demanded thought, patience and a sense of timing.

Prince of Persia became one of the most influential games in history, spawning a string of sequels, the famous 3D reboot Sands of Time and even a film adaptation. Whatever platform you play it on, its DNA still shapes modern action games today.

Why play it: For its groundbreaking realistic animation and a tense race-against-time adventure that looked gorgeous on the CPC.