Prince of Persia

One hour. That is how much time you have to fight your way from the dungeon up to the princess, held captive and threatened by the evil vizier Jaffar. Prince of Persia on the NES brings the famous cinematic platformer to Nintendo's eight-bit console and proves that a story of a race against time worked on any platform.

Jordan Mechner designed the original in 1989 with an emphasis on realistic character animation. Using a technique resembling rotoscoping, in which he transferred the filmed movement of a real person into the game, he achieved a fluidity of motion that was astonishing for the time. The prince runs, jumps, climbs and duels with a weight and inertia that give every step real risk. On the NES this animation carried over remarkably well.

The gameplay combines precise platforming sections with sword fights and deadly traps. Retracting blades, pits and vanishing tiles lie in wait at every step, and a single mistake means death. Added to that is the tension of the constantly running time limit, which turns each level into a puzzle where you must balance caution and speed. Sword duels demand timing of attacks, parries and retreats.

Prince of Persia is among the most ported games of its era, and the NES version is one of the many forms in which this classic reached players. The series later turned into one of the flagship brands of Ubisoft thanks to the three-dimensional Sands of Time trilogy, but the whole myth began with this anxious platforming run through the palace.

Today the eight-bit version is an interesting comparison with the other ports. It shows how strong the core game concept was, having survived conversion to so many different machines. For fans of the series and lovers of demanding platformers alike, it is a piece of gaming history that deserves attention.

Why play it: The eight-bit incarnation of the founding legend of cinematic platformers. A tense race against time where every mistake counts.