Prince of Persia is a cinematic action-platformer created by Jordan Mechner, first released in 1989 and ported to the NES. You play an unnamed prince thrown into the palace dungeons who must fight past the Grand Vizier Jaffar’s guards and reach the imprisoned princess before time runs out. The game’s rotoscoped animation — traced from video of a real actor — gave the prince a sense of weight and momentum that set it apart from every other platformer of the era.
How to Play
Arrow keys move and duck. Z (B button) jumps; hold a direction while jumping to leap forward rather than straight up. X (A button) draws your sword in combat and drinks or picks up potions when you are standing next to one. Enter starts the game; Shift is Select.
| Browser Controls | ||
| Arrow keys | Move / duck / climb | |
| Z | Jump (B button) | |
| X | Sword / interact / drink potion (A button) | |
| Enter | Start | |
| Shift | Select | |
Tips
- Walk to ledge edges — never run. Running off a ledge drops the prince to his death; walking to the very edge lets him stop so you can step off and grab the ledge below with the up arrow.
- In sword fights, back up first. Step away from the guard, let them advance and swing, parry, then counter-attack once. Rushing never works — patience does.
- Collect every potion. Health does not regenerate between rooms, and the later levels throw serious sword duels at you. Take every red potion you find.
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