Forget about the terrible movie, forget about all the 3D versions of the game that came out during the 00’s. The 1989 video game, simply named Prince of Persia, to this day, is one of the best gaming experiences anyone can have. I guess the guys who made the following video, hopping around Tel Aviv in Israel, walked around with the same notion too.
Mario makes a special cameo near the end, so watch out.
The original game was released in 1989, and in 1994 came out the Shadow and the flame sequel, that tried to recapture the magic of the first one, making a so-so kind of success. Later on came the 3D version and then the Sands of Time of trilogy. Ubisoft kept putting out games and different versions to different consoles, but for me and for other old-timers (feeling old at 20-something is truly a 21st century disease) the magic was lost.
Gameloft did a remake of the game, releasing it to the XBOX and Playstation networks in 2007-2008. The same level design and general premise, but with 3D graphics, more fluency and Sand of Time aesthetics. The gameplay and controls were slightly adjusted to include a wall-jump move and different swordplay.
There has been several reverse engineering cases by fans of the original game, resulting in detailed documentation of the file formats of the MS-DOS version. Oh DOS, I miss you. With the right kind of software, you can play the original game, and others from that time of our forgotten childhood. Abandonia, probably my favorite site for these kind of things, has Prince of Persia and plenty of other games that will re-kindle you childhood at the touch of a button.
