Prince of Persia (Mega-CD)

For other games with the same name, see Prince of Persia.

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Prince of Persia
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Sega (US, Europe), Victor Musical Industries (Japan)
Developer: Brøderbund Software Bits Laboratory
Original system(s): Apple II
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1992-08-07 ¥7,800 (8,034)7,800e T-60014 US 1992-11 4652 EU 1993 4652 DE 1993-08 DM 99.0099.00 4652 FR 1993-09 4652 UK 1993-04 £39.9939.99 4652 AU 1993 FPR102SMR BR 1993-10 061000

Prince of Persia (プリンス・オブ・ペルシャ) is a Sega Mega-CD cinematic platform game developed by Bits Laboratory. Published in Japan by Victor Musical Industries in August 1992, it was later published in the United States by Sega in November 1992, and in Europe by Sega the following year.

The game is a port of the 1989 Brøderbund Software game Prince of Persia, originally released for the Apple II, and features voice-acted cutscenes and the ability to save the player's progress.

Story

Introduction

The game is set in medieval Persia. While the good sultan is fighting a war in a foreign land, his vizier Jaffar, a wizard, seizes power. His only obstacle to the throne is the Sultan's daughter. Jaffar locks her in a tower and orders her to become his wife, or she would die within an hour. The game's unnamed protagonist, whom the Princess loves, is taken prisoner and thrown into the palace dungeons. In order to free her, he must escape the dungeons, get to the palace tower and defeat Jaffar before time runs out. In addition to guards, various traps and dungeons, the protagonist is further hindered by his own doppelgänger, conjured out of a magic mirror.

Gameplay

The game is a cinematic platformer, distinguished by the fluid, lifelike movements and relatively realistic physical limitations of its protagonist, the eponymous prince. Levels are composed of multiple screens with no scrolling in which the prince can move both horizontally and vertically. Gameplay requires problem solving and trial and error to overcome each obstacle. The objective is to lead the prince out of the dungeons and into a tower before time runs out. To do this, the prince must bypass many traps and fight hostile swordsmen. The game consists of twelve levels, which the player has 60 minutes to complete. In each level, the prince must find the door that leads to the next level and figure out how to open it.

The prince walks or turns around with or . He can tiptoe to step more carefully or position himself more precisely by holding or while moving. He can tiptoe safely through spike traps. He crouches with and jumps with or . He leaps across a wide area if he jumps while running, which can be used to traverse gaps. The player must press a couple of steps before the edge to make the leap without running off the platform. When standing next to a ledge above him, he can jump and grab onto the ledge by holding or . If the ledge is below him, he can hang off of it by holding when facing away from it. He can also grab ledges that he leaps onto from a running start by holding or . He picks up items with or and enters doorways with .

The prince finds a scimitar in the dungeon, which he pulls out automatically when he encounters a swordsman. The player can manually retract his sword with and pull it back out with or . While fighting, the prince attacks with or and parries enemy attacks with . The health points of enemy swordsmen are depicted by potions. They lose a health point when they are attacked and die when they lose all of their health or if they are pushed into traps. The prince cannot proceed past a swordsman until he is defeated. If a swordsman parries an attack, he is knocked back slightly, which can be used to push enemies off a ledge or into a trap (but an enemy swordsman can likewise do the same to the prince).

The prince likewise has his health points indicated by potions, initially three. Each time he is damaged (being cut by a sword, falling from farther than one floor, or being hit by falling debris), he loses a health point. The prince can find potions in the dungeon that restore or cost health. There are also special potions that permanently increase his maximum health. The prince dies if he loses all of his health points, restarting from the beginning of the current level. The prince is killed instantly by some traps (spike traps and guillotines), by high falls, and by being attacked by a swordsman before he has his weapon out. While the prince has unlimited lives, the time limit continues to tick down for failed attempts, so the player eventually runs out of time to save the princess if not successful. The player is reminded of the time remaining at the start of each level and every five minutes.

Some floor tiles act as switches and open or close gates or toggle traps. Standing on the tile activates the switch. Some ceiling tiles are loose and can be knocked down by jumping at them.

The player can open a menu by pausing the game with  START  to save the game at any screen, change the speed of the prince's movement or attack, restart the level (without gaining any time back), or end the game. The game also saves the fastest times for completing each level. The player can enter a name, which is used for saving the game and storing the fastest times.

Items

	Healing Potion
	Heals the prince and restores one of his health points.
	Poison Potion
	Poisons the prince and costs one of his health points.
	Life Potion
	Permanently gives the prince another health point and restores all of his lost health points. The extra health point is lost if the prince dies before completing the level, unless the potion is collected again.
	Featherfall Potion
	Allows the prince to float down from a high fall without being harmed.
	Scimitar
	Gives the prince a sword to use. Found in the first level.

Levels

	Level 1
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 2
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 3
	Map: 1️⃣
	The skeletal swordsmen cannot be killed with the prince's sword but must be pushed into pits.
	Level 4
	Map: 1️⃣
	The prince must leap through a magic mirror, which creates his doppelgänger on the other side and drains his health to one point.
	Level 5
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 6
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 7
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 8
	Map: 1️⃣
	The prince becomes trapped behind a closed gate near the end of this level, but a white mouse opens it from the other side. It is revealed that the princess sent the mouse.
	Level 9
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 10
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 11
	Map: 1️⃣
	Level 12
	Map: 1️⃣
	The prince faces his shadow doppelgänger. Injuring the doppelgänger injures the prince as well. To defeat him, the prince must sheathe his sword and merge back into him.
	Level 13
	Map: 1️⃣
	The prince battles Jaffar.

Versions

The Mega-CD port of Prince of Persia was developed by Bits Laboratory, and it is based on previous ports of the game by Riverhillsoft to the PC-9801, X68000, PC Engine, and FM Towns. All of these versions were developed by Japanese teams and have similar graphical assets, with more detailed sprites and backgrounds than previous ports and anime-influenced character art. These were the first versions of the game to depict the prince wearing white pants with a differently colored vest and turban, which would become his signature outfit (previous versions, including the original Apple II game, depicted him wearing all white, with a shirt instead of a vest and no headgear). These versions have an additional final fight with Jaffar, set outdoors on a palace terrace, and share the same Red Book audio soundtrack. The Mega-CD port adds a voiceover to the introduction.

Magazine articles

Main article: Prince of Persia (Mega-CD)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Mega-CD print advert in Supergame (BR) #28: "Novembro 1993" (1993-11-xx)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-05: "May 1992" (1992-04-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-07: "July 1992" (1992-06-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-10: "October 1992" (1992-09-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-11: "November 1992" (1992-10-08)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 63 Consoles + (FR) 94 Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK) 72 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 53 Game Power (IT) 79 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 50 Joypad (FR) 78 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J 79 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 79 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 69 Mega (UK) NTSC-J 41 Mega Action (UK) PAL 87 Mega Force (FR) 86 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J 90 Marukatsu Mega Drive (JP) NTSC-J 66 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-J 72 Player One (FR) 80 Sega Magazin (DE) 53 Sega Power (UK) PAL 68 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 82 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 65 Sega Force (UK) PAL 69 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 63 Supergame (BR) NTSC-J 88 Todo Sega (ES) PAL 81 Video Games (DE) PAL 77

	72
Based on 26 reviews

Prince of Persia (Mega-CD)

Mega-CD, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, EU
Cover
Spinecard Disc Manual

Mega-CD, FR (Blister pack)
Cover

Mega-CD, AU

Mega-CD, BR
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Prince of Persia (Mega-CD)/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia games for Sega systems
	Prince of Persia (1992)
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	Prince of Persia (1992)
	Prince of Persia (1993) | Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (Cancelled)
	Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights (2000)