In the land of mass destruction weapons

Oh yes I know, you've already heard the deed of the kidnapped princess, the villain who wants to fuck her and the girl who doesn't, etc... But hey, this time, it's Prince of Persia! With a true princess of the Arabian Nights, a real unbearable Vizier villain with a pale blue skin, while you embody a strong and handsome young prince... So Maurice, you buy it my script say? Ok, let's go. Antiquity, Persia. A majestic and powerful empire, full of magic and legends ... We don't know where reality begins and ends in these mystical times. The Sultan went to war, leading his armies, leaving the princess alone in the palace. You are her lover and future Prince of Persia. While the Sultan is on the battlefield, the machiavellian Vizier have full authority over the kingdom. The coward decides to throw you in jail, while your sweetheart is ordered to marry him: and the robber would become Prince in your place and get rid of the Sultan when he comes back...

The ultimatum is set, and the princess has only wo hours to think it over and decide. One hundred and twenty minutes... it's also the time allotted to you to save her. In your cell, a slab collapses under your feet, and you fall in the shallows of the Palace: where enemies of the kingdom are tortured and killed... You need to find a weapon, and go through the twenty areas of the maze, making your way to the apartments of the infamous Vizier. It will not be a walk in the park, be warned. Epic battles, puzzling with doors and interruptors, inextricable labyrinth of levels ... The difficulty of the game is high, and clearing it within the allotted time seems almost impossible for a new player. The graphics of the game are simple and clear, no frills. The twenty stages are part of eight different zones of the Palace, accessible by getting upstairs in the fortress. The animation is one of the most noticeable feature in PoP: the hero has smooth moves and the various action you can make are quite precise: walk step by step, run, jump, long jump, hang, crouch, jump vertically...

Sword duels are simpler, mainly consisting in striking and blocking while you can still go forward or backwards... but besides, the timing will be critical. Speaking about sound now, it should be said that the melodies of Prince of Persia are fabulous. The atmosphere in Prince of Persia is mostly based on them, and this is a delight. Mysticism, magic and oppression are everywhere. The sound effects are also well chosen simple, fitting well the game. In short, with a simple but efficient realization, Masaya performs a pleasant set and the scenario sends the player into it... Giving free scope for the gameplay to speak. First point, the game works with a system of passwords. At the end of each level you're given one, allowing you to resume play to the next stage after stopping the system. The backups were rare features back in those days, and having these passwords was a good thing. As said before, our hero's range of moves is full and allows many possibilities during the action... but beware of the pitfalls! Because there's also countless ways to die in Prince of Persia, you'll probably find out for yourself if you play it! 

The guards are increasingly combative over the levels, and you'll also have to overcome tough Bosses throughout the game, and other unlikely enemies. But your toughest opponent will still remain the maze itself. To help, you'll  find - hidden in the stages - various potions. The most common provide an unit of health, but be careful! some will make you pain too. Harder to find, there are in each zone large potions that definitely gives an extra vial of life once swallowed. Let me give you an advice: take the time to look for them. With three vials of life only at the beginning, fighting in the advanced parts of the dungeon will be pretty tough if you don't improve your character. Other incredible potions await you, but it's up to you to discover them... Two ends are possible in PoP: one where you rescue the Princess, and the other... The desire to restart the game once completed doesn' t come immediately, since it's quite a test... but the pleasure of this adventure is so great that you'll come back necessarily one day. A great game , hard, demanding, rare, which is not accessible to all players due to its difficulty.

SAME ON THE NEO?

Arcade games could not easily retranscribe games like Prince of Persia, packing a two-hours challenge. Anyway, the title the most similar seems to be Magician Lord, still very different from Masaya's soft.