Prince of Persia was released in 1989 on the Apple II and received critical acclaim followed by commercial success when released in Japan the following year. The fluid character animations, considered cutting edge at the time, were based on videos of the game designer's brother performing stunts as well as action sequences from classic films.
The plot, influenced by the Arabian Nights tales, revolves around the eponymous Prince who has been imprisoned by the evil Grand Vizier Jaffar. He has one hour to escape the dungeon and rescue the Sultan's daughter who has been placed under a curse by Jaffar and given a choice to marry him or die!
A side scrolling action game, gameplay consists of navigating Jaffar's dungeons and later his tower by running, climbing and avoiding traps (along with Jaffar's guards). As the game progresses, the Prince will also be hindered by his own doppelganger, conjured up by Jaffar to thwart him.
Although simple by today's standards, it's still very playable, the gameplay has inspired many future cinematic action platformers such as Flashback. A sequel Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow of the Flame would be released in 1993 followed by a successful gaming franchise.
Review By Richard
For a free and open-source level editor, go to popot.org. Don't miss this fansite too : popuw.com.
English 
Japanese 
Comments and reviews
how in heck do i open a stuffit archive
;) great game
Would anybody happen to know why I can't move or do anything, running through DOSBox? I've hit Ctrl-K to enable keyboard mode, and Esc, Ctrl-Q, Space etc. all do what they're supposed to, but the arrow keys do nothing - I can't move from the starting crouch position. I've tried v1.3 and v1.4, same thing. Any advice would be appreciated.
why is there a dungeon city-size like
in the basement of the fakir
and why are there all kinds of dangerous
mechanics in the clear pathways,
why are there so many guards here and
what the -peep- are they doing there ?
no prisoners, no monsters, nothing is there.
the palace is like a tiny caravansized structure
on top of this miles long and high dungeon.
it looks unrealistic
One interesting psychological effect: Don't play before going to lunch. It will increase the chance that you'll pick up a speeding ticket. Hair-trigger reflexes don't impress the gendarmes.
Very interesting game
how do u even finish 2nd level...i killed everyone...taken all the potions...pressed the only "button" at the end of the map, and the doors wont open :/
This game is genius. Love playing it.
Have been doing another playthrough and the time ran out on the level 12 just as I've met my mirror image. Time limit certainly creates additional challenge. This game is so much better than another old time classic game Mario. Prince of Persia is a lot more thoughtful than Mario and that's why I like it a lot more. Beautifully done. Mario was released in 1985 though, it's an older game.
The game would certainly not be the same without its engaging combat system.
It does not get boring because it requires skill from the player. It keeps you engaged.
And the combat system with differently colored guards that have different levels of difficulty creates a good challenge and even though its mechanics is simple it does not get boring. I liked the combat system in this game.
The game is full of nice little touches, nice details, nice little tricks, which makes it feel elaborated. For example, it does matter if you approach a guard facing you or away from you in certain rare situations, in situations when you have little space inbetween you and the guard. Or on the level 9 you have to drop a plate to press a key in the beginning of the game to open the door otherwise it would be closed when you reach the end of the level. Attention to detail matters and it makes it look elaborated and expensive, because it takes a lot of time to create details like this.
Thank you, Jordan Mechner. I love your creation.
Marvel of a game.
Found myself immersed in this game once again, just like in the old times.
Hi there! This is Alexander.
Prince of Persia 1990 is extremely good. Excellent arabic music, I was even recording the notes myself for it, excellent sound design, excellent animations, well-designed levels with secret paths and beautiful graphics creates a sense of mystery and magic and it was the best that you could get in 1990. Top-notch. This game was clearly made by professional game designers. What an absolutely beautiful game. And the second Prince of Persia 1993 is even better.
Who are these mad men?! This game sucks!
Another all time classics from dos era, I could not get past level 9 that time and had to use cheat codes to enter lvl 10 to win it eventually.
My brothers favorite game!
How can I save my progress in dos box?
The SNES mod for DOS has a bug. The tile that should open the final door in level 2 doesn't actually open it... T_T
Doesn work? Sadly This try fix a repair roms, download like fixed emulator not start at prince of persia game Waah, wah waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
I played this as a kid, in 1990 I was nine,but I must have played it when I was a tad older.
Such great memories, not only of playing, but drawing maps on squared paper, lol :)
Horas jugando al Prince
I should say this game is an unofficial sequel of Karateka, I only find out recently, with "The Making of Karateka". Jordan Mechner used the same characters, graphics, some sounds, and improved their animation and colors, then put them in a new designed platform levels with traps and step buttons giving a puzzle game we know today. Go check Karateka, if you don't know it yet, it's a must for PoP fans.
The game crashes with Sound Blaster 16 soundcard if sound mode is selected Sound Blaster Pro. If we select standard audio the music cannot be heard and sounds are now like midi's. Also tried with Sound Blaster 128 and this time music cannot be heard but only new sounds.
Thank you for preserving this marvel.. Still playing it @2023.
first time visit on this site i download game, i get an error this app can not run on your pc. I have window 11 64 bit
I could never really get used to platformers such as this that offered animation that was either motion captured or gave the impression it was. Prince of Persia, Another World and Flashback, all offered slow responses due to the animation and it was all about timing, or pre-timing movements such as jumping. It was ok but for me when the novelty wore off regards the animation, I found it a bit boring and lost interest in it.
I love playing games and going to school
GEBBO, you can play in your web browser.
Or if you have a modded OG Xbox and a copy of Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time for it, you can just go into the game files and open up a full copy of the original game which otherwise requires you to beat Sands Of Time to play.
Or dump the game however you do it and play on a PC OG Xbox emulator.
Hello everybody, I would like to try this old game. I have a windows 10 pc, which version should I download? Thanks in advance :D
It was all agreed upon by Thomas Duster and his firm of giblet Dickingsons. It went on for half a year with no input from management, they wanted it to be closed off at 3 am with no reason or malice of forethought. In the end it was quarantined at six decimels past the 4, all with his friend Roderick Broderick and his army of Stephensons. Nice touch from the developers
I never played this on Sega, DOS, etc but I know I'm not that good at it from playing the official OG Xbox version (which is included in Sands Of Time). Still, I do like it for the time it was made in.
i saw this on youtube so i want to try it
Gosh so many memories from playing this when I purchased my very first 386 SX-16 PC back in 1990.
Thank you for keeping these old titles alive!
thak you this game is awesome
Iam Play this game in windows xp with no sound
thank you for give idea :)))))
Snes version has a bug on level2.
it is a great joy to give a try different versions of the game. back then every other platform had its own charm.
Yo se lo hice con un juego y lo hizo con educación física con el pera y luego a la Tata hemos jugado este juego
Escrevi para o quadrax mas achei que estava nesta pagina, mas tudo bem, quadrax tmb é dos bons
This game makes me feel alive inside and out and all around and all over everywhere at all times no matter what it takes anytime anyplace anywhere no matter what it takes
@Gary
Have you checked the graphics of the Sega Genesis version? They're clearly superior.
Or did you mean mechanics?
Some information on the different DOS versions of Prince of Persia.
(Press Ctrl-V during gameplay to find out which version you have).
Prince of Persia v1.0 : 1990
Original PC version; Has original color scheme (Level 3 dungeon is dark blue)
No Setup program; uses manual command line parameters:
j (joystick); vga, mcga, tga, ega, hga, herc, cga (graphics);
stdsnd, adlib, covox, gblast, ibmg, sblast, tandy (sound)
Cheat activation code is 'megahit'
Prince of Persia v1.3 : 1992
Same levels, but with new color scheme on some levels (Level 3 dungeon is dark green)
Complete Hardware configuration startup Setup program.
You can specify Graphics Mode, Input Device, Sound Device and Music Synthesizer.
Cheat activation code is 'improved'
Prince of Persia v1.4 : 1993 (from Prince of Persia CD Collection)
Levels and color scheme identical to v1.3 (Level 3 dungeon is dark green)
Limited choice for Hardware configuration startup Setup program.
You can only set Sound Device and Music Synthesizer (PC Speaker, Sound Blaster Pro, Other Drivers).
Cheat activation code is 'improved'
DOS-ROM version is the best!
Prove me wrong!
i remember playing this as a flash game...
Remember this as a young fella, Got to the end and finished the final ; albeit very confusing ending of fighting your mirror image, till I worked it out. Great game, a bit frustrating when you die, but a great sense of achievement. Don't use cheats or level skips, it will only ruin the challenge and sense of achievement.
this work is great
software history is being loss daily and writers and programers die
GREAT WORK
I remember those times playing Prince of Persia and hope to go back
i hope i enjoy it i am just a begginer
Hello community. I wrote a comment (spanish) about the game in my blog. It contains some tips for playing.
https://elfragmentoperdido.wordpress.com/2020/04/26/mechner-j-1989-prince-of-persia-broderbund-software-pc-dos/
Para acceder a los trucos hay que ejecutar el juego con el comando "PRINCE MEGAHIT" (o "PRINCE IMPROVED" a partir de la version 1.3). Durante el juego disponemos de las siguientes combinaciones de teclas:
SHIFT+L: Ir al siguiente nivel.
SHIFT+T: Añadir triángulo de vida suplementario (máximo 10).
SHIFT+S: Restaura un triángulo de vida perdido.
SHIFT+W: Levitación (caída lenta).
SHIFT+I: Invierte la imagen.
SHIFT+B: Muestra únicamente los sprites.
SHIFT+C: Coordenadas.
SHIFT+A: Reinicia el nivel.
+/-: Aumenta/disminuye el tiempo restante.
K: Mata los enemigos en pantalla.
R: Resucitar.
U/N/H/J: Permite ver el nivel (respectivamente Arriba, Abajo, Izquierda, Derecha).
run prince.exe megahits
------------------------------------
with + add time
with Shift+L skip level
another combinations can revive after death, give more health, etc
---------------------------------
you are welcome
https://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=4179 - Its already on Commodore 64 too! ;)
sup) Don't type "mount", "prince.exe", etc... Just drop PRINCE.EXE file on DosBox icon. You can drop any game on DosBox icon.
Hey guys,
I absolutely love the game from my childhood. But I am having a slight problem.
I followed the how-to-play instructions, but I can't get the game to play at all. I'm using Windows 10 and DosBox 0.74-3.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, please somebody help.
Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!
Best regards,
Abuklao
shift key + L makes you skip a level.
you can skip to level 4
I love this game. I finish it, without saving. Is possible save? i don't remember that...
im using dosbox and when I run prince of Persia it wont let me move and when I tried the other versions the noise is not the same as the original. and when I try to open in full screen ( ALT ENTER ) it just zooms to far out and then the screen goes small again. plz help this is breaking my heart.
Give Me The Cheats Plz
:)
Thx
-TOTO
You forgot out of this world...that game came before flashback. Flashback is fun, but out of this world gives you the best POP experience. Also, there was this horrible game on SNES called nosferatu. That is the worst of the lot.
This game is so good Even today its game play is excellent, Game plays great on my raspberry pi. Classic for sure!
Hi,
How to get through level 2?
The door opening trap is not found, also the level structure is different compared to ones shown on youtube.
Thanks.
B E S T V I D E O G A M E E V E R. Enough said . . .
If you don't know, you can select the game versión and if you want the true game you must pick v1.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87U2_PZablY&t=5s
I have a video about this game.
This game from my childhood memories :(
This was my first video game ever... So many memories.
My dad introduce to this world hahaha.
Thank you very much!
i love this site !!!
I always felt even as a 7 year old that princess was more trouble than she was worth. Her chambers weren't even guarded like, she could have left at any time.
There is a problem on level 2. Some parts are missing and i'm not able to open the final door....there's no way out...
I can confirm that there is something wrong with version 1.4
Parts of the levels 1 and 2 look different than the one in the original version and as far as i noticed it is not possible in level 2 to open the exit-door. seems to be a bug. so don't use v1.4 but 1.3 or 1.0 instead.
Loved to play this on my Amstrad 286 with 512k memory and a SoundBlaster Pro card! I still had the 3.5inch floppy disk with a copy of the game!
SOLVED THIS YO GAME MANY TIME AND I PLAY IT EVERYDAY!!!! LOVED IT!! BETTER THAN ANY GAME IN THE WORLD!!!!
This game is my first game i played when i am in 1 class of my school i love this game & i want to play this game once more in my life please tell me how to install this game
i really like this game since it was released. especially the way i killed the guard with spike traps or meat-cutter traps.
I remember this game from the early 90's. Pretty hard. Could never get very far. Maybe I should try again...
it is so beautful game
The best way to win this game by is speed and play
Please reliese on android mobiles
Yes there's something wrong with level 2. Also it's different gameplay from what I remember. I'll try the original version.
Version 1.4. I'm running the game in dosbox and seems to be a bug at level 2. The exit door won't open. Does anyone has the same problem ?
Timeless. The animation of this game was so good the first time I saw it....... It was one of my greatest moments in gaming. It was one of the most impressive moments I have had and I am a first generation gamer.
fine
coool
cool
please prince of parshia dawnload kr dain
I just got an only thing to say about this game: SHIFT + L
I did not have a PC until about 3 years after this game came out. So when I got this game it was not the newest thing and had been out for a while. It still blew me away. The animation was incredible. Years ahead of its time. Even games like Out of this World (Another World) did not impress me as much as this game did. Tomb Raider came out light years after and made great use of animation like this in 3D. This game as aged as well as any of the best PC games ever made. Still great fun!
One of the most ported games ever, but just got to play the original!
Weird.. aks for disk 1...
WinXP Prof
One of the best games in that time ! Beautiful animation with never-seen gameplay. Lots of traps and difficult tasks to perform make this game jewel no.1 in platform/arcade adv. genre.
The best game ever! addictive, smooth movementes... battles requiering high dexterity... I love it!
The game that made my childhood.
wow! those old days!
The Prince of Persia games reminds me of those good old days. Very interesting epic adventure.
Can u use cheats on mac with this game?
oh! I just played the c64 remake of this game!
anyone know why i have no sound in this game?
No comment nor review for this game at the moment.