Prince of Persia

created and published by Brøderbund in 1989, running on Apple II E

type: platformer
genre: Cinematic platformer
series: Prince of Persia: Original, Prince of Persia, Arabian Nights
setting: Antiquity
perspective: side view
player options: single player

languages: eng

Link

Source code available here by copyright holder's permission

Technical specs

display: raster

Editor notes (2)

The source code (documented assembly language) was backed up to 3.5 disks and shelved by its creator in 1990. And then misplaced. After the search was long abandoned then unreadable disks were found. After a restoration effort, on April 7, 2012, Jordan Mechner published the source code on github. A vaguely stated licensed for "study, modification, running it, etc." was specified. This statement also emphasised that "Ubisoft alone has the right to make and distribute Prince of Persia games." But this source code actually remains licensed under its original license, which is fully proprietary, which by its by definition not legally available for study, modification, running, etc... So any body who studies, modifies, and/or then runs the code risks being sued, arrested, and/or jailed at some future date. Trademarks still apply (owned by UbiSoft), copyright is still in force, UbiSoft still retains exclusive license. Commercial use has not been expressly granted. In fact, no uses at all have been legally granted. The license fails to mention derivative works so copyright law is in effect for those. This means merely looking at the source code can taint (legally) any thing a developer ever does for the rest of their career and actually creating a derivative work would be illegal.

zerothis # 2012-04-17 23:34:16

The original version.

Trivia:
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer expressed interest in creating a movie based on this game. In a 2007 interview he said "I guess it's the 8th or 9th Century, but that could change to. It might change a little bit, we're not sure yet. It'll definitely be a period film; we're not going to make it contemporary." In all fairness however, the reporter had lead him into this error by asking "Do you envision any challenges of trying to film in the mid ages? Is it the mid ages?" and there was also a writer's strike at the time.

Tags:
Mechner produced the unique animation style by studying reference footage of his brother preforming the character's acrobatics and roto-scoping said footage. The title and story strongly suggest this game takes place in the Achaemenid Empire, also popularly identified as the Persian Empire. This would 550 BC to 330 BC, well within classical antiquity; even likely with a liberal definition of the Persian Empire, (8th century BC to 651 AD). However, the game contains anachronisms such as the word "Sultan" and "Grand Vizier". Not surprising since it was influenced by Jordan Mechner's fascination with A Thousand Nights and a Night tales which are themselves full of anachronisms. The player has 60 minutes (real-time limit) in which to rescue the princess (did).