Prince of Persia Longplay (NES) [50 FPS]

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AL82 Retrogaming Longplays

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Published on December 3, 2016 1:24:09 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7RHIpkxn54

Game:

Prince of Persia (1989)

Duration: 37:10

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31

Developed by MotiveTime and published by Virgin Games in 1992

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In what seems like a never-ending mission to play just about every version of Prince of Persia ever made, I decided to check out a version developed for Nintendo's classic 8-bit console. I was impressed with the version of the game released for Sega's 8-bit machines, but how would the NES version stack up?

Pretty well, as it turns out. The game isn't perfect (more on that later), but it largely ticks all the boxes in what is needed to make it a decent enough version of Jordan Mechner's classic.

First up, the graphics and animation are very faithful recreations of those found in the 16-bit Amiga/PC versions. The overall fidelity of the artwork is quite impressive and most of the detail remains in tact, possibly because the graphics have either been copied from those versions directly, or used as a template and recreated on the NES. Sure, the prince looks like he's had a bit of a severe spray tan, and the levels are a spooky shade of blue, but I suspect this is more a limitation of the console's colour palette, rather than by design.

One of the things that made Prince of Persia such an iconic game at the time of it's release was the stellar animation. It was certainly one of the earliest games to feature genuinely lifelike movement from a human character, something that the NES version manages to preserve. The animations might not have quite as many frames as other versions (notably in the sword fighting), but it still looks pretty darn good, especially for an 8-bit rendition of the game.

As good as the graphics are, one issue that seems to be unique to the NES is that many of the game screens are slightly too large to fit within the NES screen resolution. To get around this, the programmers made the screens scroll horizontally when near the edge, but this introduces other problems, such as making it difficult to avoid spike pits or guillotine traps that are located off the edge of the screen. The point at which the screen begins to scroll doesn't give the player much time to react to hazards when they suddenly pop into view and is an issue that I've not encountered in any of the other versions that I've played.

In contrast, the artwork and gaming mechanics in the Sega 8-bit version appear to have been tailored specifically for the platform, unlike the NES version, where it feels as though the base game has been unceremoniously stuffed inside the trappings of Nintendo's machine.

The other problem with this version of the game is the combat. In other versions, the prince can strike, block and counter-attack with fluidity for as long as the player's reactions can keep up, resulting in some epic battles. This, unfortunately, cannot be said here thanks to some glitchy sprite collision and a complete lack of any sense of rhythm to the fighting. Attempting to counter-strike an opponent after deflecting a blow is almost impossible and you'll most likely end losing far too many health points to make this a worthwhile strategy. This means that most fights degenerate into a mashing of buttons and hoping that the enemy dies before the prince sustains too many injuries. It is possible to move backwards and lure the opponent into your strikes, but this is about as tactical as the fighting gets; the Sega version of the game wasn't blessed with the best fighting either, but the NES version is noticeably worse.

Focusing back on more positive elements, the game features a simple, yet catchy rendition of the game's main title music throughout the game whilst playing. Considering that the only sound effects present (in most of the versions) are footsteps and the clinking of swords, having the music playing helps to improve what might otherwise be a fairly dull, auditory experience.

On reflection, the game is still quite an impressive achievement, even with the various niggles. It's not the strongest 8-bit version available, but it does tick most of the boxes in terms of what a Prince of Persia game should be.
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