The Prince of Persia series goes all the way back in 1989, and has had a further ten releases since. The series is best recognized today for its action-adventure gameplay; however, back in the late 80s and early 90s, it was known for inspiring the cinematic platforming genre.
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In 2003, Ubisoft took over the franchise and released Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. They found a way to blend the platforming genre, which was beginning to wither due to a lack of innovation around that time, with the thriving action-adventure genre. Although games like Sands of Time and the original Prince of Persia are classics, it's fair to say that not every game in the series has reached such heights.
Updated July 20th, 2021, by Jack Pursey: To a chorus of moans and groans, it was recently announced that the highly anticipated Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake had been delayed once again. Of course, it's always better for a game to be delayed until it's ready; however, the news still understandably disappointed fans of the franchise. So, to give fans of an idea of what to play in the meantime, we've updated this list to include key details for each game. These include where they can be played, as well as how long they take to beat according to the aptly named howlongtobeat.com.
11 Prince of Persia 3D
- Available Platforms - Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast
- Initial Release Date - September 17, 1999
- Main Story Completion Time - 15.5 Hours
- Best Feature - The first 3D Prince of Persia game and had surprisingly good graphics and animations for its time.
When gaming began to transition from 2D to 3D, it marked a significant moment in the industry's history. This era provided a plethora of incredible games from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time to Super Mario 64.
As the title suggests, Prince of Persia 3D was the franchise first attempt at taking the 2D side-scrolling series into the new world of 3D gaming. Unfortunately, as far as franchises making the transition from 2D to 3D goes, Prince of Persia 3D is closer to the Bubsy 3D end of the spectrum than the Super Mario 64 one.
10 Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
- Available Platforms - Nintendo DS
- Initial Release Date - December 2, 2008
- Main Story Completion Time - 7 Hours
- Best Feature - Although it has its issues, it's impressive that Ubisoft implemented a stylus-only control scheme into an action-adventure game.
Making an action-adventure game on the Nintendo DS is always going to be a tough ask. Sadly, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King doesn't buck the trend. The game scored a lackluster with 64 on Metacritic, with criticism predominantly directed towards the game's poor controls.
2020 was set to conclude with Prince of Persia: The Fallen King having a higher Metascore than the console iteration of Cyberpunk 2077. It served as a fittingly unexpected end to the year.
9 Battles of Prince of Persia
- Available Platforms - Nintendo DS
- Initial Release Date - December 6, 2005
- Main Story Completion Time - 8 Hours
- Best Feature - The game a Prince of Persia experience that is better suited for the Nintendo DS than The Fallen King.
From one Nintendo DS game to another, Ubisoft took the handheld console's limitations into account with 2005's Battles of Prince of Persia. This title opted for a crack at the turn-based tactics genre. The game is set between the events of The Sands of Time and Warrior Within and takes players to Persia, India, and a fictional kingdom known as Aresura.
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Interestingly, Battles of Prince of Persia has the same Metascore as Prince of Persia: The Fallen King. The game deservedly has a considerably higher User Score, though, as it feels far better suited for the DS.
8 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
- Available Platforms - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable
- Initial Release Date - May 18, 2010
- Main Story Completion Time - 8 Hours
- Best Feature - As the most recent Prince of Persia game, it consequently provides the most modernized experience.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands sees this list take a significant jump in quality. Ubisoft opted against continuing the story from the series' 2008 reboot, and instead took players back to the narrative of the PlayStation 2 trilogy.
Ubisoft made the ambitious decision of offering different storylines and gameplay mechanics throughout some of the game's releases. The gamble seemingly didn't pay off, as the IP has fallen out of favor with Ubisoft since. The Sands of Time remake may be the franchise's last chance at a rejuvenation.
7 Prince of Persia Classic
- Available Platforms - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, iOS, Android
- Initial Release Date - June 13, 2007
- Main Story Completion Time - 2 Hours
- Best Feature - This title is an excellent remake that stays true to its roots, but appeals to younger audiences.
A remake of the game that started it all, Prince of Persia Classic took players back to the series' side-scrolling roots with a reimagining of Broderbund's original Prince of Persia. The game was developed by Gameloft, who were best known at the time for developing popular games on mobile phones such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Assassin's Creed II, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
The game scored a very respectable 82 on Metacritic. This is especially impressive when taking into account that many gamers still looked down upon as cash-grabs in 2007.
6 Prince of Persia (2008)
- Available Platforms - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Java, Nintendo DS
- Initial Release Date - December 2, 2008
- Main Story Completion Time - 11.5 Hours
- Best Feature - The game's wonderful art design stands out from the rest of the series.
In 2008, Ubisoft decided it was time to reinvent their Prince of Persia series with a reboot. Prince of Persia (2008) saw a drastic shift in art style, and was a pioneer in the modern trend of removing any form of game over functionality.
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Ubisoft decided not to return to the art style of Prince of Persia (2008) with Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. This was a shame, as the game won the Outstanding Achievement in Animation award at the AIAS Annual Awards.
5 Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
- Available Platforms - PlayStation 2, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Mobile, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Wii, Mac OS X
- Initial Release Date - December 1, 2005
- Main Story Completion Time - 10 Hours
- Best Feature - This title does a fantastic job of capping off the iconic PlayStation 2 trilogy.
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones ended the PlayStation 2's Sands of Time trilogy, in style with the series' most brutal hack and slash entry yet. As players would expect in the final entry to a trilogy, The Two Thrones is one of the franchise's most story-driven titles, as players learn the ramifications of the Prince's actions in Warrior Within.
The game implements an interesting mechanic based around the Dark Prince, an alter-ego of the Prince. At random occasions, the Prince will transform into this alter-ego. The Dark Prince wields a weapon known as the Daggertail and constantly loses health, which players need to regain with sand to stay alive.
4 Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
- Available Platforms - GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Mobile, BlackBerry, iOS, PlayStation Portable
- Initial Release Date - December 2, 2004
- Main Story Completion Time - 12 Hours
- Best Feature - Implemented excellent hack and slash gameplay into the series.
Speaking of Warrior Within, it's safe to say the sequel to Sands of Time had some fairly lofty expectations of its shoulder before its 2004 release. Warrior Within may not have reached the heights of its predecessor; however, it still provided one of the most memorable action-adventure experiences of the PlayStation 2 generation.
In keeping with the times, Warrior Within leaned more towards its hack and slash elements by letting players wield an extra weapon.
3 Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame
- Available Platforms - MS-DOS, Mac OS, SNES, FM Towns
- Initial Release Date - 1993
- Main Story Completion Time - 1 Hour
- Best Feature - Did a good job of expanding the franchise's combat mechanics.
Much like Warrior Within, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame had the pressure of competing with its critically acclaimed predecessor. Although it didn't reach quite reach those heights, it certainly didn't disappoint.
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Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame is predominantly a platformer, though it does have more combat than its predecessor. Only one enemy would ever confront the player at a time in 1989's Prince of Persia; meanwhile, foes would often swarm the player in Prince of Perisa 2 if they weren't careful.
2 Prince of Persia (1989)
- Available Platforms - Apple-II, NEC PC-9801, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Atari ST, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Master System, SNES, TurboGrafx-CD
- Initial Release Date - October 3, 1989
- Main Story Completion Time - 2 Hours
- Best Feature - This title was the first-ever cinematic platformer, and pioneered the genre.
The one that started it all, Prince of Persia was certainly a product of its time. Not only is the gameplay the most platforming-centric of the franchise, but it's also brutally difficult.
Although it may not seem like anything special today, the game's graphics, aesthetics, and sound design were incredible for the time. The game is considered to be the first cinematic platformer ever released, and many considered it one of the best platformers of all time when it first hit shelves.
1 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Available Platforms - Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Mobile, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Initial Release Date - October 28, 2003
- Main Story Completion Time - 9 Hours
- Best Feature - It's a unique blend of the platforming and action-adventure genres that few games have been able to replicate.
As alluded to before, Ubisoft's first Prince of Persia game, Sands of Time, is a wonderfully balanced title. It combines the platforming gameplay that dominated the industry during the 90s with the action-heavy style that began taking over the gaming industry with the release of the PlayStation 2.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of the PlayStation 2 generation's most critically acclaimed games ever, exemplified by its whopping 92 Metascore. If the upcoming Sand of Time remake can recapture the magic of its source material, the Prince of Persia franchise could be set for a return to the top tier of the gaming industry.