Prince of Persia/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Breather Level: Levels 9 and 11 are quite a bit easier than 8, 10 and 12.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: All of the games (as well as the movie) have truly remarkable music.
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The game was initially a failure in the U.S., thanks to being initially released on the Apple IIe, a platform well past its prime in 1989. It really only took off when ported to European computing platforms.
  • Good Bad Bugs: In the SNES version, sword-fighting is a simple minigame where you block, attack, block, attack, block, attack until either you or your opponent messes the timing up. Easier enemies mess up sooner than harder ones. However, the game assumes that you are going to attack as soon as you block, and then block again (if you don't block as soon as you attack, you get hit). BUT, if you wait a split second after blocking and then attack, you will hit the enemy every single time. This works on the very first guard, the captain, Jaffar, and every other swordfighting enemy in-between. Could also be used as a speedrunning tactic, as blocking, waiting a second and hitting them is much faster than clanging swords with them for 15-20 seconds per hit. This same trick works on the original as well. In fact, this is required to actually beat Jaffar in this version, because when he starts swordfighting, he NEVER MESSES UP THE COUNTERATTACK CHAIN. You HAVE to delay your strike back by the right amount of time, or you will NEVER hit him.
  • Most Wonderful Sound: Defeating a Mook or drinking a potion gives a nice, satisfying sound. Same for leaving for the next level.
  • Narm Charm: The opening movie in the Sega CD version is this, mostly thanks to Jaffar's voice sounding really good, contrary to the Princess and the Prince. Especially the Prince.
  • Polished Port: The SNES and PC-98 versions are graphically improved and have wonderful music. The SNES version even adds more levels.
  • Porting Disaster: Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame on the SNES. As one comment on a YouTube video put it:
  • That One Boss:
    • Well, he's not really a boss, but the first guard in level 8 is tougher than other guards, since he always waits for the Prince to close in, forcing the player to expose themselves first.
    • The Shiva boss in the SNES version also counts. All your swordplay skills are meaningless here. You have to dodge unblockable falling rocks while approaching the boss, and he likes to jump around. Woe betide you if you have been speeding through the game by not collecting the life extension potions, figuring your parry skill will carry you through the game. And after that, Jaffar will seriously test your knowledge of the combat system. If you haven't figured out the delayed strike trick above, you will NEVER beat him.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Prince of Persia Classic replaced the fat guard in level 6 with an ogre-like creature. Fans were NOT pleased.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: The game got a lot of acclaim for its incredibly smooth animation, even more impressive on the Apple IIe.