Prince of Persia was released in 1989 for the Apple II and ported to MS-DOS, Atari ST and the Amiga a year later. The Prince (that’s you), must make his way through 12 dangerous levels to rescue the Princess who’s been locked away in a tower by the evil Jaffar.

Along the way you’ll need to solve puzzles, fight off the Vizier’s henchmen, avoid deadly traps and make your way up to the tower where the Princess is being held.

One hour is not a lot of time to complete all the levels so it’s recommended you save the game once you reach level 3, and each level thereafter. If you make a mistake simply restart and reload your game, which will take you back to the beginning of the last saved level.

Prince of Persia Keyboard Controls

Arrow Keys – Left, Right, Jump Up and Duck. If you press Down while sword-fighting you’ll put your sword away. Press Up to parry while sword-fighting.

Shift – Action button. Pick up item, walk slowly, hang on ledges and attack with your sword.

Space – Shows you the amount of time remaining.

Control-G – Save Game. Only works after level 2 and you can only have one saved game.

Control-L – Load Game. Only works from the Intro screen.

Control-R – Restarts game.

Control-A – Restarts Level.

Control-S – Turn sound on and off.

Shift-L – Skips a level and leaves you with 15 minutes to complete the game.

Escape – Pauses the game.

Prince of Persia Walkthrough

Level 1: Drop down and head all the way to the left until you can pick up the Sword. Run back to the right to where you dropped down and continue to the right. Kill the Guard, go right and pull on the pressure plate to open the exit.

Level 2: Go left, kill the Guard, left, left and then up. Left, kill the Guard, left, left and kill another Guard. Left, left, kill the Guard. Left, up and pick up the Mega Potion. Go down, left, left, up, right, kill the Guard and back around to the left. Go to the left, press the pressure plate and back to the right to the exit.

Level 3: Right, up and jump off the screen to the right. Right, break the tile above and go up. Right for a Mega Potion, then back left and down. Left, left, left, left and take a running jump to grab the ledge and pull up before the gate closes. Go left as far as you can and then down. Press the pressure plate to open the exit. Go up, right, down and left to the exit.

Level 4: Left, down, left and kill the Guard. Left, up, break the tiles and go left for a Mega Potion. Right, down, right, right, right and kill the Guard. Right, up, right, right and kill the Guard. Right, right, right and left to open the door. Head back to the door, jumping through the glass along the way and leave.

Level 5: Right, kill the Guard, up and right. Your mirror image will drink the Mega Potion before you reach it. Left, left, jump across the gap and drop down. Go left all the way to the exit.

Level 6: Go left until you can jump across to grab the ledge with your mirror image. He’ll step on the plate on close the gate on you, forcing you to drop down to the next level.

Level 7: As you fall press Shift to grab the ledge. Pull up and go to the right. Take out the Guard and go right and right. Break the tile above and climb up. Go right, take out the Guard, right and drop down. Head right, right, and drop down to the lower ledge. Go left and jump over the pressure plate that drops the gates. If you miss it you’ll have to go back to the right, drop down and make your way around and up to the other side of the gate.

Take out the Guard and go left, left, left and drink the Floating Potion. Drop down to the door. Go right all the way to the end to pick up a Mega Potion. Quickly run back and hop under the gate to the exit. Once again if you miss getting under the gate you’ll need to head around the other way and drop down to the exit.

Level 8: Left, take out the Guard, left and drop down. Go right all the way to the end, climb up to the higher ledge and start heading left. Stand on the pressure plate to open the exit. Walk back to the right to the closed gate and wait for the mouse to open it for you. Drop down and go left to the exit.

Level 9: Left, left, up and right to the end. Up, right to kill the Guard and press the pressure plate then quickly left and left. Go down and left. Stand on the plate so it falls on the pressure plate underneath but don’t drop down with it. This opens the gate on the other side. Go back to the right, up, up, left, left, left. If you want the mega potion break the tiles above. Don’t drink the green potion, it will turn the screen upside down. Instead go left for the Mega Potion. Go back to the right, drop down, down and open the gates. Go right to the exit.

Level 10: Go right, right and hop to the other side of the Guard and he won’t turn around. Climb up and kill him then go left until you face the yellow Guard. Break the tile above and hang on the pressure plate to open the next gate to the left. Press the pressure plate to open the exit, drop down on the right side, kill the Guard and head through the door.

Level 11: Right, jump across the gap and break the tile just to the right of the columns. Climb up and run to the left. Drop down for a Mega Potion. Go right, right and break the second tile from the left. Climb up and run all the way to the right. Don’t jump because you need the tiles to fall on the pressure plates underneath. Drop down, press the plate and go to the right, right, right to the exit door. Continue to the right, stand on the plate to open the door and head back to the exit.

Level 12: Right, up, left, up, right, right, break the tile and go up. Left, left, up and up. Stand on the tile to open the gate then go down, left, turn around and take a running jump across the gap and go right. Go up, break a tile, climb up on the stable tile and then run to the left. Face your mirror image. When he has one health left put your sword away and you’ll join up. Wait for the joining to be complete and run to the left. Tiles will appear underneath you. Left, left and up to the door. Go right to face the Vizier. Once he’s been killed the door will open. Go through and make your way to the left to find the Princess.

Prince of Persia Download

To play Prince of Persia on your PC you’ll need a copy of the game which you can get from here – Prince of Persia, and DOSBox for Windows. To run Prince of Persia load up DOSBox and then mount your c: by using the command [mount c c:\] without the brackets. Switch to c: and then find the Prince of Persia directory. Run prince.exe to start the game.

If that sounds like too much trouble you can run Prince of Persia through your browser at Classic Reload. With the browser version you won’t be able to save or reload your game.