# Prince of Persia (1989 video game)
**Prince of Persia** is a cinematic platform game created and programmed by Jordan Mechner on the Apple II, written in 6502 assembly language between 1985 and 1989 and first released by Broderbund Software in 1989.[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) It follows a young prince's efforts to save a princess, and it became the foundation of an ongoing Ubisoft franchise.[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) • [2](https://ubm-twvideo01.s3.amazonaws.com/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/Game.Developer.2004.04.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creator | Jordan Mechner, then 25, who designed, programmed, and produced the game as a one-person project[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) • [3](https://gamesbeat.com/the-deanbeat-how-jordan-mechner-shepherded-prince-of-persia-across-30-years/) |
| Original platform | Apple II, 6502 assembly language, developed 1985–1989[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) |
| Publisher | Broderbund Software, 1989; Mechner's second published computer game[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) • [4](https://museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2021/09/Finding-Aid-to-the-Jordan-Mechner-papers_102116.pdf) |
| Animation method | Rotoscoping from VHS video of Mechner's brother David, then age 15, filmed in a high school parking lot in Chappaqua, NY, in October 1985[5](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/library/) |
| Release sequence | Apple II in September 1989, PC in April 1990, then Amiga[6](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/prince-of-packaging-a-tale-of-1990s-box-art) |
| Commercial record | The U.S. release flopped and Electronics Boutique de-listed it, but overseas and console ports became hits[6](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/prince-of-packaging-a-tale-of-1990s-box-art) |
| Source code | Published on GitHub by Mechner on 17 April 2012[7](https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/prince-of-persia) • [8](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/04/original-apple-ii-prince-of-persia-source-code-published-by-creator/) |
## Development
Mechner began the game after his first published title, Karateka (1984), a side-scrolling fighting game set in feudal Japan that sold more than half a million copies worldwide.[4](https://museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2021/09/Finding-Aid-to-the-Jordan-Mechner-papers_102116.pdf) He wrote the entire game himself on an Apple II, and his journals from the period, later published as the book *The Making of Prince of Persia*, record the development from his parents' basement through the game's release.[9](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/journals/) His New Year's resolution in 1989 was simply to finish the game.[10](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/prince-of-persia-postmortem/1100-6301654/)
**Design influences.** Sword fighting, which he added during development, became one of the cornerstones of the gameplay.[11](https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/10/29/interview-jordan-mechner-and-the-original-prince-of-persia)
## Animation
The game's defining feature was its lifelike character movement, achieved through rotoscoping, the frame-by-frame tracing of live-action footage.[12](https://vandal.elespanol.com/reportaje/entrevista-jordan-mechner-el-creador-de-prince-of-persia) For Karateka, Mechner had filmed his karate teacher with a Super 8 camera; for [Prince of Persia](https://www.edgepedia.org/prince-of-persia), in 1985, he used a VHS camera to record his brother David, then 15 years old, running, jumping, and climbing walls in their high school parking lot in [Chappaqua, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/chappaqua-new-york).[5](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/library/) • [12](https://vandal.elespanol.com/reportaje/entrevista-jordan-mechner-el-creador-de-prince-of-persia) • [13](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-03/jordan-mechner-disenador-de-videojuegos-cada-vez-que-veo-un-juego-de-prince-of-persia-siento-orgullo-de-padre.html) He registered the footage frame by frame on the computer, an experiment that let him produce convincing human animation without professional animation training.[12](https://vandal.elespanol.com/reportaje/entrevista-jordan-mechner-el-creador-de-prince-of-persia) [Reference](https://www.edgepedia.org/reference) footage for other scenes, such as the game's final embrace, was performed by Tina LaDeau and Brian Eheler, Mechner's Broderbund product manager.[5](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/library/)
Contemporaneous reviewers singled the animation out: Computer Gaming World's December 1989 review called it the smoothest animation ever seen in a game of its type and the game a tremendous achievement within its genre.[14](https://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/documentation/magazines/computer_gaming_world/Computer%20Gaming%20World-1989_12_issue66.pdf)
## Release and ports
Prince of Persia shipped on the Apple II in September 1989, reached the PC in April 1990, and then the Amiga.[6](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/prince-of-packaging-a-tale-of-1990s-box-art) The initial U.S. release sold poorly; in August, the retail chain Electronics Boutique de-listed the game due to lack of sales.[6](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/prince-of-packaging-a-tale-of-1990s-box-art) Sales recovered through sublicensing: Broderbund licensed foreign and console versions in a dozen different countries on platforms including the Nintendo NES, Sega Master System, and NEC 9800, and some of those overseas and console ports became hits.[6](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/prince-of-packaging-a-tale-of-1990s-box-art) To support the porting teams, Mechner assembled a package in October 1989, including a technical reference document describing the game's underlying details, which he later published alongside the source code.[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) • [8](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/04/original-apple-ii-prince-of-persia-source-code-published-by-creator/)
## Source code release
On 17 April 2012, Mechner published the original Apple II source code on GitHub.[7](https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/prince-of-persia) • [8](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/04/original-apple-ii-prince-of-persia-source-code-published-by-creator/) Jason Scott and Tony Diaz extracted the code from a 22-year-old 3.5-inch floppy disk archive, a task that took most of a long day and night using well-maintained vintage Apple hardware.[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) Mechner stated that the release was done for fun, not profit, and that it did not grant rights in the Prince of Persia property, which remained an ongoing Ubisoft franchise; Ubisoft alone has the right to make and distribute Prince of Persia games.[1](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia) The open code has since supported community re-implementations and ports of the game to unusual hardware.[15](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/forget-doom-how-about-a-prince-of-persia-port-on-a-flipper-zero/)
## Legacy
The game established the template later known as the cinematic platformer; [Another World](https://www.edgepedia.org/another-world-video-game) (1991), created by Eric Chahi, is routinely described as building on the gameplay Prince of Persia established.[16](https://www.escapistmagazine.com/taking-visual-storytelling-to-another-world/) Mechner rebooted the series for modern consoles with Ubisoft in 2003 with *Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time*, wrote the first screenplay for the 2010 Disney film adaptation, and the franchise has sold more than 20 million copies.[17](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/about/) • [13](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-03/jordan-mechner-disenador-de-videojuegos-cada-vez-que-veo-un-juego-de-prince-of-persia-siento-orgullo-de-padre.html) His development papers, including the Prince of Persia production documentation, rotoscoping photograph booklets, and source code disks, are held by the Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play at The Strong museum in [Rochester, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/rochester-new-york).[4](https://museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2021/09/Finding-Aid-to-the-Jordan-Mechner-papers_102116.pdf) MobyGames users rate the original game 4.1 out of 5 based on 566 ratings.[18](https://www.mobygames.com/game/196/prince-of-persia/)
## References
1. [Prince of Persia (1989) source code, Jordan Mechner, GitHub](https://github.com/historicalsource/princeofpersia)
2. [The Sands of Time, Game Developer magazine, April 2004](https://ubm-twvideo01.s3.amazonaws.com/o1/vault/GD_Mag_Archives/Game.Developer.2004.04.pdf)
3. [The DeanBeat: How Jordan Mechner shepherded Prince of Persia across 30 years, GamesBeat](https://gamesbeat.com/the-deanbeat-how-jordan-mechner-shepherded-prince-of-persia-across-30-years/)
4. [Finding Aid to the Jordan Mechner Papers, The Strong](https://museumofplay.org/app/uploads/2021/09/Finding-Aid-to-the-Jordan-Mechner-papers_102116.pdf)
5. [Jordan Mechner, Library](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/library/)
6. [Prince of Packaging: A tale of 1990s box art, Game Developer](https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/prince-of-packaging-a-tale-of-1990s-box-art)
7. [Prince of Persia (1989), MobyGames](https://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/prince-of-persia)
8. [Original Apple II Prince of Persia source code published by creator, Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/04/original-apple-ii-prince-of-persia-source-code-published-by-creator/)
9. [Jordan Mechner, The Making of Prince of Persia](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/books/journals/)
10. [Prince of Persia postmortem, GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/prince-of-persia-postmortem/1100-6301654/)
11. [Interview: Jordan Mechner And The Original Prince Of Persia, Game Informer](https://gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/10/29/interview-jordan-mechner-and-the-original-prince-of-persia)
12. [Entrevista Jordan Mechner, Vandal](https://vandal.elespanol.com/reportaje/entrevista-jordan-mechner-el-creador-de-prince-of-persia)
13. [Jordan Mechner interview, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-12-03/jordan-mechner-disenador-de-videojuegos-cada-vez-que-veo-un-juego-de-prince-of-persia-siento-orgullo-de-padre.html)
14. [Computer Gaming World Issue 66, December 1989](https://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/documentation/magazines/computer_gaming_world/Computer%20Gaming%20World-1989_12_issue66.pdf)
15. [Forget Doom, how about a Prince of Persia port on a Flipper Zero, PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/forget-doom-how-about-a-prince-of-persia-port-on-a-flipper-zero/)
16. [Taking Visual Storytelling to Another World, The Escapist](https://www.escapistmagazine.com/taking-visual-storytelling-to-another-world/)
17. [Jordan Mechner, About](https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/about/)
18. [Prince of Persia (1989), MobyGames ratings](https://www.mobygames.com/game/196/prince-of-persia/)
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*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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