But that doesn't mean there won't be any fighting- Prince of Persia 3D will have both archery and sword fighting, and the sword fighting in particular should be something special-it's meant to be more than a simple button mashing contest, but involve actual thrusts and parries, with timing and technique being important skills in defeating the opponents. As such, the designers have opted to go more for action than adventure, with more jumping and climbing obstacles, puzzles to solve, and items to collect, in addition to combat. The challenge of course is to translate the sense of wonder into the game and make something that is both challenging and fun. Simply looking at these screen shots and the cutscene and concept art shows you just how well this background translates into the visual world, and how well the artists have created the cities and towers of minarets rising out of the desert, heroes darting across mythical landscapes on magic carpets, oases of date palms lost in the dunes like a mirage, grinning djinn rising out of magical lamps. 35 The character was based on multiple similar figures in ancient literature. However what truly sets apart Prince of Persia 3D from the others in the pack is, again, its rich exploration of the world of Persian Mythology and the Arabian Nights. 12 Boats one performance as the Prince was in Prince of Persia 3D. This time the Prince has incarnated as a 3D act ion/adventure, very much in the Tomb Raider mold, although it could be argued, properly so, that much of Tomb Raider's gameplay in turn owes a hefty debt to Mechner's original pioneering work. Well it's ten years later and Mechner is back, and so is the original Prince of Persia.

Among that games many achievements-innovative gameplay, cutting edge motion capture-was has since been somewhat overlooked: the game's unique setting, the rich world of Persian mythology. Jordan Mechner's career in computer games spans nearly two decades, but what he's been most renowned for was the original Prince of Persia, released for the Apple ][ back in 1989.

Prince of persia 3d concept artwork