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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 August 17, 2022, by Jack Pursey: The highly anticipated release of the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake has sadly had another setback recently, with reports saying that the game is no longer targeting an FY23 release date. This is a hard pill for fans to swallow, as the game was originally planned to release in 2021.
So, to give fans of the series some ideas of what to play in the meantime, we’ve expanded the entries on this list of every Prince of Persia game, ranked, to add some more info and added the franchise’s endless runner mobile game.
12 Prince of Persia 3D
Available Platforms - PC, Dreamcast Initial Release Date - September 17, 1999 Main Story Completion Time - 15. 5 Hours Best Feature - It was 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’s 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.
11 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 was always going to be a tough ask. Sadly, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King doesn’t buck the trend. The game scored a lackluster 64 on Metacritic, with criticism predominantly directed toward the game’s poor controls.
The spin-off game sees players controlling both the Prince and Zal as they attempt to find four pieces of a magical seal that will banish the god of darkness, Ahriman.
10 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 offers a Prince of Persia experience that is better suited to 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, which had 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.
9 Prince of Persia: Escape
Available Platforms - iOS, Android Initial Release Date - September 27, 2018 Main Story Completion Time - N/A Best Feature - The art style that modernizes the classic visuals from the first game.
Prince of Persia: Escape is a mobile game that was published by Ketchapp and developed by Estoty. The game is a single-player endless-runner that features an art style based on the very first game in the long-running series, although players can also unlock outfits from a range of other games in the franchise, such as The Sands of Time and Warrior Within.
Prince of Persia: Escape has a seemingly endless amount of levels, making it a great causal game to switch off to without having to worry about objectives or endgame challenges.
8 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Available Platforms - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, 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 provides the most modern 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 - The updated visuals that make the classic game appealing to modern audiences.
A remake of the game that started it all, Prince of Persia Classic took players back to the franchise’s 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 2, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
The game scored a respectable 82 on Metacritic. This is especially impressive when taking into account that many gamers looked down upon remakes as cash grabs in 2007.
6 Prince of Persia (2008)
Available Platforms - PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, 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, PC, Xbox, Mobile, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Wii Initial Release Date - December 1, 2005 Main Story Completion Time - 10 Hours Best Feature - The story, which 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. On 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, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Mobile, BlackBerry, iOS, PlayStation Portable Initial Release Date - December 2, 2004 Main Story Completion Time - 12 Hours Best Feature - The game 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 on 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 - PC, SNES Initial Release Date - 1993 Main Story Completion Time - 1 Hour Best Feature - The game did a great 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 a 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; whereas, in Prince of Persia 2, foes would often swarm the player if they weren’t careful.
2 Prince of Persia (1989)
Available Platforms - PC, 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 - The game pioneered the cinematic platformer 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, PC, Mobile, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Initial Release Date - October 28, 2003 Main Story Completion Time - 9 Hours Best Feature - The unique blend of the platformer and action-adventure genres that few games have been able to replicate since
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, 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 grand return with more releases to follow.
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