Evolution of gameplay mechanics

The following analyze was a quick exercise I did in my spare time, trying to trace the evolution of gameplay mechanics of the Prince of Persia games.

Prince of Persia (1989)

The first game of the franchise was created to run on MS-DOS and Apple II.

Its animations were different from any game at that time, as Jordan Mechner, PoP creator, rotoscoped his brother running and translated those movements into the game. Its simple but great and immersive storyline captivated players easily.

The fact Prince fought using swords instead of projectile weapons helped to differentiate this game among the others of its time, even that there were some games that used this kind of mechanic.

Controls were really simple. Players were given five keys (or buttons) to play with. Those were the arrow keys, consisting of the side arrows making Prince run to a side; the down key, controlling the crouch as well as going down a ladder if the hero was standing on the edge; the up key, doing what most games do: jump, action that could be combined with the run move to jump horizontally, reaching longer distances. The up arrow also improved the combat experience, making possible to block and do counter attacks, if combined with the attack key; and finally, the ‘special’ key, called shift. This key was used to collect near items on the floor, attack with the sword, increase the chance to grab ledges and, if combined with the movement key, would make the Prince take a single step, avoiding being hit by floor spikes.

As a 2D platform game, utilizing very simple controls, the gameplay mechanic consisted in letting the player walk, run, jump, crouch, climb up and go down platforms, hang on edges and combat with his sword. Combining the walk and jump gameplay mechanic, emerged the long jump mechanic, very useful to avoid some traps; as crouching while running made possible to get a little time advantage as it allowed walking through gates while they weren’t entirely open. Walking a few steps was really necessary to be on the exactly distance to do jumps from distant platforms, and it certainly got inexperienced players killed early in the game.

Exploring the 2D view, as the 3D was not possible at that time, the Level Design explored a lot the usage of falling platforms and pitfalls the player should jump while moving to pass over.

The player should avoid special platforms that would fall as the player walked on, falling platforms which fell as the player triggered some areas, be aware with spikes (falling on it would kill instantly) and should fight human and skeleton guards, using his sword. A motivating sound was played as a victory reward after the fights.

Platforms falling due to triggered zone.

There were some life potions (emitting red sparks) around some level screens, which would refill one arrow of the classic “three red arrows” health meter as also increasing its size if the player drunk a super health potion (bigger flask, red sparks), which improved the size by one, as also replenishing life. There was also a certain potion that players should not drink at all. Those were the blue spark potions, visually the same as the average red potions with exception for the blue sparks, and if the player tasted this kind of potion, he would be punished with a decrease of one health arrow. There was a green potion, which when drunk would turn the screen upside down. This innovative health system improved the game flow, as players could continue moving around the level screens as their health was replenished, instead of doing some mistakes here and there, losing health until die and have to restart the level all over.

No alcohol included.

The game manual was an accessory to the gameplay. The second level made necessary the usage of the game manual, as the game asked for a certain letter, on a specific line in a specific page. The player then had to drink a potion with that special letter to open the door to the next level. The blue spark potion usage here decreased two life arrows.

The second level.

The camera was a fixed plane showing a set of the level, and as the player reached any extremity, the game would transport the player to the next window. This transition had a fixed order, and not a randomized order as seen in Pitfall!.

There were special floor tiles working as switches to open (and close) gates and floor spikes which were activated by proximity. Simply running to a direction could make Prince to run down, falling and being injured sometimes, depending on the speed. On further levels there were other types of obstacles, as the sharp teeth timed-closing door. To avoid the fall, the player had to be careful and stop on the edges to go down the platform.

Going down the platform.

This simple mechanic (forcing the player to stop) worked well, because as a sandglass, the game would be over after 60 minutes have passed. So because of this fact players usually wanted to go from a screen to another as fast as possible, and this mechanic was used to decrease the rush.

The simple close combat was just awesome. When you were close to any guard, the Prince would hold his sword and get ready to fight. At this point players could move left or right (with the sword always facing the enemy) and attack, being successfully to hit the enemy if he was close enough, and if he wasn’t smart enough to evade in time, using the Prince attack animation delay as an advantage to hit the player.  This got me killed several times, and I liked that!

If you were disarmed, the guard would 1-hit-kill you.

This game even had emergent elements. A player could combat soldiers with his sword. Attacking a guard, and moving to his direction would make the guard step backwards. Some levels presented those sharp teeth closing gates which when closed, would kill instantly the living being standing at that spot.

Players learned that they could combine these gameplay elements to force the guards into their own trap, resulting in an experience players felt really smart of themselves, taking advantage of the game system to an (apparently) unexpected result.

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Thanks.