Prince of Persia 3D

Developer(s)

Mindscape Entertainment

Publisher(s)

Red Orb Entertainment^[1]
The Learning Company
Mattel
Ubisoft^[2]

Designer(s)

Todd Kerpelman^[3]

Writer(s)

John Morgan^[3]
Anathea Lopez^(manual)^[3]

Artist(s)

Chris Grun^[3]
Nathaniel Johnson^[3]

Composer(s)

Tom Rettig^[3]

Producer(s)

Andrew Pedersen^[3]

Series

Original Trilogy

Engine

NetImmerse^[4]

Version

Dreamcast

Platform(s)

PC

Release date(s)

^NA August 31, 1999^[1]
^PAL October, 1999

Genre

Action-adventure

Mode(s)

Single-player

Rating(s)

T

Media

CD

Previous game (release)

Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame

Next game (release)

Prince of Persia: Harem Adventures

Previous game (canon)

Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame

Prince of Persia 3D developed by Mindscape Entertainment and published by Red Orb Entertainment, a subsidiary of Broderbund for the PC, is the third game in the original Prince of Persia series. The game debuted in August 31, 1999, five years after Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame. It was the first Prince of Persia game to utilize 3D graphics in its gameplay and voice acting in some cinematics.

Story[]

Assan, the estranged brother the Sultan invited the Sultan, the Princess and the Prince to his Palace for a vacation in his Kingdom. The Sultan and Assan had been distant recently, so the Sultan was eager to re-connect with his brother and smooth over diplomatic relations.

The vacation seemed to be going well with the Sultan and his brother seeming to reconcile and relax, though there was no sign of Rugnor, Assan's mysterious and reclusive son. All seemed well until Assan insisted that they see a special private belly dance. As the entertainment was considered unsuitable for a married woman, the Princess was denied access and sent to her guest chambers by the Guardsmen, the Prince wanted to join her, but the Sultan insisted not viewing the show would've been impolite to Assan.

Midway through the show, the Belly Dancer kills the Sultan's personal bodyguards, the Sultan is surrounded by Assan's men and the Prince is imprisoned in Assan's dungeon. The Princess is also imprisoned in her guest room. Apparently, the Sultan, had promised long ago that she would be given away in marriage to Assan's son, Rugnor, once she turned 21 years old.

The Prince is thrown into a prison cell with no weapon of his own. Upon escaping his confinement and traversing the lower levels of Assan's Palace, he kills a guard with a grate and takes his sword. The Prince then leaves the dungeon, making it through the Ivory Tower, where he takes a bow from a dead archer. On his way to the palace, he travels through the cistern, meeting the first assassin in his journey. Meanwhilst the Princess is visited by Prince Rugnor whom informs her about their incoming marriage and is shocked to find out that Rugnor is not a normal human, but a humanoid tiger monster.

When the Prince finally makes it into the palace, he fights and kills the belly dancer who also woks as an assassin. He progresses further into the palace and reaches the room where Assan and the Sultan are discussing, the former demanding that he hands the Princess' hand in marriage to his son Rugnor as both agreed years ago. The Sultan apologizes to the Prince, stating he had no right to marry the Princess to him, and promising any other woman in the kingdom. Assan tries to kill the Prince with a dagger, but the Sultan intervenes and is stabbed in his place. Sultan with his dying breath reveals that with his death, his pact with Assan in now void. As Assan calls the guards, claiming that the Prince killed the Sultan, the Prince jumps from the tower's balcony and escapes through the city rooftops to the streets and docks of the Capital.

Prince Rugnor, takes off with Princess being taken to a dirigible, which the Prince boards just before it takes off. He makes his way up the flying vehicle, losing all his weapons in the process. When he reaches the upper part of the dirigible, he finds a staff and then another bow, which he uses to continue his journey. The Prince finally reaches the top of the dirigible, where the Princess and Rugnor are. The blimp flies into a storm, and lightning sets it on fire.

The Princess is flown away by Rugnor on a Roc, while the Prince falls into the Floating Ruins, the remnants of a flying castle built by a wizard Khacan. Making his way through the decayed place, the Prince frees an imprisoned Lamassu, which takes him to a temple in the mountains. The Prince climbs the cliff's outside and makes it to the Sun Temple. As he reaches the final doors of the temple, the floor collapses and the Prince falls into the Moon Temple. He makes his way through the temple and reaches Rugnor, who is still trying to make the Princess marry him. When she refuses again, the unstable and volatile Rugnor sets the gears to which she is tied in motion.

Prince rushes against the time to battle against Rugnor. When the Prince defeats Rugnor, the villain falls into the cogs, stopping their motion just before the Princess gets crushed. The Prince rescues her and uses the Lamassu to fly away in the opposite direction of Persia, to which the Princess remarks "Am I to be stolen away again?".

Characters[]

Prince
Princess
Sultan
Assan
Rugnor
Belly Dancer
Lamassu
Khacan
Orastian

Prisoners
Monks
Monkess
Dirigible Workers
Dahaka
Ahmid Kaless
Babas
Parais
Demavend

Enemies[]

Levels[]

Gameplay[]

The last battle against Rugnor is timed. Should the Prince take too long, the Princess is crushed by the gears. As the Prince despairs, Rugnor kills him. If the Prince defeats Rugnor, the villain falls into the cogs, stopping their motion just before the Princess gets crushed.

Development[]

The game was released by Red Orb Entertainment, which was hived off from Brøderbund. However, due to financial difficulties, Red Orb was forced to release the game before it had gone through the bug detection and correction stage. Moreover, it was sold and re-sold, first to The Learning Company, then to Mattel Interactive and lastly to Ubisoft. ^[5]

System Ports[]

Main article: Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights In 2000, a Dreamcast port was developed by Avalanche Software, using the name Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights with several changes to levels and movement.