Prerelease:Prince of Persia (SNES)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Prince of Persia (SNES).

To do: More prerelease screenshots from Famitsu and other magazines showcasing early graphics/level design, some showing the Prince deaths with blood before being censored for the final release across all regions.

Magazine Scans

Joystick No. 18

From French magazine Joystick in it's July/August 1991 issue (No. 18), a brief postscript note where it announces that Broderbund is preparing a Super Famicom port of Prince of Persia. It mentions that while the game was not far enough in development to be shown at the Summer CES of that year (which happened between the 1st and 4th of June), they managed to get the first photos.

The article shows a single photograph, an early version of Level 17. Although at first glance it seems like most of the graphics match their final release placement, only the ornament at the top of the stairs, the pillars at the sides of the stairs, the skeleton at the far left of the photo, plus the small bricks and the bottom pillars in the foreground look identical to the final release.

The blue clouds and moon in the background also match, but were moved to the Red and Blue Knight boss rooms in Levels 16 and 18 respectively (with the window borders color changed to brown, and the floor pillars and statue removed).

The six-armed figures located just below lack the couple of circles behind them, and the top border and pillars to their sides have a different design.

The stairs and the rocks formation at its left side also have a different look, and the skeleton at the bottom of the stairs plus two pillars above the big bricks would be removed in the final release. Said big bricks would later be made slightly smaller, and the small bricks and pillars at the bottom would be repositioned, along with the headless skeleton and the pile of skulls at the right side of the image.

Joystick No. 18	Final

Famitsu No. 160

From magazine Famitsu in it's 160th issue (dated January 10th-17th, 1992), a brief article announcing that Prince of Persia wil arrive to the Super Famicom. Release and price dates were not finalized yet.

Alongside an upscaled cutout of a Prince sprite, two screenshots featuring early versions of Levels 1 and 7, both showcasing rooms that look nearly identical in layout to the Levels 1 and 5 of the original release on Apple II, as well as DOS and other similar ports.

Level 1 DOS	Pre-release SNES Level 1

Level 5 DOS	Pre-release SNES Level 7

The final's level 1 room slot has very few things matching compared to the pre-release image, while the final's level 7 one pretty much (layout-wise) only replaces the gate that leads to the room with the exit of the level in the original with a wall and floor tiles that you need to climb up, extending the level some more.