Prince of Persia (SNES)

Prince of Persia
Developer: Arsys Software Publishers: Masaya (JP), Konami (US/EU) Platform: SNES Released in JP: July 3, 1992 Released in US: November 1992 Released in EU: April 22, 1993 This game has a hidden sound test. This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences. This game has a prerelease article

To do: There are a lot of unused graphics, sound effects, and a music track. Also, there are prerelease screenshots from Famitsu and other magazines showcasing early graphics/level design plus some Prince deaths with blood before being censored for the final release across all regions.

Oh dear, I do believe I have the vapors. This page contains content that is not safe for work or other locations with the potential for personal embarrassment. Such as: Prince chopped off with his head and uncensored!

An enhanced port/remake of Jordan Mechner's classic Apple II game.

Sub-Pages

Prerelease Info

Cheat Menu

Enter SPECIAL (JP) or SPCCMD! (US/EU) as a password, then hit OK, then cancel and start a new game. During gameplay, pause and press B, Y, Up, Down, Left, Right, L, R. A sound will be heard if entered correctly. Then hold Start and press Select to open the cheat menu. It contains a level select, a sound test, and an option to give the Prince additional units of health.

Also, you can press X during gameplay to kill all enemies currently on-screen, or change any button at the option menu to a new command called "Kill".

Sound Test

The sound test is also directly accessible (in all regions) by holding Start and pressing Select during gameplay (this will only work if the cheat menu code is not enabled, however, in which case it will instead open that).

Unused Graphics

Push Start Button

A font used mainly for the intro, ending and menus, with some unused tiles, among them the ‘‘Push Start Button’’ message.

Prince Beheaded Death

A complete unused animation that shows the Prince being beheaded, complete with animated blood.

Four frames of it can be seen in the Japanese version by doing the game end glitch on the first screen of the first level: Head to the right and start climb down the ledge. Press Select to open the menu on the frame shown in the first screenshot below (just before the next screen transition), and hit "Game End". If done correctly, when you select game start, every character sprite will display incorrect graphics. Then, after beating Jaffar and entering the Princess room for the ending cutscene, the four beheaded frames will show during the animation of the Prince hugging the Princess.

Prince Impaled Death

An unused animation of the Prince getting impaled, with blood visible.

However, 3 frames of this animation (plus what it seems like a bloody turban sprite) can be seen on Level 15, if a guard is standing on a teleporter tile to the left of the Prince and the player tries to go through said teleporter. The Prince will briefly display the impaled frames and the turban before the guard hits the Prince; the game doesn't know what to do if you get hit while trying to go through the teleporter, resulting in a softlock where you will have to go to the pause menu and select game end.

The traps that would have led to these deaths were replaced with the wall log that only pushes the Prince back and taking 1 HP of damage, and the stars trap that instantly kill you, creating some new death sprites for the latter. On a prerelease image, these deaths are showcased but the article mentions that they were being removed for being too gruesome. It seems that this was done prior to the censoring of the blood, as these Prince death sprites are the only ones where blood can be seen.

Regional Differences

Boot Screen

Japan	International

The boot screen was changed to account for the different publishers.

Title Screen

Japan	International

The international title screen removes the Japanese text, moves up the gold filigree graphics, and completely changes the copyright information. The Japanese version allows you to skip the title screen, while the international version forces you to wait until the title screen is fully displayed.

Password Screen

Japan	International

The vowels were removed in the International version and replaced with a plus sign, an exclamation point, and additional dashes. This meant that the cheat menu password had to be changed.

Removed Torture Scenes

Two torture scenes were present in the Japanese version that were removed from the international versions. The scenes show the protagonist being beaten with a rod by a guard, and then dragged off to a cell by guards during the intro narrative. The third screenshot features narrative text stating "at the same time, the Princess was saddened as she was locked away in the top floor of the tower" (this information was simply moved to the next scene in the English localization). As a result of the complete removal of these scenes, the music loses sync with what is happening on-screen in the U.S. and European versions.

The scenes are still in both US and European versions' code, but merely skipped over.

Level 19

Japan	International

The pentagrams on the doors were replaced by different decorative patterns.

Japan	International

The pentagram on the wall in the throne room received a similar treatment.

Final Battle

Japan	International

The pentagram on the ground where you fight Jaffar was removed.