Prince of Persia 2 on Mega Drive: A Port That Stayed in the Vault
Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame was a hit on computers in 1993, designed by Jordan Mechner at Broderbund. A Mega Drive conversion followed in development, handled by Microïds and meant first for Psygnosis and then for Titus, with a planned 1996 release. It never appeared. The reasons were never explained, and the project was dropped in an almost finished state.
At a glance
- Based on: Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (Broderbund, 1993)
- Created by: Microïds (the cancelled Mega Drive port); original design by Jordan Mechner
- Released: never officially; a prototype build dated 20 February 1995 leaked on 11 August 2006
- Genre: Cinematic platformer
- What sets it apart: a cancelled commercial port that survives only as a near-complete prototype
How the prototype surfaced
- The Mega Drive version was built and mostly completed in the mid-1990s but cancelled.
- A prototype with a 1995 build date reached the public in August 2006.
- It follows the PC game quite closely but is not fully optimised for the console, and normal play could not reach the end.
- A game-breaking bug that stopped the player from mounting the horse was later patched, which allowed a run through to the final scene.
The story it tells
Set soon after the first game, the Prince is rejected by the Princess, and Jaffar takes his shape and the throne. The Prince must recover a sword and a magic flame to strip the impostor of his power.
A collector's angle
Reports on the prototype note that its audio plays only from the left speaker, a reminder that it is an unfinished build. This edition is described as an unofficial adaptation of that prototype, so treat it as a preserved piece of what-might-have-been.