# Prince of Persia

37 Hacker News commenters recommended Prince of Persia and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Influential 1989 side-scrolling platformer praised for smooth animation, atmosphere and nostalgia. Critics mainly find it very difficult and say one mechanic is annoying.

## Why people recommend it

- Smooth, lifelike character animation (4 comments): "I love the mouse animation, the "mirror" prince, and many other amazing details!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48501304)) "it was pretty impressive how he made the animations sophisticated and smooth" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47707388)) "it felt so fluid and realistic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47014171))
- Nostalgia and fond childhood memories (4 comments): "got a playable and enjoyable game bringing back good ol' memories" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49887965)) "I have a soft spot for Prince of Persia" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48500579)) "it will always have a place in my heart" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48501143))
- Ahead of its time, innovative (4 comments): "I was also wowed by Prince of Persia (1989); it was ahead of its time in that period." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46014487)) "way outside everything else that was available at the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48506846)) "Each level was a genuine act of discovery and innovation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48508339))
- Atmospheric sound and graphics (3 comments): "I actually rewired my internal PC speaker to a big external speaker just so that I could hear the music/sfx of the game in all its glory." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48500410)) "The graphics of Prince of persia took me to those dungeons more effectively than any 4k ray traced modern game could..." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48501459)) "the technical limitations are almost inseparable from the magic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48502916))

## What people warn about

- Very difficult, hard to progress (2 comments): "It was also incredibly difficult. As a kid I couldn’t go beyond the first level." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48500974)) "Drink the potion equal to the number of letters in the third word all the other potions killed you" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47596637))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Super Mario 64](https://hackerapproved.com/p/super-mario-64.md): 37 recommend
- [Celeste](https://hackerapproved.com/p/celeste.md): 19 recommend
- [Flashback (1992 video game)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flashback.md): 8 recommend
- [Cave Story](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cave-story.md): 7 recommend
- [Super Mario Odyssey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/super-mario-odyssey.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Prince of Persia", https://hackerapproved.com/p/prince-of-persia/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).