Awesome Music: All of the games (as well as the movie) have truly remarkable music.
The entire soundtrack to Sands of Time, done by multi-instrumentalist Stuart Chatwood with extra help from session musicians. Glad to know his experience with the whole Mideastern-rock fusion thing from his days in The Tea Party was put to very good use.
Special attention should be given to the PC/Xbox360/Playstation 3 Forgotten Sandssoundtrack as well. Wow...
Warrior Within's soundtrack is also worth mentioning. Bonus points for adding Godsmack's "I Stand Alone" & " Straight Out of Line" as bonus tracks.
Fandom Rivalry: With Assassin's Creed, as several PoP fans consider it to be Ubisoft's Spiritual Successor to this franchise. While AC fans are confused by this and often dismiss the accusation, citing how outside of a few gameplay and story elements the franchises have little in common, some PoP fans believe that Assassin's Creed being Ubisoft's Cash-Cow Franchise is the reason why they haven't made new Prince of Persia games since 2010 outside of two mobile games.
In Warrior Within, when Shaddee is about to stab him in the back, the Prince rants that: "Where I come from we face our opponents. And if our enemy is unarmed we offer them a sword!" However the next game has the quick time events that allow you to kill your enemies from behind, making the Prince a huge hypocrite.
In The Sands of Time, after the Prince runs away from the Vizier with the Dagger of Time in his hands, the former says of him: "The man who had tricked me now had his prize but for some unknown purpose coveted the dagger as well, would stop at nothing to possess it. Well, I would give him what he sought. I would plunge it into his foul and treacherous heart!" In The Two Thronesthe Vizier uses the Dagger to transform himself into Zurvan, and towards the end of the game, in fulfillment of his Exact Words, the Prince leaps off from a high place to deliver the Finishing Move to the weakened Zurvan and, after the camera's pause and Orbital Shot worthy of The Matrix, plunges the dagger into his foul and treacherous heart. In an ironic nod, after he pulls the Dagger from Zurvan's body, the last words of the latter are: "This is not what the Dagger promised!"
It's Short, So It Sucks!: A common criticism, mostly levied at The Sands of Time and The Two Thrones. Both games only clock in at about 4.5 hours on a single playthrough.
Warrior Within which ramped up the rating to M — by adding gushers of blood, foul language, sadomasochistic enemies, and a Prince embittered and hardened by running for his life for seven years. One of the most blatant cases of this trope on record. Series creator Jordan Mechner, who had a hand in Sands of Time, has been vocal about his disapproval of Ubisoft's sequels.
Strangely, The Two Thrones was also rated M, even though it was more on the level of Sands of Time. Rumor was that it was based on content that was changed by release, which seems confirmed since the Wii and PSP versions are both T. The PS3 remaster still retains its M rating, though.
Sequel Displacement: All of the Sands of Time trilogy / saga for the younger generation, including the 2008 reboot, the film adaptation, and The Forgotten Sands interquel. Said younger generation of gamers may no longer have access to the classic 2D Prince of Persia games.
Sophomore Slump: Warrior Within is remembered by fans for standing out because of its Darker and Edgier shift compared to the first game, leading to a Broken Base. Fortunately, the third game, The Two Thrones brings back the livelier tone, the vivid Arabian setting, and the more charismatic personality of the Prince, along with Yuri Lowenthal's voice acting.
as well. Wow...