YMMV / Prince of Persia

• Anti-Climax Boss: Jaffar can easily be knocked down a chasm. Averted in the SNES port where he teleports the two of you in an arena where he proves to be a capable duelist.
• Breather Level:
  • Level 11 in particular is nothing special after what you have to get through to reach it (see That One Level below).
  • Level 9 to a lesser extent. It's long and mazelike, but its only unique gimmick (a potion that turns the screen upside-down until you find another that cancels the effect) isn't nearly as bad as some levels.
• Fridge Brilliance: You face off against your shadow in most versions, and are unable to defeat them since attacking them damages you as well. Knowing you can never defeat yourself and Sheathing your sword is the only way you can win.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The game was initially a failure in the U.S., thanks to being initially released on the Apple IIe, a platform well past its prime in 1989. It really only took off when ported to European computing platforms.
• Good Bad Bugs: Jaffar will summon a Boss Rush when you reach the throne room in the SNES version. The first elite mook you have to fight legitimately as a cutscene plays, but for every subsequent boss, you can One-Hit Kill them all by simply jumping in the air as they drop down from above. The game mistakes the Prince's current position as the ground, thus spawns them higher up and so they die from fall damage.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Defeating a Mook or drinking a potion gives a nice, satisfying sound. Same for leaving for the next level.
• Narm Charm: The opening movie in the Sega CD version is this, mostly thanks to Jaffar's voice sounding really good, contrary to the Princess and the Prince. Especially the Prince.
• Polished Port: The SNES, Turbografx-16/PC Engine, and PC-98 versions are graphically improved and have wonderful music. The SNES version even adds more levels. The Turbografx-16 version impressed Jordan Mechner so much that it's the basis of the Mac port he worked on years later (which imitated plenty of the PC Engine's artistic elements).
• Self-Imposed Challenge: It is possible to get past just about any guard blocking your route without killing or even striking them. Careful use of parrying while moving forward inside their reach enables you to suddenly swap places. At this point it is possible to step back, sheathe your sword then quickly turn and run (to avoid a One-Hit Kill while unarmed) to reach the next platform or screen. This does mean they are still there if you have to go back the way you came. Final Boss Jaffar was the only enemy you had to kill.
• That One Boss:
  • Well, he's not really a boss, but the first guard in level 8 is tougher than other guards, since he always waits for the Prince to close in, forcing the player to expose themselves first.
  • The Vishnu boss in the SNES version. All your swordplay skills are meaningless here. You have to dodge unblockable falling rocks while approaching the boss, and he likes to jump around. Woe betide you if you have been speeding through the game by not collecting the life extension potions, figuring your parry skill will carry you through the game. And after that, Jaffar will seriously test your knowledge of the combat system. If you haven't figured out the delayed strike trick, you will NEVER beat him.
• That One Level:
  • Level 8 begins with a unique guard who is smart enough to stand his ground, forcing the player to master the parrying mechanic, which most players will never have used before this point. After that comes some pretty tricky timed platforming, then another puzzle involving a gate you can't open by yourself, but fortunately help will arrive if you just wait.
  • For most of the game, choppers can be defeated by cautiously stepping right next to them, then waiting for the right time to step through. Level 10 has two choppers above unstable floor, so the only way past is to jump through both at once, requiring immaculate timing.
  • The final Level 12 is a vertical shaft that must be climbed by means of three towers that rise all the way up the level, with gaps between. Every time you need to switch sides, you have to do a series of precise running jumps to get over the gaps. When you make it to the top, you are faced with a notorious Puzzle Boss in the form of your shadow, who can only be defeated by sheathing your sword (another action the player has never needed before this point).
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Prince of Persia Classic replaced the fat guard in level 6 with an ogre-like creature. Fans of the original were NOT pleased.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: A minor example. The Sega CD version includes expanded voice-acted cutscenes for the intro, ending, and before the fight with Jaffar, so players were a bit disappointed that the same wasn't done for that version's game over screen, or the cutscenes between certain levels (which are more similar to most ports, as well as the Apple IIe original).
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The game got a lot of acclaim for its incredibly smooth animation, even more impressive on the Apple IIe.

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