Prince of Persia:

As the title suggests, the game is set in Ancient Persia. The Prince is an orphan, living on the streets. One day, he scales the palace walls to catch a glimpse of the Princess, whose beauty is like the "moonrise in the heavens". His feelings are reciprocated by the Princess, despite their class differences.

The game starts with the Sultan of Persia being called away to war in a foreign land. Sensing opportunity, the evil Vizier Jaffar seizes the throne for himself. The Prince is imprisoned, since Jaffa Cake has designs on the Princess. The Princess is also imprisoned and she is given a choice with an hour to decide: marry Jaffar or die. The Prince has an hour to complete the game by saving the Princess and killing Jaffar.

The twist is that the game is played in real time, so the Prince must quickly complete the quest without breaks. On some platforms it is possible to save the game at the start of each level, though the time limit still applies. The only way to lose the game is by letting the time expire. If the Prince is killed, the game will restart from the beginning of the level, or in some levels, at a mid-way checkpoint.

The game also includes a power bar. Medium falls, blue potions, being hit by falling platforms, and sword hits take one bottle off the power bar, while major falls, being hit unarmed, falling or running on spikes and blades, kill the Prince instantly. The Prince can increase the number of bottles in his power bar by drinking larger red potions, usually hidden or in dangerous places, while the regular-sized Red magic potions restore one life each time they are consumed. There is also a green potion that made the Prince light-weight and one that made the screen flip around, depending on the level.

Prince of Persia - The Shadow and the Flame:

Gameplay:

From a gameplay viewpoint, it is strongly similar to the first Prince of Persia. The character explores various deadly areas by running, jumping, crawling, avoiding traps, solving puzzles and drinking magic potions. Prince of Persia 2 is, however, more combat-heavy than its predecessor. In the first game, enemies appear only occasionally and are always alone, while in the sequel, up to four enemies may appear at once, sometimes flanking the player, and may even be instantly replaced by reinforcements when they are killed. As in Prince of Persia, the trick is to complete the game under a strict time limit that passes in real time. Lives are unlimited, but time cannot be regained except by reverting to a previously saved game.
In other areas, more significant improvements have been made. The graphics are far more complex than the simple look of the game's predecessor, the areas explored are larger, and the variety of backdrops is greater. In addition, all versions of Prince of Persia 2 allow the player to save and load games freely, unlike some versions of the first game.

Story:

In The Shadow and the Flame, Jaffar is brought back into action by an evil Witch who, for reasons not mentioned, hates the Prince. As the Prince enters the Palace gates on the eleventh day, he feels a strange, cold feeling seep through himself. His royal robes turn into that of the beggar he was, before he saved Persia. Even the Princess does not recognize him when he tries to speak to her – she orders her guards to treat him well, for he was "just a poor mad beggar!". And, out from the shadows, steps out the Prince – Jaffar who has taken over the Prince’s countenance as well as his role. With the Palace guards rushing him with drawn swords, the Prince has only one option – to jump through a large glass and flee the city by sea.
Unfortunately for the Prince, the ship in which he is a stowaway crashes and he finds himself on the beautiful shore of a foreign land. But not before a strange woman appears in his dreams and tells him to avenge his father. The strange woman keeps saying "Come to me!" throughout the game.