Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow & The Flame

aka: PoP 2
Moby ID: 78
DOS Specs
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Description official description

After having defeated the evil Grand Vizier Jaffar, the brave Prince claimed just one reward: the hand of the beautiful daughter of the Persian Sultan. However, as the Prince approached the palace, his appearance suddenly turned into that of a beggar. Someone who looked just like the Prince ordered to throw him out. It turns out that Jaffar is alive and back for vengeance. Banished from the palace, the unfortunate Prince must travel to faraway lands and find a way to defeat the villain.

Prince of Persia 2 is, like its predecessor, a cinematic platformer. Much of the gameplay is reminiscent of the first game, focusing on precise jumping puzzles, swordfighting, and overcoming many hazards in order to stay alive. Swordfighting is more prominent and features situations where several enemies attack the Prince at once. Reinforcements may arrive after the Prince has eliminated all visible enemies. Like its predecessor, the game must be completed within a time limit.

Spellings

  • הנסיך הפרסי 2 - Hebrew spelling
  • プリンス オブ ペルシャ2 - Japanese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

16 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 74% (based on 23 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 111 ratings with 9 reviews)

A terrible sequel to a great game

The Good
The graphics are more colorful and detailed than the original, which makes them prettier to look at, but this also ends up being a negative as well.

The Bad
Everything! While the graphics are pretty to look at, they make spotting traps much harder. You will die many times simply because you stepped in a trap you couldn't see.

The game is also full of enemies that are practically impossible to hit, so you will lose much of your health just trying to hit the creatures that are attacking you. I became so frustrated with trying to fight my way through the levels that I eventually resorted to using the cheat that kills all the enemies on the screen instantly, just so that I wouldn't have to replay the same sections 20 times to get by them.

Then there are the timed sections where you must step on a pressure plate and then run/climb/jump through a door before it closes, all of which requires you to do it perfectly, or you'll have to go back and do it again (and again, and again, and again, and again...).

The Bottom Line
I was still an Amiga user when this game came out and I was always disappointed that there was never an Amiga version of it. Now that I'm gotten the chance to play it, I'm glad it never came out for the Amiga because I think I might have thrown my system out the window in frustration!

I did not find this game fun to play at all. The only reason I kept going was to see the ending, then I promptly erased it off my hard drive and breathed a sigh of relieve that I would never have to torture myself by playing this stinker again!

DOS · by Rekrul (49) · 2005

Once again, don your sword and prepare for the fight.....

The Good
Graphics The graphics were better, although I liked the more simple ones of the previous P.O.P. But the prince was still the price, dispite having a new look. The locations were drawn wonderfuly with lots to explore and do. The characters are well animated, as are the rather sick death throes in lava.

Gameplay The game was very hard, a lot of it included jumping, much more that the other version. One level even has you doing split second jumping across loose floors to get to a horse. Traps have been made more deadlyer. Ranging from the old favroite spikes to the wall mounted swing blades that took of your head. Trip darts and blocks that crush are inculded as well as many more. New features also had tunnels for you to crawl through and interesting ways to kill enemys, such as knocking a Skeleton into the lava to defeat it. Other foes are, guards, heads, snakes and shadows just to name few. The game also has the shadow, this means you turn left and right untill you crumple to the ground and leave a ghost, this means you can run around the level without getting killed. The flame also makes an interesting weapon, torch from afar. Although getting it is hard. Speaking of weapons you go through about four swords, starting with your normal sword you spend about three levels attacking with a broken sword. This makes the game much harder as you have to watch your timing or miss and get hurt.

Sound The music is better, although it can be out of theme every now and then. The usal from the first is there : Footsteps, screams, "OW!" and more.

The Bad
The annoying save problem still exists. You can only save at certain points or at the start of a level. The enemy difficulty increases each time you fight, so if you die you then have to fight harder enemys than before. The puzzles are harder and there seems to be too much jumping than before.

The Bottom Line
Very good game, a must for people who are willing to spend all night playing it.

DOS · by Sam Hardy (80) · 2001

A decent sequel apart from being unbelievably difficult.

The Good
The graphics are much more varied than the previous game and there are also new traps and enemies. There is now background music (even if its not very good) and a better storyline.

The Bad

This is one of the most difficult games I've ever played. The new puzzles and enemies are much tougher. To rub this in the save points are frequently a long way apart. Add onto this that you frequently have to use trial and error to find out what you are supposed to do and you have a recipe for the most frustrating game since Another World. After spending about 2 hours repeatedly trying to complete a small section in level 10 my keyboard was in severe danger of being thrown against the wall!

When I finally got there I found out that the last level is nearly impossible unless you have collected enough of the greater health potions in the earlier levels. There was no way I was playing through all those levels again so I gave in and cheated.



The Bottom Line
If the difficultly was toned down a bit this would have been an improvement to Prince of Persia. But as it is playing this game is definitely not what I'd call fun. I could only recommend it to either completists or masochists.

DOS · by Pix (1172) · 2000

[ View all 9 player reviews ]

Trivia

Development

A Sega Mega Drive version of the game, in development by Microïds, was slated to be published by Psygnosis in 1996 but it was never officially released.

Release history

Reports indicate the presence of this game as an unlockable bonus in the NTSC Xbox version of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, where all other console versions of that game offer the original Prince of Persia as a bonus instead (and the PC version, neither).

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • June 1994 (Issue #119) – Action Game of the Year

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Trixter.

PC-98 added by Infernos. Macintosh added by Zovni. FM Towns added by Terok Nor. SNES added by James Reed.

Additional contributors: Adam Baratz, Jalal Noureddine, Pseudo_Intellectual, Maw, Crawly, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Kayburt.

Game added March 5, 1999. Last modified January 20, 2024.