Back in 1989, the first Prince of Persia game was released on the Apple II, eventually finding its way to a host of platforms like the Game Boy, NES, and MS-DOS (the version I'm most familiar with). Not only is this the game that started a genre of cinematic platformers (like Another World in '91 and Flashback in '92), it's still heralded as one of the best, all thanks to its slick movement animations that utilized rotoscoping for their creation. While the original has inspired the design of many sequels, the first game still holds a special place in my heart, which is why I was very excited to discover an HTML5/JavaScript port of the MS-DOS version of Prince of Persia on GitHub that's perfectly playable on Android devices. You can even create a launcher for your homescreen to quickly jump into this port fullscreen, complete with touch controls.

You can navigate to the PrinceJS GitHub page if you'd like to check out the project from Oliver Klemenz. This is where you'll find the link to the web game, which is playable in your browser on desktops and mobile. While you can simply click the link to open the game in your browser, the browser's navigation bar is visible. Luckily you can easily create a shortcut for your homescreen that forgoes displaying the browser bar by clicking "Add to Home screen" in Chrome's overflow menu (the three vertical dots in the upper right). Oh, and if you are worried about the game being too difficult, there's even a link available to load the game with 50% reduced difficulty, which is definitely a nice touch seeing that Prince of Persia is a challenging game.

Of course, if you'd like to jump into the nitty-gritty, here's the mobile play excerpt from GitHub.

Play Mobile

  • Browser: https://princejs.com
    • Use Landscape Mode
    • Single Tab
    • Disable Landscape Tab Bar in Browser Settings

  • Add to Home Screen to start as Fullscreen App
  • Reduced difficulty (50%):
  • Touch Controls (tap/drag area on screen, fight mode in brackets):
    Mobile
    • Dragging can be used to trigger continuous move sequences, e.g.
      • Run Jump: Tap Left or Right -> Hold -> Drag in Left or Right corner
      • Jump Grab: (Run) Jump -> Hold -> Drag to Center (Shift)

    • Fight
      • Left/Right: Advance/Retreat
      • Shift: Strike
      • Up: Block
      • Down: Sheathe

So there you have it. An enterprising developer has ported the MS-DOS version of Prince of Persia to the browser, and it's perfectly playable on Android devices thanks to the inclusion of touch controls. Better yet, you can even create a shortcut to instantly launch the game from your homescreen, allowing the game to display fullscreen (although it is pillarboxed as it is a game designed for 4:3 screens). All in all, it's a solid effort that brings the classic to Android free of charge. What's not to like?