Prince of Persia 3D, developed by Red Orb Entertainment

Red Orb Entertainment

Red Orb Entertainment was a division of the Brøderbund software company created to market its gaming titles, distinguishing them from its considerable library of edutainment titles, which it marketed to schools...

 and published by The Learning Company

The Learning Company

The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The...

 for Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

, is the third game in the Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....

series. The game debuted in 1999

1999 in video gaming

-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...

, 10 years after the original, and incorporated 3D graphics

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

 in its gameplay

Gameplay

Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...

.

In 2000

2000 in video gaming

-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...

, a Dreamcast version under the name Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights was developed by Avalanche Software

Avalanche Software

Avalanche Software is a video game developer studio, founded in October 1995 by four lead programmers from Sculptured Software. The company has developed for every console platform since the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES days and has grown to a staff of over 100 since its inception...

 and published by Mattel Interactive

Mattel

Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...

, which had previously purchased both Red Orb Entertainment and The Learning Company. Many of the control flaws from the original PC version were corrected and other notable bugs were fixed, improving the gameplay of this port, although it still suffers the same camera problems. This version was only released in North America.

Plot

Prince of Persia 3D begins with the Prince and Sultan of Persia visiting
the Sultan's brother, Assan. Soon enough, the Prince's personal bodyguards
are killed, himself locked in the dungeon, and the Sultan taken by Assan.
The Prince escapes the dungeon, and it is revealed that the Sultan of Persia
promised Assan many years ago that his daughter would marry Assan's son, Rugnor,
not the Prince. The Prince finds the two, but Assan kills the Sultan by mistake,
while trying to kill the Prince. Assan runs, but the Prince decides to pursue
Rugnor, who has taken the Princess of Persia captive. The Prince and Rugnor have
many standoffs, but when it becomes clear to Rugnor that the Prince won't give up,
and the Princess won't submit to him, he decides to kill her. He ties her to a
large gear machine, attempting to crush her. The Prince, however, arrives before
this happens, kills Rugnor, and deactivates the machine. The Prince then escapes
with the Princess, via a flying beast, but the Prince takes the Princess in the
opposite direction of Persia, rather than towards it.

Development

It was released by Red Orb, which was hived off from Broderbund. However, due to financial difficulties, Red Orb was forced to release the game before it had gone through the bug detection and correction stage. Moreover, it was sold and re-sold, first to Mattel, then to The Learning Company.

Reception

Prince of Persia 3D garnered mixed reviews from critics. IGN gave it a 8.2 "great" rating, praising its unique score, fluid animations and well made graphics, and the jumping mechanics. Gamespot gave it a 6.0 criticizing rough character models, difficult camera effects, and unresponsive controls, but praising the action.