Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown review

It's been a long time since any of the Prince Of Persia games were available on Mac, and The Lost Crown itself was first released on Windows PC in early 2024. However, it has just appeared on the Mac App Store – with very little fanfare – and is quickly moving up the Apple games rankings.

For more Mac games recommended by us, read: Best Games for Mac.

The Lost Crown also proves to be a real blast from the past, as it's a side-scrolling “metroidvania” – a game that combines combat and platform-jumping elements from the arcade games Metroid and Castlevania (which were never officially available on the market). Mac). However, you don't need any knowledge of the previous games, as The Lost Crown has its own story, in which you play as a young warrior called Sargon, who is a member of a group modestly called The Immortals.

The game begins simply enough, with the kingdom of Persia attacked by an enemy army and Prince Ghassan taken prisoner and imprisoned on the magical Mount Qaf. Sargon and his friends set out to rescue the prince, but soon discover that Mount Qaf is full of mystical enemies, puzzles and obstacles to overcome.

The game uses detailed, colorful graphics that appear to be 3D – at least for the main characters – but is presented as an old-school 2D platformer in which you primarily run left or right on the screen and use Spacebar to jump over. obstacles. The game looks great, though, with detailed backgrounds that create real atmosphere whether you're charging through the halls of the royal palace or making your way through a forest.

Foundry

The only bad news is that the game doesn't run on Intel Macs and requires an M1 processor or later, and macOS 12.0 (Monterey) or later. However, the 2D presentation means it doesn't need a powerful Mac, and we had no problem running it at high graphics settings at 4K resolution on a MacBook Pro equipped with an M2 chip Pro.

Combat is fairly simple at the start of the game, with basic and heavy attacks assigned to your mouse buttons, as well as the ability to dodge and parry incoming attacks. The opening section acts as a tutorial that introduces the main moves, but the game also offers five difficulty levels so newcomers can jump into the action, as well as more challenging permadeath and quick-run modes for more experienced players. Combat is fast and fluid, but will likely be easier with a game controller, as I found parrying attacks using keyboard and mouse controls required very precise timing, and it worked for me. It took quite a few attempts to make my way past the first boss. battle at the start of the game.

Foundry

There aren't many games on Mac that also focus on parkour movement like Prince Of Persia, where you have to run, jump, and climb with great precision to overcome various obstacles. This can also be tricky, as you have to press the spacebar for a quick jump, or press and hold to jump higher, and many obstacles require you to quickly jump left and right in rapid succession in order to jump higher. reach the areas that are. otherwise out of reach. It's a little tricky on a keyboard, so again, it might be easier to play with a controller (there's an assist option that can help you overcome some of these obstacles, but much of the fun lies in learning your combat and movement skills).

As you progress through the game, you'll learn to harness a magical energy called Athra that gives you more powerful attacks, and you'll also be able to find or purchase magical amulets that also provide additional powers. And of course, the traditional calling card of the Prince Of Persia games is the use of “time powers” which allow you to manipulate time in order to escape death or outwit your enemies.

Should you buy Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

The need for very precise timing during combat and movement can be frustrating for newcomers, but if you're a fan of arcade games, then The Lost Crown is a great way to relive your missed youth. It's a bit annoying though that the Mac version currently appears to be exclusive to the Mac App Store, meaning that people who already own the PC version on Steam or Epic don't have access to the Mac version either (and Steam and Epic also appears to be offering additional DLC packs that are currently not available on the App Store).