Making of Prince of Persia Journals 1985-1993 Book Review | Jordan Mechner
This is my quick review of Jordan Mechners book “The Making of Prince of Persia Journals 1985-1993”
First off, Prince of Persia was a phenomenal game, a breakthrough for the time. When it burst onto the scene, there was nothing else like it. What really set it apart was the realistic animations of the main character, “the prince”. You actually see a figure with legs and arm movements and at a fairly good resolution. It also was set in the mysterious land of “Persia”, which added to its mystique. In a way, I really want to believe that at some point in history this was an accurate depiction of “Persia”. The book really is not your normal style of book it is written in more of a daily journal style. It is clear to me that even though this is the case, it is still highly annotated to make it more interesting, and it is. Soon you forget about the daily entries and they all stitch together pretty much seamlessly to tell a story. The book checks in at 323 pages long, which might sound like a lot but the way it is put together, it really is not that bad. It can be consumed comfortably within two-three hours. There is a lot of spacing between entries and between pages. One particularly nice touch included in the book are the chapter separators. They are actual images of pages that look like they were taken directly out of Jordan’s design book where he was sketching out concepts for Prince of Persia. The coverstock has the same treatment, with a full-color image of what appears to be from the Apple 2.
Some people commented on amazon reviews, that these divider excerpts were actually more interesting than the content in the book, but I think that’s a stretch. Diving into the journal is a kind of voyeuristic look into the day-to-day life of a software developer/artist creator/production manager. I found it captivating. I did not realize until I read this book, that Jordan was also the creator of the popular and fun game “Karateka”. His account of this game is also documented in a similar book “The Making of Karateka: Journals 1982-1985”. Actually, it makes perfect sense and in a way, I see now that POP is sort of a Karateka part two without the “kung fu”.
Peering into the life of Jordan Mechner though this book it is difficult not to be envious of his accomplishments, even back then. He was well known as the creator of Karateka. He was the creator of what was certain to be the next new hit game, POP, and as you will find out, he was a budding screenwriter and as can be discerned from this book, a really good writer, most of his entire life. After completing this book, which just falls off the cliff in 1993, I was left wanting to know more about him. What happened after 1993, did he ever get married, have a family? Was he ever able to get one of his screenplays picked up by a big movie studio? We all know by now that one movie did get made, “The Prince of Persia, The Sands of Time” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, back in 2010. But what I did not know is that Jordan also wrote and directed a documentary film in 2003, titled “Chavez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story” and has published several books including the 2013 best-selling novel, titled ‘Templar’.
Over the years, Prince of Persia and it’s follow-ups have been ported to nearly every computer and gaming console imaginable. Jordan seemed to have a great affinity for the Apple II version which he coded himself, but looking at it now, it pales in comparison to the early IBM PC version with sound blaster support. I took a quick peek at one of those let’s compare YouTube videos and in my opinion, the PC version has by far the best graphics, music, and sound.
Since the story ends a bit abruptly, Jordan follows it up with an afterthought postscript and a second postscript.
The book is currently available on Amazon.com new for $16.99 in a paperback format and $7.99 for the Kindle digital version.
Overall all I really enjoyed the book. It was a fascinating viewport into the early days of a gaming legend and I am glad he decided to share his story with us.
Youtube Description:
This is my review of the book. Enjoy!
More on Karateka video game:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karateka_(video_game)
Jordan Mechner website:
http://www.jordanmechner.com/
Youtube Original Post Date: 08/28/2016
