Good tips, all. I would add a couple of points:
* Be careful when trying to crouch to avoid damage from a falling plate; it requires precise timing – if you are still crouched when it hits, you will lose not one, but two points!
* Combining jumps with grabbing ledges – standing jump is 2 tiles, running jump OR standing jump + ledge grab is 3 tiles, running jump + ledge grab is 4 tiles. 4 tiles is the maximum gap you can jump over. In PoP2 you can actually cross 5-tile gaps if there is a ledge to grab one floor below, but PoP1 either doesn’t have these mechanic, or has no areas set up to take advantage of them.
* Some enemies fence better than others. Most of the bright yellow ones are a notch above the rest for whatever reason. Of course the real masters are the fat guard in level 6 and Jaffar himself. With these you need to do a lot of block+strike tapping.
Regarding the controls, you nailed it. It’s not unresponsiveness, it’s realism! In real life you cannot do a standing jump two human heights into the air, then reverse direction mid flight and land on a floor above and behind you. In real life, if you don’t jump at the precise moment near the ledge you will either fall off or come up short. That’s what Prince of Persia is all about. And I must say, that PoP1 is actually very generous in terms of timing – during a run-up you can push up a couple of tiles before the edge and the prince will still jump at the last moment. PoP2 was not so generous.
