Platformer Update

Developer: Gameloft
Publisher: Ubisoft
Year: 2007
Fun fact: available as a download through Xbox Live Arcade

I have an admission: I have not played the original Prince of Persia, at least not past the first couple of levels.  I just couldn’t get past those awkward controls and unforgiving animations.  It frustrated me to no end that the Prince can’t jump in the middle of a diving roll, even though a person wouldn’t be able to in real life.  Everything seemed too exact, too picky.  Enter Prince of Persia Classic, an Xbox Live Arcade release that’s 75% oldschool and 25% new - a potential bridge title for clueless gamers like me.

Classic is based closely on the original game.  The levels designs and objectives are all the same.  There is a slight difference in the controls with some slight tweaking to make them more forgivng and a couple of minor new moves thrown in.  The graphics have been given a complete overhaul with all of the main characters - the Prince, the Princess, and Jaffar - using the character designs from the 2003 release, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, the only other Prince game that I happen to have played through.  These minor changes have a major effect.  As someone that really enjoyed Sands I felt pulled in by the familiar elements.

In spite of the changes, this is still a game that requires patience in the form of re-attempting certain sections many times over.  Just as in the orinal, you’re dealing with a 1 hour total time limit.  Don’t worry, though, after a couple of levels you’re allowed to save your progress.  In the end I had way more time than I needed, so I’d say you shouldn’t sweat the time limit.  Even if you have a terrible time on a particular level, the game allows you to revisit each level to improve your time and score. 

You may surprise yourself by beating some levels, even later ones, on your first or 2nd try.  That’s one of the strenghts of this game - there isn’t an artifical accelerating difficulty curve.  Rather, each new level is a mystery sometimes requiring exploration and logical thought and sometimes requiring a quick brawl.  There are many one-time events and surprises, very impressive for a game desgned in 1989. 

I’m not terribly experienced with Xbox 360 at th moment but so far this is the most enjoyable game I’ve played for the system (sorry, Gears of War).  Perhaps the most impressive achievement of Prince of Persia Classic is that I now have a strong desire to play through the original Prince of Persia, a game I thought I hated.

Grade: A
Personal conclusion: well worth $10 to download