Review: Prince Of Persia Classic Xbox Live Arcade
The platforming action genre was redefined when Jordan Mechner’s Prince of Persia was originally released on the Apple II in 1989. Mechner unknowingly started a wildfire in the gaming world and the title quickly spread to every available platform including the Apple Macintosh, MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Master System, Mega Drive/Genesis, Mega-CD, Game Gear, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, NES, SNES, Sam Coupe, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum and Turbo Duo. Since then, Prince of Persia has captivated a new generation of gamers in 3D for a very successful series of titles starting with Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.
Last month, on June 13th, Microsoft released a remake of the original title dubbed Prince of Persia Classic for the Xbox Live Arcade and the brand new outfit is tailored to fit the Prince beautifully. Gamloft has done an exquisite job with the game. They presenti the whole package in 3D, making it look like The Sands of Time, with the classic 2D gameplay of the original still intact and feeling better than ever.
Players control the Prince as he attempts to escape the evil Vizier’s prison and rescue his beloved Princess Farah before an hour ticks by and she is whisked away to the executioners. Along the way the Prince must avoid devilishly spiked traps, overcome puzzles and thwart sword-carrying guards to escape the dungeon. The player has unlimited continues which either starts at the beginning of the stage or a checkpoint. Regardless of how many times you continue, the hours ticks steadily away. The player is rewarded for quick thinking and familiarity with the levels, otherwise the hour will pass and the Princess will be no more.
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The original was known for the most fluid rotoscoped animation to date, and this new title is no exception. The Prince moves with nimbleness, grace and fluidity making the game feel familiar to veterans of the series. The Prince moves much faster than the original title, making for some white-knuckle action that will keep the most hardened of warriors on their toes. I was slightly dismayed when I found out that the directional pad had been discarded for analog control instead. There are some spots in the game that require the lightest touch on the analog stick, otherwise the Prince will run off a ledge, plummeting to his demise. It’s a tricky predicament that I found myself in more often than I cared, but it is the sort of thing that makes the challenge of this title different from all of the other previous iterations.
There are three game modes to choose from. Normal Mode which requires the player to complete the game as fast as possible, with saves at the end of each level. Time Attack has the player starting from the beginning if Princess Farah is not saved within the hour. Survival Mode is the most difficult, forcing players to complete the whole game without dying.
Prince of Persia Classic is definitely worth the 800 MSoft points to download, even if the game features very limited replay value. The title is slick, beautiful and well worth the price of admission. I would recommend this title to modern Prince fans who want to see where the whole series began, and to veterans who think they can still save the Princess on one go after 18 years. Good luck!
Toots
Posted to Reviews, Video Games on 12 July 2007
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: gameloft, prince of persia classic, xbla, xbox 360
I bought this game and enjoyed it, but this review doesn't even touch the authentically old school combat which I think could turn a lot of players off.
Love it or hate it, combat here is the same stiff twitchfest of the original. Player's used to the Prince's free flowing, improvised tatics in the recent trilogy will sorely disappointed, while people who remember the original will feel right at home.
The experience as a whole features a great presentation and is rendered nicely, but an "original mode" featuring the Macintosh version would have bumped this up from a "must try" to a "must buy."