Prince of Persia Classic Review

Prince of Persia was originally developed by Jordan Mechner in 1989 for the Apple II. The game was later ported to a wide variety of platforms such as the Amiga, Game Boy, NES, Game Gear, SNES and finally on June 13th 2007, Xbox Live Arcade for 800 Microsoft points. Prince of Persia was not simply ported to Xbox Live Arcade, it also received a visual facelift before making it's way to XBLA. The game was not updated to full 3D (which I'm glad it wasn't) so although it is still a side scroller, it now features redone 3D graphics, new 3D cutscenes, new traps, new dungeons and 12 achievements.

In Prince of Persia Classic, you play as a Prince trapped in a dungeon who is trying to rescue the Princess he loves. The evil Vizier Jaffar wants the Princess for himself and gives her one hour to decide to marry him, or die. So playing as the Prince, you must save the Princess and kill Jaffar in sixty minutes or else you lose. The interesting thing about this game is that it's played in real time, so you can't stop to admire the updated graphics for too long or you may not be able to reach the princess in time. It's also important to note that if you die and have to either restart the level or from a checkpoint you will not get back the time you spent up until the point you died. The game is full of traps, puzzles, pits and enemies that you must get through on your way to the princess in under 60 minutes.

The updated graphics are great, although the new 3D cutscenes a little cheezy. On the right side column you can see three screenshots from in game. The fourth screenshot is taken from the Atari ST version of Prince of Persia. As you can see, the game needed a graphical overhaul. The animations are also very fluid and well done.

One of the things I enjoyed most about the game is the combat system. At times it can be frustrating (you may find yourself shouting "BS, I parried! How did his hit get through?") but overall the combat system shows an incredible depth considering the age of the game and simplistic controls. Pressing X will swing your sword, while using the A button will allow you to parry an enemies attack so you can strike them with your sword. There is also the chance that you will swing your sword at the same time your opponent does and in that case you will have to repeatedly press X to shake free and get a strike off. I enjoy the combat system, but the thing that frustrates me most from time to time is accidently running off ledges when I simply meant to drop down one level by hanging onto the ledge. I got much better in time, but at first it was pretty frustrating. You start with only three health bars; however, as you progress through the various levels it's possible to find life potions that increase your health bar by one. The enemies have more health as you proceed through the levels, so make sure you take the time to find the life potions. There are also several traps that can end your life so be careful. A short fall can take your health bar down by one, but a fall on spikes or a large drop will result in your demise.

The achievements are alright. Most of them can be attained simply by playing through the game regardless of skill level. As an example, "The Lost Weapon" gives you 10 gamerpoints for obtaining the sword on the first level. I believe the only difficult achievement is "Survivor" which grants you 40 gamerpoints for finishing the game without dying in survival mode. After playing through a good portion of the game on normal mode and dying several times on each level, I can assure you that "Survivor" will be an elusive achievement for many gamers. Either that or my platform skills have been dulled by playing too many first person shooters .

Overall, this game is great. If you're looking for a solid platformer, I recommend purchasing this game. At only 800 Microsoft Points, it's a great buy.

Gameplay: 8 - A great combat system, death defying leaps, and cool manuevers make this a fun game to play

Graphics: 9.5 - The updated graphics in this game look great

Sound: 8 - The menu music is repetitive, but the in game sounds are good

Value: 8 - As a platform fan, this is one of the best games currently on XBLA; however, there isn't a whole lot of replay value in this game