Game Stooge

REVIEW: Prince of Persia Classic (Xbox 360)

• Scribbled on June 14th, 2007 by Mitch Dyer
• Filed in Platformer, Retro, Reviews, Xbox Live Arcade

The Prince of Persia series is revered for it’s terrific animation, great visuals, hippity-hoppity-platforming elements that defined a genre and would forever change the future of video games. It’s also well known for its punch-a-hole-in-the-wall difficulty and super frustrating controls. While Prince of Persia Classic on the X-Box Live Arcade retains the essence of its anscestor, it is leaps and bounds better in many respects while still paying homage to the insanely difficult combat and platforming.

The first thing you’ll notice about this reimagining of a classic is the visuals. The game is in the “2.5D” format, where you’ve got a 3D world and 3D characters while you only move around in two planes. The environments are immediately noticable to PoP veterans but the new backdrops add a spice of the more recent titles ambiance. The Prince himself has ditched his red vest and blue turban in favor of his duds last seen in Sands of Time.

The animation in PoP Classic also got an improvement - More fluid movements and running cycles allow for a really graceful Prince to motor through all of the environments, which not only makes you feel like a total badass, but is necessary to complete the story mode.

The story has the Prince locked up in a dungeon below the Sultan’s palace. During his imprisonment, the Sultan decides he’s going to take off on a vacation and what not, so the evil Vizier Jaffar takes it upon himself to take over the palace and demand the Sultan’s daughter’s hand in marriage. She’s got a real-time in-game hour to decide, or die, but her love for the Prince knows no bounds, so she sobs by an hourglass while you try and break out of prison to take out the Vizier and save your lovely lady. How cute. Violent too.

It doesn’t take long before the Prince takes a time-out from his platform jumping, spike dodging ways to engage in some sword based combat. Combat is nearly a puzzle in itself, and while it seems simple in the first couple of levels, timed attacks and parries are your only method of survival in the later levels. Enemies are difficult to beat and any regular Joe-Shmo-Persian-soldier is totally capable of countering your attacks and thrusting a scimitar in to your abdomen. Ouch. It takes a while to master it, but it’s totally worth it, since some seriously awesome fights take place between the Prince of Persia and his enemies once you learn to parry and counter.

Amongst the mass difficulty, awesome platforming and combat, Prince of Persia Classic there are some inherent flaws - the game is only an hour long. While the timer can run out and you can still finish it, you don’t get the “true ending”.

Unlockable modes don’t do a whole lot to extend the longevity of the arcade game, but some leaderboards might do it for some people. As mentioned before, the difficulty is agonizing, and you’ll be treated to a ton of trial-and-error in the later levels. Drink some green tea, light some incense, and become Zen. Longevity and painful mistakes aside, this is one sweet sweet hour of awesome animation, satisfyingly difficult combat, classic puzzles and sheer fun.

It’s a bit pricey at 800 MSP ($10.00) but it all depends on how much you like Prince of Persia. Newcomers might find it a bit much, but this reinvisioning of the classic action platformer is so well done that anyone who’s played the original can’t help but smile at how similar it is, and how everything has been improved in the controls department. It’s an incredible experience, and one of the best games on the XBLA.