Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Old-school"

Prince of Persia is one of those titles that has a fond place in this old-school gamer's heart. When I first played the game, it was on the PC. The controls were all keyboard-based yet surprisingly responsive.. once you figure out the whole momentum mechanic. Prince of Persia Classic translates the old-school game perfectly, preserving the weird controls while throwing in fresh graphics and some much-welcomed moves.

People that never played the original PoP may find this game annoying at first. Your character does not respond right away at times. He goes around sliding and skidding about. Once you get a feel for how speed affects your response time and jumping, the game becomes very, very addicting.

Back in those early days of PC gaming, platformers were big yet PoP survived in an era highlighted by Duke Nukem, Black Thorne, and other big action games. When you play PoP:Classic, it should become apparent what makes this game great, even by today's standards. The game begins with deceptively simple gameplay but, as you progress, you'll find tons of variety to keep you hooked. The amazing thing, to me, is that I usually don't like games that focus on hard jumps and stunts but, somehow, PoP keeps me interested.

The magic of the original PoP definitely stands strong now, many years later. This is a title that shows developers how a translation should really be. The heart of the game remains in-tact while the game gets a much needed facelift and some nice little bonuses. This game is worth playing if you are an old-school fan or someone curious to see how it all started.

For me, one of the things I really like about the original PoP is the simple, fluid gameplay. Your quick wits become your greatest asset. Even though you'll surely get frustrated when you barely miss a jump or fall into a trap, you may very well find yourself just getting more and more determined to get further in the game.

This old-school gamers puts two enthusiastic thumbs in the air. Perhaps this will be the PoP that will make you want to try all the next-gen entries or maybe just fall in love with the series all over again!