Prince of Persia Classic Free

The original Prince of Persia revamped

OK. I played the original Prince of Persia with EGA graphics. I believe it was a 386 or worse, with a internal speaker and, hold tight, a turbo button. I didn't get hooked too much on it because, if my memory serves me right, there was Loom to be played alone and Super Street Fighter II the New Challengers on SNES to play with my friends. We couldn't care less for a prince who wasn't able to stop at the place. Later, well, that game had something. That game had to be played, it was like a charming lure for any teenage gamer. It still is, indeed.

I froze when I saw that this PoP mobile version weighed 224 Mb. The first that came to my mind was that it should be a port from any of the newer versions, and "classic" was a marketing technique, as if Ubisoft were behaving like Coke. Fortunately, it isn't. It's the original PoP, step by step, jump by jump, sword clash by pit trap. Graphics have been revamped to a point undreamt of and music, though I'm not sure if it's the original, is awesome. Animations may not strike anyone anymore, but are worthy.

As it unfortunately uses to happen in contemporary retro gaming, the worst flaw we can lay on PoP is what we could call the "lost chance factor": the lost chance to play with new characters (why can't we play with the princess herself and save him instead?) or customize the existing one, the lost chance to add secret levels or easter eggs (what? no harem?), the lost chance to play the original PoP with CGA or EGA settings, the lost chance of in-app purchasing PoP2...

On the other hand, you can play the game with the original rules (60 minutes, infinite lives, checkpoints) called here Time Attack, or retreat to the normal "training" mode or dare to play "survival": one hour to run, one life to be lived, one princess to be saved. On screen game controls can be awkward at the beginning, but you will get the hang of it before you reach the scimitar - because you remember that you MUST go for the scimitar before anything else, don't you?

Don't look at the rating. It doesn't matter if it's a 4, a 5 or a 6 out of 5. Don't read this review, few less than a dinosaur gamer gabbling away. It's Prince of Persia. He has come back. And he need us to save the princess. Once again, he and us together. Like the good old times.