This week, I've been lucky enough to get a review copy of the new Prince of Persia, and I've been playing it incessantly for the last few days. To say any more about it would be very naughty - check out the next issue (or maybe the one after) of Micro Mart for the proper review.
Anyway, Prince of Persia's come a long way since Jordan Mechner's 1989 original - though it's still well worth playing almost twenty years later. The game first appeared on the Apple II, but for my money the best version was the Super Nintendo version - not only did it feature some beautifully redrawn graphics, with more detailed backgrounds and extra curly shoes, it even added a few extra levels. The Japanese version also came in a stunningly illustrated box - it's criminal that this wasn't used in the US or European releases.
Perhaps the most dated aspect of the original PoP is its extreme difficulty; one false move and you were dead - falling from dizzying heights, impaled on spikes, dismembered by the clanging jaws of a man-trap - the result was always the same: back to the start of the level. Add a sadistically tight one-hour time limit to the mix, and you're left with one of the most stultifyingly difficult games you're likely to encounter. I'm a huge fan of the game, but I must admit that I've never completed it.
Of course, PoP harks back to the days when the platform game ruled supreme, and gamers were far more hardened to this kind of difficulty. In these modern, FPS-obsessed times, we're not used to to such harsh assaults on our hand-eye co-ordination.
In fact, the past few years have seen a bit of a decline in the once mighty platform game genre; Nintendo may be flying the flag with the sublime Super Mario Galaxy, but things have been rather quiet elsewhere. That is, until this year, where there's been a bit of a platform game renaissance - we've had the stunning Braid, Lost Winds, Bionic Commando: Rearmed and Tomb Raider Underworld, to name a few.
I for one hope the trend continues - we can't go back to the halcyon days of Manic Miner or the original Super Mario Bros, but that really doesn't matter. This year has seen a clutch of games - Braid in particular - that easily match the best of them.
