Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (Game Boy Advance) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Prince of Persia was actually one of the first arcade games I can remember playing on my Mac around a decade ago with the sequel managing to waste as much of my time as the original. It was also one of the first games I played on the original Gameboy, albeit on my friend?s rather elaborately decorated handheld. If you've missed it, what I'm actually trying to say is that the PoP franchise has been running for quite some time now and although only two actual games have existed (excluding Sands of Time) it's actually appeared on almost every platform from consoles and computers to mobile phones and even interactive television. It was only a matter of time then before it was dusted off and re-launched for the next-gen consoles. On the positive side the people who developed the original are behind the Sands of Time but can this 'old dog' teach anything to today?s platform fanatics.

Gameplay

Sands of Time includes everything Indiana Jones no doubt has to deal with on a daily basis so if you've ever envied the famous archeologist here's your chance to don some baggy pants and see how well you fare. Things start out pretty simple but you quickly discover that in order to travel around the various areas you have to become reasonably good at acrobatics. This is mainly because much of the action and essential collectables takes place above and below you and on more than one occasion you'll find that the only exit will be tucked away in a hard to reach corner. To start with your biggest danger comes from the many traps laid around, such as fire or some rather lethal spinning swords, but it quickly turns out to be all kinds of creatures and some rather large henchman. Whilst the enemy AI isn't the greatest you'll encounter, some of them are still incredibly tough to beat and the odd one will manage to sap all your energy with a single contact. They all follow very distinct attack patterns though so watching them from a distance generally reveals their weak spots. End of level bosses tend to be easier to defeat initially at least but even armed with all this information it's just as easy to slip off a platform and plummet to your death on the spikes below.

The most original aspect of this latest outing for Prince of Persia is the ability to control time. While this is not as dramatic as it sounds, it does tend to come in useful for a number of reasons. The most obvious is when you make a life threatening mistake of any description, although you'll actually find you'll employ this rather ingenious ability more to collect items that hover in mid air. The 'items' in question extend your powers to include 'freeze' and slow-down' which you'll need to solve some of the trickier puzzles. If this all sounds a little cryptic it's because it?s actually a lot easier to use than to explain and if it's not always obvious when you should use them, there's a deep sense of satisfaction when you do. One final, and very important, note about this feature is that it's not always available and once it?s used you have to recharge your ability. Finally the save is to the cart which is fortunate because with all the different variables on display here you'd no doubt require a 14 digit plus pass code just to rejoin the game.

Controls

The various controls are 'drip fed' to you via the various scrolls that you pick up throughout the game. This makes for a very shallow learning curve with the movement initially being more akin to a child's platformer. It doesn't remain like this for long though and not only will you be introduced to a whole host of new moves but also weapons. Sands of Time is just as responsive and tight as you remember the original being, making judging some of the more challenging jumps and swings much less frustrating.

Graphics

Visually the game is mixed to say the least so whilst some of the backgrounds are wonderfully rendered the main characters look like they've been lifted from a high-end GBC title. That's not to say that they're not pleasing to the eye but anyone who played the wonderful Shantae will know exactly what to expect. There are also a fairly good variety of foes to encounter and the first few hours you spend with this game will throw up a fair number of surprises. The animation is very smooth and though the main characters don't feature the same kind of amazing fluid movement that made the original so famous they're still well above the standard we are being fed with most GBA titles. The cut-screens push the game's plot along nicely and as they?re all lifted from the GameCube version they're clearly of superior quality.

Sound

Not only is the audio very good but also it's all just as you'd expect. Lots of hypnotic Eastern sounds lulling you into a false sense of security whilst danger lurks around every corner. The sound effects are just as pleasing with your main character grunting and groaning when he (or she) jumps around the game or suffers an injury of any description. Finally there are plenty of other incidental sounds which all seem to have been designed and recorded with authenticity in mind so a sword actually sounds like it's made of dense metal rather than the generic audio we're usually presented with.

Final comments

There's no doubting that Sands of Time is a platformer in its purest form and, like Star Wars with science fiction movies, the original Prince of Persia made everyone take the genre a little more seriously. It seem that this Ubi Soft classic is back to reclaim its crown with the additional 'time traveling' feature really managing to separate it from the pack. There's a very generous amount of gameplay on offer here and, although of the enemy AI is questionable to say the least, the world you find yourself in is huge and constantly changes pace avoiding many of the pitfalls that beset most platformers. Indeed the fact that Prince of Persia still feels fresh after all these years is a real testament to its original design. The only obvious down side to all this is the lack of any real replay value as once you've completed the game and solved all the puzzles there's little incentive to return to the adventure.

Pro: Great Animation
Con: No Real Replay Value
Final score: 7.5

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