Prince of Persia quickly became a landmark game when it was released for the Apple II back in 1989. It was a breakthrough in terms of both its graphics and gameplay, from the Prince's dramatic running leaps to his timing-based sword fights. However, Ubisoft’s port to Apple’s latest generation of devices feels like a quick cash-in for what has become a massive franchise. Even at $0.99, it's hard to recommend buying this classic game.
For those who haven’t played it before, Prince of Persia involves navigating a perilous dungeon by leaping over gaps and fighting sword-wielding bandits across 13 levels. While the game certainly shows its age compared to modern platformers, there is no denying that it was ahead of the curve when it was released over 20 years ago.
Grand Vizier Jaffar, minus the talking parrot.
Like many games from that era, Prince of Persia is relentlessly difficult. Missing a single jump, making one misstep in a fight, or failing to grasp onto a wall means you must restart the level. What make this unbearable in the iPhone version are the terrible controls.
Left and right arrows control your horizontal movement, while up and down arrows allow you to jump and duck. Touching anywhere onscreen activates the "action" button for grabbing ledges and taking single steps, but the game makes no effort to explain complex moves to new players. For example, you have to tap up and then forward to do a standing jump, but if you tap forward first, you might fall to your death.
Prince of Persia Retro doesn’t save when the game is interrupted, either. If you get a call while trying to run through all 13 levels, you can't pick up where you left off. This is slightly remedied through a level select screen that allows you to play any level from the get-go, but we’d still like to see it save your progress.
Since it’s a universal app, you can play it natively on the iPhone and iPad. This is a nice feature that certainly makes it appear to be worth the $0.99 price tag, but the poor controls across both platforms make it unnecessarily frustrating. Even if you have fond memories of Prince of Persia, this retro rehash will slash them away.
14 Comments
Are you aware that the original was notorious for it's bad controls? It's an animation timing issue from what I remember. Note that I havnt played the iPhone version
I disagree with this review. The controls have always been like this in the old School POP's. Changing them would trash the gameplay. POP was always about exact timing.
Correct me if I'm wrong Tim, but you never played this when it was originally released. The controls of the iPhone/iPad version are equal or better than the original ones: they're perfectly responsive and easy to use, and you can make the case that the arrangement is actually better than the old arrow keys. As to saving in progress, the original didn't either. Keep in mind that this was released before the multitasking era (I played it originally on an Apple IIc); you had to quit the game if you wanted to do anything else with your computer. The level selection screen (an iPhone innovation) is actually a concession for younger gamers.
I can't say that I disagree with your score: retro games like this are an acquired taste and certainly not for everyone. But whatever problems you have with this Prince of Persia were there in the original game (which, by the way, never explained any of the moves, either) and not with Ubisoft's excellent iDevice port.
I have played the game before, albeit not on an Apple II. There should be an option for tighter controls since I'm willing to bet most people buying this port never played the original.
Also want to chime in and disagree with the tone of the review - as a huge fan of the original PoP, I find that the iPhone version controls just fine, and with only minimal adjustment I was able to play about as comfortably as I could on a keyboard when I originally played the game back in the 90's.
PoP had a well-deserved reputation for being HARD, and they haven't toned that down here, and that's a good thing. A misstep = death. A sloppy swordfight = death. Beating the game demands a lot of practice and more than a little luck. But aside from occasionally missing the arrow with my thumb and cursing the result I haven't had any problem with these controls.
I agree with docking the score for it not saving your progress when a phone call comes in - a game shouldn't penalize you for something outside your control. But I don't think it's fair to criticize them for making a faithful reproduction of a very hard, somewhat finicky game. For the audience of fans who played the original (which I realize is not the full potential audience), I think this remake pretty much nails it, and $0.99 is a lovely price.
I played the original a lot on my old Tandy PC in 1990, and while I love the original very much I did not enjoy this iPhone version. For one, you have to have played the original to know what to do. The controls screen offers exactly zero information on how to perform both kinds of jumps, grab and walk using the action button, etc.
For any newcomer the controls could absolutely be overwhelming. The controls, which took up multiple pages in the original instruction booklet, are reduced to one unhelpful screen in the iPhone game. That's a major "con".
Are you kidding me??? This is the worst review ever. The only gripe you can have about this game is that the tutorial does not tell you half the controlls. You can hang, walk slowly, switch sides with people while fighting, slide, etc, JUST like in the original. This game is a no-brainer at $4.99, nevermind 99 cents for a universal app. You guys are high. I am not even going to explain the controls, it's clear you didn't play this for more than 1 minute, and you never played the original.
Totally agree with this review but I would have given it a one. The controls as said above are horrible and make this game unplayable. I thought the controls would maybe resemble mirrors edge on iPad but nope. Avoid at all costs
This review sucks. I bet the reviewer didn't even know how to tiptoe and perform all the accurate stunts with the action button. This control works very well for precise platformer like Prince of Persia.
Giving it Babylonian Twins' controls will be a nightmare.
You can see that all who complain are first-timers. You're just noobs who give up crying after finding out the game is hard. Let me tell you this: The original was frustrating and had no level select.
Although I think you guys may be a bit harsh on the reviewer, I have to agree that this is a fantastic reproduction of the original game. The original game was sort of a trial-and-error type thing. You had 60 minutes to beat the game, but you'd end up playing for so much longer cause you died all the time. I think Chris_R's comment is right on, if you've played it before, then you'll probably like it. If not, you're probably one of the newer generation of gamers that can't play a game without an extensive tutorial or infinite continues. Fans of challenging games will love this one.
I'd never played this game prior to this version, and I had no problem with the controls. I think a 2/4 is extremely unfair, especially since your main complaint isn't even really a problem. For 99 cents you're getting the birth of a gaming icon. And it's a ton of fun to boot.
Is this like Prince of Persia Classic for PS3?
Yes, but with the original graphics and poor controls.
What this game is missing: Tutorial for the controls. Those who don't know the original, or don't check youtube for hints will have absolutely no idea that you can hang, small step, or even use the sword. I know, i was there.
Also, i'd love if they had released a version with the old/original graphics. The graphics are retro enough, but i miss the old look.
And, even if you can choose what level to play, and the longer levels have a checkpoint, a save function wouldn't hurt the more casual gamers.
Is the review too harsh? Not for those who suffered for the lack of tutorials and died way too many times before even having fun with the game.
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