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With his amazing acrobatic abilities and magical Dagger of Time, the Prince of Persia seems
capable of doing anything and going anywhere. And with being on the Gameboy Advanced, it
seems it is indeed possible for him to go anywhere, but what is he capable of doing
on this system? While the Prince of Persia series started in the 2D world, the 3D world
of Sands of Time seems too epic and detailed to be scaled back down to 2D. And although
the game clearly doesn’t share the same size as its console version, the GBA still
does a great job bringing the story and world to life.
The story is the same. The Prince has released the Sands of Time and must quest to redeem
himself. The story has seen some major cuts, making it more simple and told through stills
with text underneath. For the most part it takes the backseat to the gameplay, which
is the way video games should be. The world is very detailed. While it may not be the
best looking game on the GBA, the sprites and animations look good and the levels have
the same sandy feel as the console.
The gameplay feels like a good mix of old school Prince of Persia with the new Sands
of Time. You work your way through the 2D levels, that are jammed packed with enemies,
traps, and puzzles. The Prince has many of his abilities from the console, including
the all important ability to rewind. This time though, you are only given a limited
amount of time per area that you can rewind, instead of regenerating number of rewinds.
This will make you not rely so heavily on it, and force you to think twice before you
jump. Also the levels are very large, taking up much more space than the screen can show.
This makes the puzzles quite challenging as you are not always aware of where to go next.
Another thing that is lacking in this transition is the combat. The boiled down combat consists
of just hacking away while trying to avoid the enemies one attack. It is passable but
nothing too special. Thankfully the game has a much bigger focus on moving through the
levels which feels great as you swing, climb, and shimmy through to the goal.
The game may not be as memorable as its console version, with a more simplified combat system
and puzzles that can feel more complicated than necessary. But while it may not be a
homerun, its fluid platforming and gameplay make it at least a ground-rule double.