iPhone game of the day: Prince of Persia Retro

Game: Prince of Persia Retro
Price: £0.59/$0.99
Size: 55.3MB
Buy it now from the iTunes Store

Sometimes it's easy to forget the original Prince of Persia, what with all these Sands of Time and whatnot. But the original game was groundbreaking in many ways. It was the first to use rotoscoped animation (primitive motion capture) and featured gameplay elements that would influence the action adventure genre for years to come. That climbing mechanic and 'walking through spikes' from Tomb Raider is straight out of PoP. And if you've never sampled its delights, now's the perfect time.

This iPhone (and iPad optimised) version is very similar to the XBLA version and has enhanced graphics over the original. The controls aren't the simplest, but nowhere near as bad as people make out - just touch the screen to use the 'action' button, which lets you walk, use your sword and pick up items. It's incredibly hardcore stuff, but with a level select available from the start and the famous 1 hour time limit gone, it's not so hard to play with gaming royalty.

Above: Run through spikes and you get impaled. Softly softly...

Above: Swordplay has attack/parry - but you need to FIND the sword first!

Above: With no time limit, Jaffar's just given her a rather nifty present

Above: I'd stand back a bit if I were you, mate...

10 Jun, 2010