Prince Of Persia 3d (PC)

Well, this one has certainly been a long time coming. The original Prince of Persia (1989) was a seminal platform classic and a runaway commercial success. The somewhat disposable plot involved the Prince of the title jumping pits, fighting guards and climbing walls in an effort to save his imprisoned fiancé. The 1993 sequel, The Shadow And The Flame, offered more of the same, although with slightly upgraded graphics.

So that's the past; what's new in this version? Following the principle that if it ain't broke, don't fix it, Red Orb have left the mixture of fast-placed gameplay, precision jumps and cunning traps intact. However, the rest of the game has been given a total makeover; the first thing you notice is the viewpoint.

Rather than the side-on, flick-scroll perspective of the technologically impaired prequels, the action is displayed with a floating camera-over-shoulder effect, á la Tomb Raider. This works rather better than you might think; the trap-jumping, guard-fighting action translates very neatly into 3d. The main character is well animated and in fact makes you feel quite sorry for the motion capture actors, who must have spent hours hanging from ropes, jumping around and fencing in order to bring the game to life.

Talking of fencing, the combat is the game's best aspect. Using a simple selection of keys, the player can thurst, parry, feint and riposte in a number of directions. A genuine amount of skill is needed here and, as a result, every time you pull of a fancy finishing move and see your opponent crumple to the floor you feel a real sense of achievement.

However, the game is not perfect. In fact, it is almost fatally flawed and these flaws are extremely annoying because the rest of the game is so damn good.

First off, there's the camera. I've yet to play a Tomb Raider-type game where the camera doesn't spend at least some of the time pointing away from where you want to look, but the one in POP3d is worse than usual. All too often, whilst you're trying to judge a difficult jump over a chasm, the camera will be showing you a close-up of your face. Less than useful.

Worse than that are the controls. A game of this nature needs fast, sharp, responsive controls; POP3d has the exact opposite. The Prince lumbers about like a drunken bear, refuses to respond to two controls at once and generally results in so much teeth-grinding frustration that the game should come with NHS dental vouchers.

So, should you buy it? There's no doubt that in parts, the game is an absolute classic. The level design, combat system and difficulty are all spot on; if you can tolerate the glaring flaws, then it's a pretty good game. Just make sure you buy it from a shop with a refund policy.

Me? I'm going to check out the original Prince Of Persia, which has just been released for the GameBoy Colour. It may not have the flashy visuals, but it at least it plays well.