Prince of Persia Classic confirmed for XBLA

[Family Fry]

Ubisoft have confirmed that Prince of Persia will be coming onto xbox live arcade with Gameloft in charge of development.
Apparently it will include tweaked traps and enhanced HD graphics of course. Check out the shots though not bad at all.....
http://www.kotaku.com/assets/images/gallery/9/2007/05/medium_498645460_bbe71827a8_o.jpg
http://www.kotaku.com/assets/images/gallery/9/2007/05/medium_498691533_eecb5ac425_o.jpg
http://www.kotaku.com/assets/images/gallery/9/2007/05/medium_498691415_a1133dc13c_o.jpg
http://www.kotaku.com/assets/images/gallery/9/2007/05/medium_498691237_1f7b8f3af4_o.jpg

Release date has been touted as early summer, will be nice to replay through again, I have lost count of how many versions I have played of this game.

Trailer too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G0H9b9L0nA

[wheelaa]

Nice. I hope you can play the untarted original too though.

[AllYourBase]

That's pretty awesome. As good as the Sands of Time update was nothing can beat the original for puzzle/skill based platforming shenanigans. More of this sort of thing please! :thumb:

[Geoff D]

That looks great - love PoP, so will be definitely into this :)

[Brats]

I love PoP. An update like this is most welcome.

Here's hoping it has the extra levels from the brilliant SNES version.

[ChrisField]

I'm sure it wont be a patch on the Sam Coupé version, but does look rather nice.

[Brats]

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7AzYqMDabQ

EDIT: Ooops, posted earlier.

[Yoshimax]

Looks excellent - Hope they expand (slightly) the swordplay without ruining what made it great to start with !!!

Flashback next please :D

[wheelaa]

Flashback indeed! And Another World and Heart of the Alien. I've already got numerous versions of each (where applicable ;) ) but they don't have achievement points.

[AllYourBase]

I reckon judging from this:

http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2006/04/revisiting_anot.php

That Another World surely must be a future candidate for XBLA goodness. The two are just made for each other!

[Magnakai]

Looks like they've tweaked it quite a lot, with all the fancy wall-flips and stuff.

Pity they're using the Two Thrones Prince model. I'd have preferred ol' pyjama-boy.

[Family Fry]

Wednesday June 13th's title will be this one...
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=77416
No price has been given, 800-1200 a given really.

[Dezm0nd]

Looks awesome, a nice way to update 2d prince of persia games. Definitely buying it (if demo is good) :)

[Spatial101]

It's now been confirmed as 800 points (and still on for this week).

[Yoshimax]

Buy - Just need to get the points in.

Any kind of multiplayer angle being chucked in ?

edit : Who cares - Just watched the trailer - This is easily on for top XBLA game to date......

[merf]

just watched the video review on IGN

this does look rather lovely.

[Geoff D]

I like that they've included a ghost of your best run through, so you can race yourself for best time.

Really looking forward to this one :)

[Yoshimax]

I like that they've included a ghost of your best run through, so you can race yourself for best time.

:o

This is looking to be absolutely amazing - ghost runs will be fantastic.

[Strider]

Thank god it's 800 points, that's a very sensible price for a brilliant little update.

Roll on Bomberman next week :)

[RuBiQ]

looks decent, tho was never one of my fave games....

shame you cant cash in old Livegames u dont play for some redeamable points, anyone want Double Dragon its trash :(

[PeteJ]

I like that they've included a ghost of your best run through, so you can race yourself for best time.

Really looking forward to this one :)
I never completed the original - how long is it out of interest?

[Geoff D]

I never completed the original - how long is it out of interest?

In the original you had just 60 minutes to do the business - according to the IGN review though, the length of time you take to finish this new version doesn't really affect the outcome.

[Yoshimax]

Nobody took this for a spin yet ? I'm dying to try it.

[Nembot]

Nobody took this for a spin yet ? I'm dying to try it.

Up until 9:40, it PoP wasn`t on the MP for DL.

[Friction]

It's up now! I'm just downloading it :)

[HumanEnergy]

Anyone know yet if it has a ye olde graphics option or is it updated HD only?

[Pezley]

Loving this so far !!! plays dead smooth, completely changed the time of the game tho, its so easy to just jump wall to wall now to speed things up.

1 minute 17 for the first level , lets see who can beat it

* got it down to a minute and 10 seconds :D

[Daragon]

I take it by smooth you mean the price's movements are alot more fluid and less sensitive than ye olde prince? I wouldn't want to try and count the number of times I ended up trying to stop him from running head first into those chopping blade things only to fail miserably.

[Dazzyman]

This is incredible. Just done the first 3 levels and its just all come flooding back. Luckily they havent messed the gameplay at all. They have added a few extras like the parry system is more fancy as is the fighting (still same hit or be hit but the animations are beautifull) and you can now do a flip facing the wrong way to the right way across a short jump and jump up a wall sideways and onto the platform above.

The game itself though I cannot gush enough over. I adore this game it was one of my all time favs (Ive rebought it quite a few times on handhelds etc...) and they really have made it into a graphical showpiece as well for a xblive title. I would happily pay full price for a 2d sequel to this if someone ever starts reliasing 2d just works for platformers.

I still dont understand the longevity aspect from IGN review. You get 1hour to save her so you have to go fast as possible without dying. By defaults its abit silly from what Ive read as even if you finish it over time you get an ending (not the right ending though). Myself I wont play it like that, I never would so its a non issue as it detracts how the original was intended. If I die in a level I restart it (you get checkpoints but if you reload the checkpoint your time is the same before you died!). You have unlockables for other modes, time attack which you unlock at level 3 and the one I want which is one live whole game survival mode (which I would expect you have to finish in one sitting).

For me I paid for the points last night ready and just bought it without trying. It is for me THE best downloable game out on any system including Tekken. They have made the classic update for us oldies to play again

[Jebus]

I take it by smooth you mean the price's movements are alot more fluid and less sensitive than ye olde prince? I wouldn't want to try and count the number of times I ended up trying to stop him from running head first into those chopping blade things only to fail miserably.

I'd agree with that, I wouldn't call this game "smooth" apart from the way it looks, and the animation. I've never liked when designers implement a control system whereby when you let go of a direction, the character keeps going for a second or two before he stops.

Looks pretty good, quite a short demo mind you, only the first level...I actually went "aww!" when it ended, but seeing as it's only 14 levels I don't think I'll buy it, after I've completed it I doubt I'll ever play it again so...

[Yoshimax]

I need to be playing this now.......

I was thinking about flashback the other day - who owns the rights ? It was Delphine were they "absorbed" by Ubi when they went acquisition mental ???

[Yoshimax]

I've never liked when designers implement a control system whereby when you let go of a direction, the character keeps going for a second or two before he stops.

It's a design feature of the game that (from the original and it's pretty core to the game) - Supposed to emulate the fact you can't effectively "stop on the spot".

[Jebus]

Yeah I know, I just don't like it! Heh!

You can't stop on the spot but then I don't often run and jump around dungeons, I think reality is definitely suspended for this game ;)

[Yoshimax]

OK it was more technically driven by the rotoscoping employed by Jordan Mecher to handle the animation.

At launch this game blew my knacks off - I won't even be trialling it :)

[Jebus]

Fair enough, to be honest I'm absolutely skint at the moment so I won't be buying it, it is literally the original upgraded and made shiny. It looks nice and to be honest it plays like the original, still a good game, but I'm really wary of Marketplace stuff, I really feel like I've been ripped off lately on it, so I'll be REALLY picky about what I spend cash on with it now.

[Swallow]

Does the game save/let you compare your best times/scores?

[Yoshimax]

Must do swallow - there's a time trial option in there and you get ghosts :D

[Swallow]

Doh, course. :blush:

Will lug my machine round to a BB connection and get this pronto.

[Yoshimax]

You know you could just take the HDD to a BB enabled 360 owning friend and save lugging the whole thing ? ;)

[Swallow]

zing! the n00b, quick!!1

Yeah, that's what I'll be doing, Yoshi.

[Myth]

Just played the demo and I was gonna buy it instant, then I saw it's only 14 levels and I was thinking if I can do the first in 1 minute 29 will the game be long enough.

[Paulos G]

You know you could just take the HDD to a BB enabled 360 owning friend and save lugging the whole thing ? ;)

zing! the n00b, quick!!1

Yeah, that's what I'll be doing, Yoshi.

Hang on! If you download it onto your HDD using your friend's console you'll only be able to play it on your console if you're hooked up to Live.

[Ajay1986]

Stunning. Gotta say this is the best XBLA or PSN game to date IMO. Fantastic classic gameplay and stunning new graphics which dont ruin the original feel of the game, plus some great animations. Shame im as shit at it as i was at the original.

[Jebus]

Fair enough, to be honest I'm absolutely skint at the moment so I won't be buying it, it is literally the original upgraded and made shiny. It looks nice and to be honest it plays like the original, still a good game, but I'm really wary of Marketplace stuff, I really feel like I've been ripped off lately on it, so I'll be REALLY picky about what I spend cash on with it now.

...and yet I bought it... :scared:

It's difficult this game, completing it within the 60 minutes is a real task in itself!! I'm on level 5 and have 30 minutes left.

My only real complaint is it'd be nice to be able to "save" or at least level select to the time you were at, I don't think I'll ever get chance to play it all the way through because although it's 60 minutes, with dying/restarting levels it takes a lot longer.

Oh and the combat is just :curse:

[Pezley]

absolutely loving this still, been trying to speed run through it, level nine and 13 and a half min in :) you wouldnt believe the amount of retries tho ! shocking

[Jebus]

My only real complaint is it'd be nice to be able to "save" or at least level select to the time you were at

I take it back, that very feature is there :) Thank god...I was on level 7 and getting SOOO pissed off with the swordfighting I just gave up, good to know I can get back there.

Bit pissed off the SLICED N DICED achievement didn't unlock...I swatted an enemy and he fell down a hole onto some spikes but no dice :(

[ChrisField]

Didnt enjoy this at all I'm afraid. Always used to find the controls "weird" and unfortunately they've faithfully recreated them. It was just an exercise in showing off hand drawn graphics and I've never really rated the gameplay. Same apples with this version unfortunately :(

[Ciaran]

Never played through the orignial (although watched my brother do it when I was tiny) but I'm loving this. Only thing bothering me is that when you move the analog stick too far even for a split second he starts running and normally throws you off the edge >_<

[Akira]

an absolutely brilliant remake.Controls and animation are unbelievably slick and the combat(once you get the hang of it)is sublime.

It's PoP,but better :)

[AllYourBase]

I am really enjoying this so far. I was a big fan of the SNES version. The graphical update suits the game really well and the wall bouncing technique makes the game play more fluently. The controls work like a dream once you get used to them. The combat is flustrating and requires good timing! This game is old-skool hard, it's not impossible but you need to keep your wits about you! Thank God for the checkpoints!!! :lol:

[Ajay1986]

Id say bits are really hard but its that rare kind of hardness that doesnt feel frustrating and unfair to me.

[Kotatsu Neko]

This is a seriously old school hard as nails game! The combat is really frustrating, the way the guards will block an attack and immediately come back with an unstoppable flurry of blows. I had to turn it off after a while as it was so irritating. So few health pick ups later in the game too, and then there's that time limit...!

It's well done graphically though, very slick for an XBLA game. Really shows the difference between a high quality developer and the amateurish efforts that usually clog up XBLA.

[AllYourBase]

I don't know how anyone could complete this game in 60 mins! You'd have to memorise everything and never use the checkpoints to restart if you died (time keeps counting!)

The combat was always a precise affair. If you time your parry at just the right time and press into the baddie with a slice attack you can usually get a hit back or two back in. It requires concentration though like everything in this fiendish game!!

[merf]

bought this without even trying the demo as I used to love the Amiga version.

it doesn't disappoint, can see how its an acquired taste as even with the new freerunning style prince its still damn unforgiving but when you get a section right its gaming perfection.

i love the sword fighting, especially if you flip a guy round and back him off a ledge or even better into a slicer (for some nice gamer points).

exactly what XBLA should be about.

[Swallow]

Hang on! If you download it onto your HDD using your friend's console you'll only be able to play it on your console if you're hooked up to Live.

Fanks, Paulos :)

[Pezley]

whooo, 5th fastest time on the leaderboard for completion 23 min 45, problem is im 57th on score :( rubbish, dunno how to get a higher score

[jimtendo]

I can't believe how much fun i'm having with this, and yet at the same time being frustrated by dieing soooo many times with my spam-tastic controlling of the prince.

The inclusion of new skills such as wall-hopping/ back flip, and a slightly more beefed up battle system, makes it really enjoyable to play through.

Flashback re-done in HD please! :D

Pac-Man '07 last week
Prince of Persia this week
Bomberman next week, along with Super Puzzle Fighter next month, and with Speedball 2 coming in August... XBL Arcade is coming up top trumps recently.
Colour-me-impressed :)

[Ian(not Ian)]

whooo, 5th fastest time on the leaderboard for completion 23 min 45, problem is im 57th on score :( rubbish, dunno how to get a higher score

23 mins ???
I'm already at 50 mins and only level 11. How does this fast speed sit with the extra health bottles? ie if you find one on a slow run is it still yours when you start another 'speed' run?

^^ I ask.

[MarioMark]

This game is a swine of a bugger! But I can't stop playing it. :happy:

[Dogg Thang]

I got this today. It's a really interesting conversion. Very true to the original, even with the added moves. The only things that bug me so far are the butterfly and the huge coloured lights on the pressable platforms, just because I don't feel it needs that much of a helping hand. Do those lights disappear in later levels?

The controls are good and the new moves don't get in the way and don't make it too easy either. The wall jump is useful but the rest seem mostly cosmetic. The battles seem a little easier than the original but only if you get the first hit in.

It looks really nice. They should make more 3D 2D games, if you know what I mean. It reminded me of the old school 2D section of Ecco:DotF which was a real tease for showing what a 2D gameplay style 3D Ecco game would be like.

I replayed some of the original a while back (well, the Megadrive conversion) and this holds up really well. Everything's in the right place.

[Lyris]

This is a seriously old school hard as nails game! The combat is really frustrating, the way the guards will block an attack and immediately come back with an unstoppable flurry of blows. I had to turn it off after a while as it was so irritating. So few health pick ups later in the game too, and then there's that time limit...!

It's well done graphically though, very slick for an XBLA game. Really shows the difference between a high quality developer and the amateurish efforts that usually clog up XBLA.
I agree with this, the fights are really frustrating and by the time you've beat one, it's really started to grate. I'm on the third level (I think?) and after a checkpoint, there's a few screens that have a bad guy almost on each one.

What's really, really unfair is the fact that if the bad guy you're fighting falls onto a platform below you, the Prince puts his frickin' sword away automatically, so when you lower yourself down to finish the fight, you need to wait for him to pull it back out, by which time the enemy's already killed you. Totally unfair.

You know what the worst is? The constant reminder that keeps popping up, "Press A to parry enemy attacks". I *know* that!

[Lyris]

Man, this game frustrating the piss out of me now :blink:

I wish there was more leeway in the fighting, it seems almost random at times whether or not you can actually get a hit in! And giving you only 3 hit points and then throwing 3 tough bad guys with double that each is just mean. Is there any way to get more HP?

[Dogg Thang]

There should be potions that give you extra hit points. I can't remember where they are exactly but, if they're the same as the original game, you should almost always have roughly equal hit points to the enemies.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I got this today. It's a really interesting conversion. Very true to the original, even with the added moves. The only things that bug me so far are the butterfly and the huge coloured lights on the pressable platforms, just because I don't feel it needs that much of a helping hand. Do those lights disappear in later levels?


You can turn the butterfly off in the options page.

[Dogg Thang]

Ah, thanks for that. I didn't even think of checking for it. Much appreciated.

[Charlie]

Only had a very quick go but, from what I saw, I really like it and am definately considering downloading it. Regarding the combat, I'm pretty sure it was somewhat unfair and frustrating in the original version too.

[Dogg Thang]

It was definitely frustrating in the original, especially with the time limit. If I remember correctly, you coud always get a hit in if you waited for them to come to you but that took time.

It does seem a little more unpredictable in this new one though. There could well be a system but I haven't found it yet.

[Pezley]

sorry matem havent got a clue on the life potions, never bothered colleting any. just aiming for the fastest time i can

seems now tho the leaderboards are screwed because people have glitched it to get 2 billion points, new person below is on 1 million.......stupid glitchers...

23 mins ???
I'm already at 50 mins and only level 11. How does this fast speed sit with the extra health bottles? ie if you find one on a slow run is it still yours when you start another 'speed' run?

^^ I ask.

[Lyris]

I think I'm almost finished with this now, for some reason I never found any of it as insanely hard as that one little section near the start of one of the levels. The fights were actually fun after that. There's no way I'm going to finish this on time, so do I get a 'bad ending' or something?

[Lyris]

Just finished the bugger, am I the only one who didn't realise you could put your sword away to get past that Dark Prince part?

Loved this overall, though, despite the pain in the ass part.

[Big Al]

I remember being stuck with that bit on the Atari St for weeks, before realising the same as you Lyris. Man I felt like a twat when I discovered that!

[GMass]

Had to buy this. I played this a lot in the 8 bit age so there wasn't much puzzling to it but the combat...I can't decide. It's a matter of timing your presses but occasionally the enemy seems to come back with a very fast and unblockable counterstrike...maybe I'm just not fast enough.

Anyway played this through to the end of my first go, missed the hour by a good margin but will be trying again.

[Chadruharazzeb]

Posted elsewhere, sorry if it's repeated:

I just can't get anywhere on level 4/5 because of the combat. I kept thinking I was missing some hidden weapon or something. The guards seem to have an extra parry/ counter move which your character doesn't.

Also, which moron thought it'd be a good idea to play a 2D platform game on an analogue stick?? D-pad is clearly a miles better idea.

[Lyris]

Also, which moron thought it'd be a good idea to play a 2D platform game on an analogue stick?? D-pad is clearly a miles better idea.I feel for you, the controls are already fairly imprecise, I don't know what the analog stick was about - it really does mean that the difference between making the Prince jump upwards to grab onto a ledge, and having him do a flamboyant somersault off the screen into a pit of spikes is almost nothing control-wise.

[Jebus]

I love it when it completely ignores a button press and instead of jumping, just runs off a ledge... :rolleyes:

[Brats]

I finished this last night. I haven't had any issues with the controls. It works just like it used to and in the same way as the old Tomb Raider, you press the button one step before you need to do the action.

I tried studying the combat to work out if there was some kind of system with the stances. In the end I worked out it is very simple. It's all about timing, but the timing is brutal. You can block every attack, but you need to be very fast on the buttons.

Hats off to anyone who gets 200 points on this though (that survival achievement is horrible).

[Lyris]

I tried studying the combat to work out if there was some kind of system with the stances. In the end I worked out it is very simple. It's all about timing, but the timing is brutal. You can block every attack, but you need to be very fast on the buttons.
The biggest thing about the combat I think is patience. It's tempting to run in there and stick it to 'em but you really need to watch their attack patterns and block, block, block, attack and hope you get it.

And when you're repeatedly dying over and over again you end up losing patience (well, I do) and that actually makes you do worse.

[Jebus]

Finished this just now, those last two achievements can go bugger themselves!! The last few levels were lessons in frustration, and that last boss :curse:

Will probably never play it again, which is my biggest complaint about the live arcade in general :)

[elkatas]

I love it when it completely ignores a button press and instead of jumping, just runs off a ledge... :rolleyes:

That sounds exactly like original Prince of Persia. :lol:

[Geoff D]

Love the platforming (as ever), hate the combat - far too random & annoying; the frame advantage attack that guards seem to have has been designed to relieve me of my already rapidly disappearing hair.

Still, it all looks very nice - perhaps they'll work on a fresh sequel with digital control & use of the sands of time. I'd love that.

[Friction]

Not sure if it helps but instead of pressing the button to parry in combat you can actually also press UP on the dpad - this tends to work much quicker, and you can free your finger ready to ATTACK! :lol:

Combat IS bastard hard though at times, so any help is good help ;)

[Yoshimax]

I felt like the combat was almost starting to click yesterday - what I loathe is when they block your strike and counterblow - this was the bane of my combat :

Wait for them to attack, hit A to parry, hit x to attack, they parry and counter hit me.

I've realised now that after hitting x to attack it's worth giving the A button a flick as well as you'll counter their counter - Timing is a shitter and sometimes it cancels your strike even though the opponent is open but it's saved me a shitload of energy now.

[Kotatsu Neko]

I'm starting to get used to the combat in this too, using the attack then immediately block technique. It works some of the time, but I still find the battles annoying and too frequent. The platforming is the fun part for me.

[Brats]

The way I got the hang of the combat was this. Approach an enemy and hold A to block. As soon as the enemy starts his attack motion, let go of A and press X. You will still block the attack and return with an almost instant counterattack.

The exact frame that your sword makes contact (either it is blocked or ir hits) hit A again to block the possible counter attack coming back at you.

Once you get the rhythmn, you can build up some good rallies. I found moving my index and middle finger over the buttons made it easier than just using my thumb.

[Charlie]

Finally decided to unlock the full version last night. The platforming bits are sublime but, like many others, I'm finding the combat hugely frustrating, infuriatingly random and much more difficult than I remember.

[Goemon]

For 90% of the battles I'd just switch sides, back away, put my sword away and run off! You rarely have to go back the way you came.

Best way to get the swtich sides is to be standing right on top of them, as close as you can get.

There are points where you have to stand and fight tho. I found in those situations to block/dodge a fair few attacks before taking a swipe...Seems to work better for not getting countered.

[Charlie]

Nice one, I'll give that a go. :)

[Charlie]

That switching sides during combat then sheathing the sword and running off worked a treat, and I cruised through the game after that. :)

Pity the Survivor achievement is so difficult, definately can't see myself getting it.