Much like everyone's current quest to secure a PS2, we remember our search for the Sega CD. When we did finally lay our hands on the hot add-on, those many years ago, one of the games we picked up was an incredible title called Prince Of Persia. It was a truly innovative 2-D side scroller filled with brainteasers and some of the most realistic graphics we had ever seen.
Now, many years later, the Prince Of Persia has made its way on to another Sega system. This time, however, it is in "glorious" 3-D. Sadly, it ends up charging head long onto the system, stumbling over Lara Croft's…ummm…boots, and ending up flat on its face in a bed of spikes.
Prince Of Persia: Arabian Nights contains all of the problems that plague 3-D adventure titles and even manages to create a few of its own. Jumping and safely landing, and/or grabbing a ledge, is a serious gamble at best. Prince Of Persia is missing the most rudimentary assistance that Tomb Raider provides. If you slowly walk up to a jump in POP you do not stop when you reach the edge. Instead, you simply keep going and fall to your death. This makes jumps extremly difficult since the third person view is not conducive to precision jumping and you cannot even rely on the "go to the edge, jump back, run and jump" system. It makes you wonder how the Persian royal line has survived so long.
The puzzles that fascinated us in the original Prince Of Persia have been reduced to the find the switch/move the box formula. The one hit instant death traps are still present but since saving is reduced to sparsely scattered points spread throughout the levels, expect to conquer three or four of these, fight a few battles, and make a half dozen precarious jumps between saves. The enemy AI is painfully annoying. Attempting to sneak past a guard only to have him spot you through 3 foot of solid rock is ridiculous.
The amazing graphics of the first Prince Of Persia titles have also failed to be reproduced. They are barely able to reach anything that could be considered average.
Prince Of Persia: Arabian Nights has abandoned all the things that made it innovative in the past. It simply comes off as a Tomb Raider rip-off. And if you knew my not-so-great opionon of Tomb Raider, you would know that is saying a lot.
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