Straight off the bat lets clear up any misgivings you may have with a Wii version of a game that is on every current platform this generation. This isn’t a dodgy port of the PS3/Xbox 360 version and it isn’t an upgraded version the PSP or DS versions. This is a completely different game, built from the ground up with the Wii in mind; this is how you release a game (or rather a franchise) on multiple platforms.

 

So if it isn’t one of the other versions what’s it about? The Story see’s us following the Prince from Sands of Time travelling with a genie he bought at a market. He’s made the wish for a Kingdom to rule over and a princess as a bride but as with most genies there is always a catch to the wish. The magical kingdom of Izdihar (that is to be his) is covered in a pervasive magical plant that likes nothing more than to cover the land in its poisonous vines. The Prince must therefore save the kingdom before he can own it; needless to say the Prince is less than impressed.

 

 

While looking at the dilapidated ruin of his would-be capital (not learning his lesson of removing shiny weapons from where they rest) he pulls a glowing sword from a corpse. The corpse comes to life and transforms into a powerful witch. Then a massive hulking monster appears snaps the sword and runs off with the blade. To make matters worse the sword is the only thing that can kill the deadly plant and so begins the perilous journey to reunite the broken weapon, save the kingdom and get the girl.

 

I’m a bit taken back by the graphics, they’re really good. I mean Nintendo good, like somebody actually cared when they made this game. I haven’t seen a third-party Wii game look this good since, well actually I haven’t see a third-party Wii game look this good. There are some clipping issues and the Prince definitely doesn’t like anything curved in the environment. Oh and the water elements look just awful but other than that the only thing that will detract from the experience is the Prince’s hair.

 

 

The Prince has all the basic skills you remember, jumping, climbing, running along walls, wall jumps, pole swinging and the humble roll. Most of them are all contextual based so there isn’t a mess of buttons to contend with. Much of the early levels are just using those skills and fans of the Prince’s previous adventures will feel right at home. However as you progress through the game you’ll gain new magically skills (these are Wii exclusive mind). The sand-ring; create a hoop on the side of a flat wall and the Prince can grab hold of it to gain his footing. The wind pillar; a shaft of wind that supports the Prince’s weight about five feet in the air. Finally the sphere; effectively giving the Prince a fancy double jump, press the B button while in mid-air and you’ll float there until you decide to jump out.

 

At first you’ll only have the sand hoop and then you’ll gain the wind pillar. Even then you won’t be able to use them freely; you can only use them in certain spots. A lot like in Prince of Perisa 2008 and so the abilities don’t feel that impressive, you’re still following the set path but now you have to press B on a coloured wall segment or on the floor. Later in the game however you’ll gain the ability to use them wherever you wish. Once you get the sphere however things really open up, provided the wall is flat, you can go up it using a combination of your magically abilities and wall running. While there are still more traditional paths for you to go down you can choose just to skip them and go where you please. Shame that often the magically powers fail to link up, the joys of placing things where you want and going where you please comes at the cost of perfectly designed levels. On more than one occasion you’ll find the Prince jumping from the sphere to a hook/wall only to fall to your death.

 

 

This generally isn’t a major problem though as most areas have a save point right at the start and with no rewind time powers the Prince must make do with the genie’s life-saving powers. You have a series of sand tanks beside your life-energy. If you die or if you fall of a cliff the screen will flash and you’ll be sent back, either into the fight or on safe footing. At the start you won’t think anything of it but as you progress you’ll fall more times than you care mention and you’ll be sent back to last save point. Quite clever really, because you don’t “die” in the game but you still feel like you lost something.

 

Throughout the game you’ll travel across a varied environment which will include dangers such as; deadly falls, spikes, spinning blades, darts, spiked pendulums, poison, poisonous vines, yellow vines (that prevent you using your magically abilities), floating spores and your own damn curiosity. It’s very impressive that Ubisoft have managed to give us such freedom when it comes to where we can go and what we can do; yet still confine us so it gives us a challenge. There are many times where you can simply avoid traps if you wish but most of the time there is no way out of it, you’ve got to run through those spinning blades to get to the other side.