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This last week, after a couple of months of not playing any video games – more due to lack of time than lack of interest – I dusted off my copy of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for Gamecube.

My previous attempts at playing this game kept getting interrupted for one reason or another until I finally decided to put it aside and, only now, have I gotten back around to it. I have to say, this game is really fun.

The story is pretty engaging as the basis for the game. The prince has unleashed a curse upon his father’s kingdom and has to set things right with the help of a princess and a magic, sand-filled dagger which gives the prince the ability to control time on a limited basis. This time control ability is very interesting and original and gives the player the ability to correct his/her mistakes and gives an added dimension to how the game is played.

The animation and the artwork is really fluid and atmospheric. Obviously the middle-eastern influenced design makes it very exotic and lush and the animation, again, is very fluid and pretty seamless throughout.

The music fits quite nicely. While it is not middle-eastern it is definitely influenced by middle-eastern sounds and rhythm with some Indian flavor and some rock rounds it out to give it a contemporary soundscape.

The gameplay is very responsive and the fighting system is very intuitive. There is a tutorial through the early part of the game to teach you all of the prince’s acrobatic moves and, again, this is very seamless and ties directly into the game so you can hit the ground running.

This game is not very difficult, but is very pleasing to the eye and definitely fun to play. Most of your time will be spent solving puzzles with the occasional creature fight thrown in for good measure. There are sand-creatures that you have to fight which can be a little creepy so it definitely earns its T for Teen rating, especially for the more susceptible members of the audience, but generally the creatures are not super-scary as in a Resident Evil or one of the scarier horror game titles out there. In any case, this is more action adventure than horror.

This title came out in 2003 and there have been 2 direct sequels (which have gotten progressively dark and gory, so be careful) and a couple of spin-offs on the major game systems, but if you want to play the debut of Prince of Persia for the current generation of console systems (Xbox, Gamecube, Playstation2), try this one out.

4.5 out of 5 (and cheap if you can find it in a store or online)