Princesses are a hopeless lot; you would think that given their habit of being kidnapped throughout the years, they would at least start taking better precautions. It seems that sitting around in lonely castles clad in flamboyant outfits comes more naturally to princesses than learning how to perfectly execute the five point open palm heart exploding technique, or how to skewer three evil goons on a single spear at thirty paces. Mind you, if they didn't get kidnapped then the acrobatic skills of the likes of the Prince of Persia would end up being wasted on a life in the circus, and given the confidence with which our baggy trousered Prince has just vaulted, somersaulted and lunged back onto the 360, only a cold-hearted gamer would begrudge him at least a modest amount of heroism.

For those of you that didn't become acquainted with the Prince's nimble platforming action until it was re-imagined in 3D, a short history lesson is in order. The Prince of Persia was first released on the Apple II and it arguably helped invent the 2D platforming genre. The game takes place in ancient Persia, where an orphan's life is forever changed after he scales the palace walls and catches a glimpse of the Princess, whose beauty is like the "moonrise in the heavens". Luckily for the young orphan, the Princess likes a bit of rough and his feelings are reciprocated, despite their class differences. But the path of true love is never a smooth one and when the Sultan of Persia is suddenly called away to war in a foreign land, the evil Vizier, Jaffar, seizes the throne and imprisons the young man that the Princess has fallen in love with. Locked in a palace tower (note to any princesses reading this - stay away from palace towers), Jaffar gives the Princess a choice and an hour to decide; marry him or die. The Prince has an hour to escape from the dungeon, save the Princess and kill Jaffar.

Pioneering rotoscope animation techniques and sword-based combat, the original game offered a simple combination of jumps and sword slinging moves to navigate a game world riddled with traps, sheer drops, enemy guards and puzzles. The original Prince of Persia was a huge hit and was ported to just about every console known to man. The franchise succeeded in becoming a vanguard again by dropping a huge sandstone brick into the stagnant pond that was 3D platforming when the license was successfully reworked for the critically acclaimed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the rest, as they say, is history.

This latest instalment in the franchise, Prince of Persia Classic, is a remake of the original game that started it all - and what a game it is. Taking the template of the original and dousing it liberally with fancy 3D visuals, lovely lighting effects and super smooth animations, PoP Classic succeeds almost from the moment you lunge at your first ledge. The Prince runs, vaults and hangs with a fluidity that the original, though a major step forward at the time, could only hint at. The new moves, such as being able to run off walls and leap backwards, allow you to interject an element of flair into navigating the dungeons as you become better acquainted with the rhythm of play.

Gone are the sticky and vague controls, gone is the unforgivingly harsh difficulty level (though this game will still test even experienced gamers) and gone is the shoddy combat system. All that was great about the original has been improved upon, but what really exposes intelligent design is how Gameloft have deftly integrated several elements that really take into consideration the less patient gaming public of today.

The first and perhaps most important addition are the checkpoints. As mentioned, Prince of Persia is an escape from a dungeon, not a walk in the park, and not having to go back to the beginning of a level after meeting your untimely end on some head high spikes really helps to keep the frustration the original was know for at bay. Allowing you to continue to the end of the game even after the time limit of an hour has passed is also a welcome improvement, as many gamers who spent 1989 tearing their hair out will testify. Some of the trickier puzzles and aspects of navigation have also been taken care of. A butterfly now floats alongside the Prince indicating which direction to go next (though if you are really hardcore you can turn it off).

In terms of gameplay however, it is the combat that has had the most major overhaul. The timing can be tricky to grasp over the first few levels, but by the time you are halfway through the game you will be parrying, countering and slashing through the Persian henchmen that scatter the levels. That is not to say that sword fights are ever easy, as opponents need to be bested with patience; a button masher this is not.

For your 800 Microsoft points you are going to want more than just the straight up 14 levels, so there is a Time Attack mode and the incredibly difficult Survival mode, which both do exactly what they say on the tin. Each serve as adequate extras, but the ability to unlock the original game or an online Time Attack mode against other players would have been a bit more robust. There are other flaws too in that, despite how forgiving Classic is in comparison to its older brother, it can still be a tad frustrating, especially before you get the hang of the enemy encounters.

All in all however, it is hard to complain about what is easily the best looking Xbox Live Arcade game yet and quite possibly the most well rounded one too. Whether you care about saving princesses or not, Prince of Persia is a game of royal calibre and deserves a place among the elite must have titles available on Xbox Live Arcade.

Reviewed by Fraser MacInnes for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).