There aren’t many places that the acrobatic Prince of Persia can find inaccessible and it was only a matter of time until he jumped and flipped his way onto the PSP in his usual nimble fashion. Seeing as how the perilous adventure through the Island of Time is now scaled down to a smaller screen with one analog stick, one has to wonder if the experience can transfer over and deliver the same tension filled and fast paced action as its console counter part. For starters, Prince of Persia: Revelations is a port of the Prince of Persia: Warrior Within that was released back in 2004 with a few extra additional levels and puzzles thrown in for good measure. If you have previously played PoP: WW, then you will have a good idea if you will enjoy taking on this venture or not. Unfortunately, not many people were too pleased with the gameplay mechanics of the Warrior Within, the second game in the series. The over abundance of fighting situations and the poor combat controls were what brought about the harsh criticisms of the game.

The story follows the Prince as he heads to the Island of Time to find and destroy the Sands of Time before they can be created. If he can manage to stop the sands from being created, he can change his fate and the Dahaka, the ancient Persian god of death, that has been pursuing him for years, will have no quarrel with him and in turn allow the prince to live in peace. As you sail to the island, you are besieged by the Empress of Time and her minions, and are cast adrift until you wash up on the island. Once you make your way into the fortress there, you find that your task is not as easy as you originally thought it would be and that you will need to alternate between the present and past as well as fleeing the Dahaka that has also followed you to the island.

Since the adventure is now on the PSP, it does take some getting used to if you have played the console versions. Obviously the screen is much smaller and that provides the first obstacle. Seeing which path you will need to advance can be tricky at times since your vision is limited. The use of the landscape camera does come in handy, more so than it did on the console versions. There are times that you will find yourself playing while in landscape view just so you can see where you need to go next with out having to go through the trial and error of dying over and over to find the right path. Another aspect of Revelations that you will need to get used to is the lack of the second analog stick that would control the camera. It isn’t much of a chore to press the left shoulder button and move the analog stick to control the camera, but when you are in a hurry, such as when you are being chased by the unrelenting Dahaka, it can get a little frustrating not being able to stop moving for too long to see where you are going.

A few other issues found in the game, deal with the presentation itself, and not so much the actual gameplay. The initial loading times when the game starts off are pretty lengthy to say the least but are tolerable during the duration of the game itself. At times, loading off the UMD will cause the sound to pause briefly and at times cause the lip-synching to fall behind from the scene that is being played. There are times when the game will just decide to stop and load for a few seconds and unfortunately there aren’t set times for it to happen. You can be in the middle of a wall run or a jump and the game will decide to start loading the next area mid-action which can really disrupt your game and cause a moment or two of cursing under your breath. There were a few times as well that the camera would turn 180 degrees while on narrow ledges and cause you to stop and get your bearings again when you were about to make a complicated and intricate jump.

With these issues aside, the game really does play just like a full size console version of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. The same incredible acrobatic moves and puzzles are included with this little bundle of joy, as is the story line that continues from the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. The controls do take a little getting used to for the first little while, but soon enough you’ll be swinging and jumping from every object in the game like a pro. Of course it will be easier for those who have played the PoP games in the past, but for those new to the series, it’s worth it to look past the few bugs and give the prince a warm welcome to the PSP platform.