Rudimentary as FUUUU-(dge). Generally, I've been enjoying going back and trying out these old school Prince of Persia J2ME games, which have run the gamut from amusing novelties to genuinely great for me so far. This oldest outing however? Yeesh, painful. Very basic level designs filled with only a handful of repetitive obstacles that always seem to be placed in ways that frustrate and annoy rather than legitimately challenge you with your limited range of stiff abilities and pitiful sword swipes. Also, who's idea was it to put in lives and a stamina bar? I made it to the last stage before my typically completionist self just couldn't take it anymore, walked away, and looked up the ending on YouTube (the unrewarding wall of text that it was). Oddly enough, there's a Symbian/N-Gage version out there that features actual storytelling with Farah (neither of which are present here), a slightly wider array of obstacles to overcome, and even a final boss battle! So needless to say, if you're digging through these more obscure corners of the series like I am currently, that's the way you'll want to go. This Java version though? Skip it.

3/10