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miffy495

Prince of Persia Classic

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I have to say, that despite knowing all the levels off by heart, I'm having real difficulty completing PoPC because of the hardness of the fights.

I've completed the game and at this point am just re-doing levels to try to improve my times. I'm up to the top 300 on the leaderboards. That said, I've found the controls -great- and really responsive. I've never had to blame the controls for my deaths. (One exception: if you want to do a running long jump, but there is a ledge above you, it will do a high jump to lift yourself up there - a case of the controls trying to 'help' you too much)

That said, the fights have definitely been the most difficult thing for me. I can't explain why, but switching to using 'up' for parry instead of having my thumb work both X and A buttons has really helped, in addition to getting more of a sense of the 'rhythm' of the fights.

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Yes! I've managed to do the switch... but I'm not sure how, yet. Something to do with moving closer and parrying, for sure.

Thanks Fayk, my job (and preparing for Glastonbury) have meant I've not been able to give this thing some decent time... and I really do want to master the fights. I guess it will take some time until someone figures out how they work. I'm sure there's some gametester somewhere at Gameloft who can easily beat all the baddies, so it must be possible without breaking too much of a sweat.

I'm currently stuck on Level 5, the third baddie before the end, and I'm guessing that Level 6 isn't exactly going to be much fun, either... doh!

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I finally fucking beat level 4! Hooray! Damn, Fayk, good on you for figuring out the fight system so effectively, but for me this is Ninja Gaiden hard.

Kicking. My. Ass. Over and over.

My main problem comes when I parry an enemy and they get a second hit before I have time to parry that new one. Pretty quickly, I'm dead. It seems at the moment like whether or not I win a fight is down to luck. Getting through several fights in a row without being sent back to the checkpoint is miraculous. Doing so and then not falling to my death in some way is like the second coming happening during Rob Schneider's best actor acceptance speech. Any tips on the parrying so that I may eke out a win more often?

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Any tips on the parrying so that I may eke out a win more often?

I'm not perfect - I'm really inconsistent in that I'll have a fight where I go volley after volley of parries and never miss one, and another time where I almost die, but here is my approach:

1. Never take your finger/thumb off the parry button/direction.

2. The longest volley I've ever seen is needing three parries (by you) - I mean in a single volley, not an exchange that results in no damage, stops, and then a new one starting. If you go all the way to three (i.e., in a situation where they counter EVERY swing of yours, it goes like this: swing, block, swingOHNOblock, swingPANICblock, you get into a locked-swords fight and will have to hammer on the swing button. After that, you can always (from what I've seen) get a free swing on. Try for a second, but be ready to parry)

3. Get a feel for the 'rhythm' of the fight - if you hit parry, just assume it'll work and counter right away, without wasting time. This will give you more time to counter THEIR parry-counterattack that will likely be coming.

4. Another approach that has worked before, especially early on, is using range to my advantage, if there's clear floor. In this case, just back up so when they swing they JUST miss. If you're lucky, your next attack will be the one that steps forward as you swing, bringing you into range.

My sloppiest fights are ones in which I find myself almost too ready to parry, parrying attacks that aren't there. The timing gets tighter the further you are in a little volley, but it's really, really forgiving on the first one.

You probably won't see three-parry-volleys until Level 4 or later, if even that early.

Also, if you end up switching sides with them and don't think you'll need to come back, you can always get some distance (which is important, because it's slow) and sheathe your weapon and flee.

Ack, that was a bit long - hope it makes sense!

Edit: Man, I thought I was doing pretty well, but someone on shacknews is #29. I have some work to do. Oddly, the top two scores last I checked (yesteday) were so aberrantly high I have to assume it's a bug or cheating of some kind.

-Fayk

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Yes! I completed the whole thing last night! I finally beat the bastards on level 5! :tup:

I got better at the fights, although to be honest it still feels very bloody random. I think the trick is, as Fayk says, to keep pressing up (note that you have to let go and press up again once you've blocked an attack), and play it defensive. Saying that, I also had a lot of success with just attacking two or three times in a row on certain baddies.

Stupidly, even though it took me an hour and half to get to the princess, she was still safe and sound... :hmph: Plus, the more I see those annoying cut-scenes, the more they grate. The original's simplicity are really much better. I thought it was me, but I showed them both to my girlfriend (without any prompting), and she preferred the old ones, too.

Ah, well. It's still great fun. I'm looking forward to bringing my times down.

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From what I saw on the leaderboards, your times were already under an hour. Well done. Level 5 is still handing me my ass every time I boot up. The cutscenes haven't really gotten to me yet, but then I've only seen 3. I went back and replayed levels 1 and 2 to try and get a bit better feel for the early combat and in doing so brought my time to around 15 minutes. I guess I'll just keep at it until I get the rhythm.

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I got better at the fights, although to be honest it still feels very bloody random.

It's been a while (understatement) since I've played the original, but there are certain ways (mostly good) in which the timing in this game is -really- precise. It's as if there are almost two levels of 'competent' - there's competent, and then super-competent.

It's like how when you fall far enough that you land in a crouch, but don't take damage (like going from the first ever screen to the second, done right) - you can stand up...or you can roll straight from that crouch to the left, but only if you have REALLY good timing. Too soon or too late, and the crouch-roll does nothing.

Similarly, it's like climbing a wall: someone new might walk up and climb it frmo a standstill, but the faster way is to get a jumping-climb...but even that has two versions. Do it wrong and you climb barely faster than jumping from the base of the wall, where your run animation starts over at the top of the climb, do it right and you start a little more smoothly, able to jump/roll that much sooner. I'm probably not explaining this well, though.

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Yes! I completed the whole thing last night! I finally beat the bastards on level 5! :tup:

Wait 'til you get to level 19. You'll cry.

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"When asked how long before the two mediums are equal, Spielberg said, 'I think the real indicator will be when somebody confesses that they cried at Level 17.'"

oohh.... nope, didn't get that

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awwww...all this talk of PoP got me all nostalgic, so I dug up Dgeneration, which used to be one of my favourite games. Anyway for the first hour which I spent dying I was soooo confused as to how i had ever managed to finish the game - it seemed so much harder now!

then i remembered that spacebar = shoot laser.

d'oh.

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And he never once cried. Take that Speilberg!

Seriously though, I'm about ready to weep on level 5 here myself.

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PoP:classic is maybe one of the best "retro" redone games on XBLA. I wasn't too impressed by Pacman:CE, but I did like Jetpack Refuelled :)

The animation and moves in PoP:C are fluid, and he has new moves like the backflip, and the jump off the wall; grab the ledge behind. The combat is pretty difficult at times, if you screw up, they can get a double combo on you. The final blow animations; the one where you stab the lost sword into the heart, or kick him down is pretty good. What you want to do is lock swords and tap X repeatedly, and win, the prince punches the opponent in the face and you can do a 2 hit combo (ftw)...

I find this game pretty tricky, and I would say I was pretty good at the original, and the flames, and sot...

Worthy of your time and money :)

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PoP:classic is maybe one of the best "retro" redone games on XBLA. I wasn't too impressed by Pacman:CE, but I did like Jetpack Refuelled :)

Funny, considering Pac-Mac:CE is the only one that isn't just a remake.

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PoP and Alley Cat were the first graphical games I played. At the time the only places where I could play computer games were at my uncles work. I remember going there many times over a couple of years and there was some competition going between the men there -- who could complete PoP faster. I think I nailed it in something like 25 minutes in the end (or maybe it was 35). Hmm... that makes me want to go find if there are any speedrun videos.

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PoP and Alley Cat were the first graphical games I played. At the time the only places where I could play computer games were at my uncles work. I remember going there many times over a couple of years and there was some competition going between the men there -- who could complete PoP faster. I think I nailed it in something like 25 minutes in the end (or maybe it was 35). Hmm... that makes me want to go find if there are any speedrun videos.

OMG OMG ALLEY CAT that was the first game i ever ever played all those dustbins and dogs i even named my first cat alley i have been looking for that game on abandonware and emulatrs and stuff for years now since all my old consoles have been sold/lost - any ideas? stuff was just better when it was 5 1/2 inches...

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Alley Cat will probably still run on your newest PC - the programmer, Bill Williams, was a bit of a prodigy, and future proofed the game so that it would check your CPU's clock speed and adjust itself accordingly. Pretty damn brilliant. Not to mention that the game itself STILL holds up gameplay-wise, even now.

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