Long-time gamer favourite Prince of Persia has experienced a variety of guises classic Atari ST platformer, swish, modern, third-person action adventure and an awful Jake Gyllenhaal movie. The series arrives on mobile with Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame (Ubisoft, iOS, 1.99) falling somewhere between the more recent iterations and that taxing 80s Atari debut.
Essentially a 2D platformer with fancier graphics, the Prince retains the vulnerability to pointy things from days of old, but now boasts some of the nifty tricks from Sands of Time that allow for instant retries, rather than having to restart levels from the start.
There’s some fun to be had here, but the unresponsive touch controls hamper the action and it really only comes into its own when opting for the virtual joystick option.
With another eye on the past, it does not seem long ago that the jet-ski action of Wave Race on N64 wowed gamers and now Riptide GP2 (Vector Unit, Android, 1.99) brings joyous water-based racing to your pocket.
The ocean looks sumptuous on large screens such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II, and battling against the waves and your opponents makes for a refreshing challenge.
The feeling of being squeezed to pay for upgrades to boost competitiveness is frustrating, but currency can be earned in-game, so for players willing to devote some time to trailing behind the pack Riptide offers real wet rewards in the end.
