Blackthorne

"A thorne in one's side...."

Blackthorne

Ah-ha! A modern day Prince of Persia clone made by Mass Media, and Blizzard Classic Entertainment. This was a brilliant combination, but is marred by some small but annoying little flaws.

A strange classic made stranger by the transition to the gameboy advance, Blackthorne finds itself outdated and outmatched by any modern platformer.

Story - 4/10

You are Blackthorne, son of a royal family on Thrull. An evil creep threatens your homeland when you are a baby, and the family wizard sends you to a safer place. Twenty years later, you head back to your home...and go on a long journey to free your people from a tyrannical leader.

You can tell any game is extremely cliche by the fact that the average gamer doesn't even remember your character's name, and even the antagonist's name. Or even the name of the planet that the main character lives on.

Gameplay - 6/10

Playing this game was an exercise in patience. It consists of finding bombs to open doors, jumping over ledges and shooting guards that look surprising like Gamorrans. It's Prince of Persia style gameplay might have appealed to the old-school gamer in me, if the levels weren't so linear. You can nearly guess where you need to be next in the level.

Bosses are huge Contra style affairs that have Contra style patterns. Only difference is that you can now step "into" the background to dodge weapons fire.

A side note, you can rescue prisoners by throwing bombs at cell doors. In gratitude, you can get health potions.

Graphics - 3/10

The walking and jumping animations remind me of the first Prince of Persia games, minus the jumping over spiked death traps part. It looks like Mass Media took the sprites for Prince of Persia and recolored them, and shrunk them to fit onto the gba. There's even that "familar pause before you jump" effect which further reminds you of Prince of Persia.

The gba is graphically capable of so much more detail. The characters all look blurry and the text looks fuzzy too. Remember Metroid Fusion and even Rock N Roll Racing?

Sounds - 7/10

The sounds are great! You can hear dripping water, enemy cries, and weapon zaps. They just lack interest, much like an Junior Savings account at the bank. The sounds do their jobs to reinforce the atmosphere that Blackthorne is in a horrible place and has a difficult job to do.

Control - 1/10

Action games usually don't benefit from a complicated set of controls, Blackthorne is no different. Different situations mandate different controls. In one instance, you cannot jump with your weapon drawn...you have to holster it and then remember to jump. To fire your weapon again, you have to press B again to remove it from your holster.

This makes it even more difficult to master this game, as you sometimes find yourself firing your weapon when you mean to jump and vice-versa. Grrr...

Final Thoughts - 3/10

What a waste of silicon! If you want a Prince of Persia game, please pick up the real thing. It's worth a single playthrough to see the what becomes of Blackthorne. May I suggest a rental of Blackthorne only?

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/06