Wrestling Wramblings: Royal Rumble 2014

Everyone has a guilty pleasure. I have many, but one of them is the hurricane of stupidity that is professional wrestling. In my ongoing attempt to broaden my pool of writing topics and styles, I present a bulletpoint, match-by-match recap of last night's WWE pay-per-view, the greatest gimmick match ever, the Royal Rumble.

This is written assuming you know a bit about wrestling - I don't explain who people are, the stories or the lingo. It's really just a chance for me to get some thoughts out. Also yes I know it's all fake and no I don't care.

Preshow - Rhodes Brothers vs. New Age Outlaws for the WWE Tag Team Championship

• Solid match. It's always fun to see the Rhodes wrestle and I'm impressed by how well the NOA are doing, considering their age.
• Having said that, they definitely aren't on the same level as Goldust, who is wrestling like a man half his age. Not a technical masterpiece here.
• I'm ok with the Rhodes dropping the straps here, with a few caveats. One, I would have preferred the loss to be less clean. And two, the NAO better transition those titles post haste, preferably to the red-hot Usos.

Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt

• This was a big test for Bray Wyatt, considering his only PPV singles experience had been a terrible match with Kane that ended in an interference finish. Needless to say, he rose to the occasion.
• It kind of helps when you have one of the best wrestlers on the planet opposite you of couse. But both parties worked hard to make this match a barn-burner.
• Bryan bumped like crazy. Guess those rumours of a concussion were exaggerated.
• Not sure why Harper and Rowan came out just to get tossed. 
• Where does this program go from here? It looks like the Wyatts are moving on, so what's next for Bryan?

Big Show vs Brock Lesnar

• This match was changed into a straight beatdown the night before when Show broke his hand. I didn't know this at the time though, and was very disappointed with what we got.
• Granted, there was actually some decent psychology in the very short bit of actual competition we got. Big Show playing possum was cool and that punch was ace.
• There's always entertainment to be had in seeing Lesnar go apeshit on someone too.
• Still, I felt this went on way too long and didn't have one big spot that made me go OH MY GOD.
• That F-5 was pretty great though.

John Cena vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

• Boy, that sure was a John Cena vs. Randy Orton match, right?
• Seriously though, this was boring as crap. It become a little more interesting when they started stealing finishers at the end, but otherwise a snooze-fest.
• The trend of 'every other person can do a better looking STF than Cena' continues.
• The crowd weren't having any of it either, busting out a ton of dumb chants. It was pretty funny, but I feel bad for the performers too. They're trying hard guys, it's not their fault they've been booked like crap.
• Having said that, Cena hearing the 'Y2J' chants and then immediately trying to put Orton into the Walls of Jericho shows how smart that guy can be.
• Given the ending, what was the point of the ref takedown?
• I'm pretty sick of distraction endings, but at least this was a genuine surprise and teses an interesting Wyatt vs Cena angle.

Royal Rumble Match

Instead of the usual breakdown, let's go through entrant by entrant shall we?

1. CM Punk - Was anonymous for large amounts of the match, but worked well in the early stages when it's basically a mini brawl. His elimination was the obvious next step in the angle, but executed well. Took a big bump through the Spanish announce table (49m15s)
2. Seth Rollins - Did extremely well entering at the attention grabbing #2 position, somewhat compensating for being clearly the least important member of The Shield in the match. Only member to make the traditional through the crowd entrance. Bumped hard, worked hard. Pulled Ambrose off of Reigns to further emphasise his position as the 'reasonable one' in the team.
3. Damien Sandow - Oh dear. What a waste.
4. Cody Rhodes - Solid as ever, if largely unspectacular. Couple of decent spots. Would have preferred his elimination at the hands of Goldust to be better highlighted/more spectacular.
5. Kane - Great little story arc here. Punk dumping him almost immediately was a fun little get back. His elimination of Punk was very unexpected (if you missed his accidental on camera appearance) because it happened so long after her initially left. Wrestling in dress slacks was great.
6. Alexander Rusev - Great showing for what's probably the next big graduate from NXT. While he didn't eliminate anyone, he got to beat the crap out of a bunch of guys and look damn strong. Also thank god he got proper wrestling gear.
7. Jack Swagger - BIG HOSS continues to improve and he did some solid work to keep the match flowing here. Really though Zeb Colter continues to be the star.
8. Kofi Kingston - Loved his ridiculous leap, which was a moment of genuinely great athleticism. The spot where he took off Swagger's boot and bashed him with it was great as well. Always a decent entrant. Mad elimination by Reigns.
9. Jimmy Uso - I love the Usos but neither of them did anything of note in this match.
10. Goldust - Great to see him here. As I mentioend with Cody, I do feel his elimination of his brother should have been a bigger spot.
11. Dean Ambrose - The shot of him eyeing Roman Reigns slimily from behind was one of my favourite moments of the match. Also, Sheamus lifting his shirt revealed that he's RIPPED.
12. Dolph Ziggler - Big pop for this return. Proceeded to look after his head by selling everything like he was made of rubber. Insane bump of Reigns' spear.
13. R-Truth - Does anyone really care about R-Truth?
14. Kevin Nash - It was cool the first time he came back but seriously, keep Kevin Nash the fuck away from anything resembling a wrestling organisation. Horribly botched elimination.
15. Roman Reigns - Looked like a million dollars. Muscled guys around like crazy, got great spots, went full throttle all the way through. Hearing the crowd cheer for him when he was one-on-one with Batista is a great sign he's getting way over for his imminent singles run.
16. The Great Khali - Existed solely for the purpose of being an impressive elimination spot for Reigns.
17. Sheamus - His character is an obnoxious bully, but it was great to see him back in the ring. Not quite sure he deserved to make it to the final three, but a genuinely enjoyable return.
18. The Miz - Hey, remember when this guy main-evented Wrestlemania?
19. Fandango - Great to see fandango-ing become a thing again, albeit briefly. Actual wrestling is not the attraction of his character, but his elimination was pretty great.
20. El Torito - Great, great stuff from the little man. His interactions with Punk were golden and he was tossed fast enough that he didn't outstay his welcome. Great little comedy spot.
21. Antonio Cesaro - Impressive as always, both in his brute strength and his ability. Those swings are still as fun as hell to watch. Played a small but crucial role in Reigns' turn on his teamates.
22. Luke Harper - It's sort of odd seeing the Wyatts in somethign so over-the-top 'wrestling' as this but Harper did well and sold his massive brute role decently.
23. Jey Uso - See Uso, Jimmy.
24. JBL - Announcers entering has become somewhat old hat at this point, but this was pretty funny, especially the crowds's YOU STILL GOT IT chant.
25. Erick Rowan - Seemed to make less of an impact than Harper.
26. Ryback - Largely anonymous, which reflects the decline of his position on the card. Would have liked to see him involved in more big strength spots.
27. Alberto del Rio - Only here to be fed to Batista.
28. Batista - Did anyone actually want him to win? Dude looked crap in the ring and was visibly exhausted by the end despite his late entry. Him facing Reigns one-on-one was unflattering to Dave in the extreme.
29. Big E Langston - Disappointingly, did nothing of note. Nothing wrong with that, since pushing him in the same match as Reigns would not have made sense, but if you just need a warm body, why not use Xavier Woods or something like that?
30. Not Daniel Bryan - I felt extremely sorry for Mysterio, given the poisonous atmosphere he emerged to. Dude managed a few cool spots before being tossed, as is the usual fate of the #30 entrant.

• This match was great fun right up until the end, with a high quality crop of entrants and some good spots.
• Having said that, UGH. Batista is the worst and he looked extremely bad in the ring here.
• The crowd revolt was all over the place. I hated them booing Mysterio because hey, it's not the guys fault. However, once it was down to Reigns and Batista, they got right behind the Shield man. The vicious, poisonous reaction at the end was delightful and really conveyed my own feelings.
• Batista apparently flipped off a bunch of fans and did the YES chant with middle fingers. Apparently the douchebag persona isn't just a heel thing.

Overall, a solid PPV marred by a puke-worthy finish. It'll be interesting to see if the widespread dissatisfaction encourages Bryan to be booked more strongly. I'm guessing no, but it was certainly a spectacle.

Games of the Generation #4 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Even heroes have to die

There are all sorts of games and those games strike all sorts of tones - funny, exciting, DARK, reflective and goofy. But very few games are sad. And that's what Metal Gear Solid 4 is. For all of its massive bombast, its Hollywood level production, orchestral soundtrack and (then) cutting edge graphics, my immediate memory of it is always the quiet melancholy which suffuses the production. All the explosions, all the guns and graphics and trademark ludicrous touches of director Hideo Kojima cannot hide the fact that this is a game about a man dying.

MGS4 partially reaches this position of course through the legacy of its illustrious predecessors. It's standing on the shoulders of giants, but that doesn't make its own achievements any less impressive. Kojima returns to the dystopian future we briefly glimpsed in Metal Gear Solid 2 to layer his themes of inheritance, war and human fallibility even more deeply than before. There aren't many games that deserve the descriptor 'operatic' but this is absolutely one of them, as we pull together every character, every thread from a decade of tactical espionage action for a rousing finale. The conflict balloons to a scale never before seen, and yet it still feels intimate, still personal. The world may be at stake but this is always about Solid Snake, and his battle against his nemeses, be that Liquid Ocelot, old age or the sins of his 'father' Big Boss. It's what makes this fight matter more than countless other 'take over the world' modern military videogames. This time we care if the world ends.

All of this emotion though wouldn't matter much if there wasn't a game to back it up. Fortunately, technology finally matches the grandiosity of Kojima's vision, liberating MGS from tight corridors and small play areas, and throwing us onto vast, dynamic battlefields. The game constantly changes approach and atmosphere, from a chaotic middle-eastern conflict to a tense game of cat and mouse on the streets of Eastern Europe to an emotional return to Shadow Moses Island (complete with astonishing robot-on-robot combat). For the first time in the series you're not fighting the controls, instead appreciating the Resident Evil style pop-out shooting. Octocamo offers all the flexibility of MGS3's camouflage system without the annoying time spent in menus, while the Drebin points upgrade path makes for easy play style customisation. This feels like the game where MGS finally stepped into the modern age without losing any of what made it unique.

Uniqueness is what makes Metal Gear Solid 4 such a memorable experience. There may be elements from other games, and characters and ideas from previous entries in the series, but they've never been assembled in anything quite like this. At the time both Kojima and Konami claimed that this would be the final entry in the franchise, a claim that even at the time seemed ludicrous, and so it's proved. Yet there is something very definitive, very final about the game, a feeling that it can't be surpassed no matter what may be yet to come. And for a game that is so sad, so desperate - it's the only game that's ever made me cry - it's important to remember that the moral is ultimately hopeful. Snake doesn't pull that trigger, he doesn't make that final choice. He's still going to die, but before that, he's going to live for the first time in a long time. That's a worthy message for any story to end on. It's good, isn't it?

Games of the Generation #5 - Bayonetta

Look, but don't touch

Fittingly for a game about discovering your identity, Bayonetta is of two minds as to what it wants to be. They're two very different minds too. One is a cold, analytical, machine, a system of countless checks and balances, crunching numbers and calculating odds. It's a razor's edge of precise, mechanical gameplay, a series of systems that beautifully interlock to produce one of the most balanced, well rounded combat systems ever seen in a videogame.

The other mind is basically the equivalent of dropping a nuclear bomb in a firework factory, then sitting back with the popcorn. It's the quintessential example of the a formula developer Platinum Games has mastered - build a rock solid gameplay foundation and then drop endless towers of crazy on top. So we've got hair-wearing witches battling the forces of heaven to techno-lounge remixes of 'Fly Me to the Moon'. We've got Bayonetta herself, a cross between a sexy secretary, a Barbie doll and a killing machine. While she may look like an adolescent wet dream brought to life, don't be fooled - this is no sexist power fantasy. In fact, Bayonetta dominates the game like few protagonists ever have. Sassy, savvy and utterly confident in her ability to kick ass, she's the cool, calm centre at the heart of the ever escalating storm.

The madness may ramp higher and higher, but you'll never lose your way, because the combat fundamentals are so solid. The genius of Bayonetta is how completely in control you feel at all times, and how close to the edge the game forces you to dance to succeed. The genius of the shoulder button dodge is matched only by the idea of 'Witch Time', a slow-mo mode that's only triggered if you leave your dodge to the very last second, pushing the risk/reward ratio to the limit. Combined with multiple weapons, techniques and powerups, full-on Bayonetta play is like a gorgeous ballet, flowing from enemy to enemy while barely holding onto your combo.

And that's not even mentioning the multiple loving Sega references ('Welcome to my Fantasy Zone!'). Or the dance off. The ridiculous soundtrack. The gargantuan, screen-filling bosses. The witty, tongue-in-cheek script. Bayonetta is the Hollywood A-Lister of videogames. It's mad, arrogant, pompous and endlessly extravagant. But all that flash is backed by substance, all the extreme supplied with elegance. It'll party all night and still deliver 100% effort in the morning. It's the best, it knows it's the best, and it isn't going to be quiet about it.

Ten great stories from classic Doctor Who

Following the 50th anniversary special a few weeks ago, a friend who's into modern Doctor Who but has no experience with the classic series asked me if I'd any recommendations for the older shows. Because I have to go over the top with everything (and because lists are fun), here's a list of ten excellent stories to get started with the classic series, one for each Doctor. Except for Tom Baker, who gets three because, let's face it, there were a lot of really good episodes then.

The Aztecs 
Season 1 (First Doctor), written by John Lucarotti, directed by John Crockett

One of the finest examples of the 'pure historical' stories that fell out of favour after the Hartnell era, The Aztecs is a beautifully produced drama, closer to a traditional period piece than a science fiction adventure. Dealing with the inability of the TARDIS crew to alter a primitive, barbaric culture, the Doctor has never been further from the all-powerful figure he often appeared in later years. Hartnell is delightful, alternately spiky and charming, and Jacqueline Hill delivers a character defining performance as Barbara, trapped in an impossible dilemma.

Also try: The Romans is another fantastic adventure in history, while The Time Meddler adds a more futuristic spin and a great foil for the Doctor.

The Invasion
Season 6 (Second Doctor), written by Derek Sherwin, directed by Douglas Camfield

A masterfully constructed modern day thriller, Patrick Troughton's impish Second Doctor finds a worthy match in Kevin Stoney's magnetic Tobias Vaughn, who brilliant scheming takes centre stage. Ably backed up by the first appearance of UNIT and the always engaging Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, this is a tautly constructed contemporary story that works as equal parts thriller and sci-fi adventure. With Who auteur Camfield at the helm and one of the most iconic scenes in the shows history, you've got an instant classic.

Also try: With so many of Troughton's stories missing or incomplete it can be tough to really get into them. But try the Bond-esque techno thriller of The Enemy of the World or the creeping atmosphere of The Web of Fear, both recently re-discovered.

Spearhead from Space
Season 7 (Third Doctor), written by Robert Holmes, directed by Derek Martinus

Jon Pertwee's first story was arguably his best, a great alien invasion yarn with a razor sharp script by series titan Robert Holmes. It does the brilliant job of not only completely re-establishing the status-quo but introducing a largely new cast, and still making time for a fantastically creepy set of bad guys. Shot entirely on film in beautiful colour, it's a bold new beginning.

Also try: Holmes also contributed the highly entertaining The Time Warrior which has the bonus of introducing iconic companion Sarah-Jane Smith, while the topical and impressively gross The Green Death is a dramatic highlight of the Pertwee era. 

Genesis of the Daleks
Season 12 (Fourth Doctor), written by Terry Nation, directed by David Maloney

Terry Nation tore down everything that he'd previously established about Dalek history for this effective reboot and it's all for the better, as we're introduced to one of the most famous of all Doctor Who villains in the form of the megalomaniacal, ranting Davros, as superbly played by Michael Wisher. With huge stakes, an engaging moral dilemma, great pacing and top-notch performances from all involved, it's an all time great.

Also try: Season 12 is a treasure in its own right - try The Ark in Space for the first real taste of the Tom Baker era, or Terror of the Zygons for an enjoyably schlocky monster tale with added Scottishness.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Season 14 (Fourth Doctor), written by Robert Holmes, directed by David Maloney

The apotheosis of the show's 'Hammer Horror' phase, this is a terrifically moody and dark spin on the Jack the Ripper legend, crossed over with Sherlock Holmes and eastern mysticism. Boasts one of Doctor Who's finest comic pairings in Lightfoot and Jago, the typically witty Robert Homes banter and a suffocating atmosphere that beautifully captures gaslit London. Some dubious elements of racism (most notably the use of yellowface makeup) can make it an uncomfortable experience but the acting, design, directing and writing are all some of the best ever.

Also try: Too many to name, but you'll never regret checking out Pyramids of Mars and The Seeds of Doom for more seventies scares.

City of Death
Season 17 (Fourth Doctor), written by 'David Agnew' (Douglas Adams/Graham Williams/David Fisher), directed by Micheal Hayes

A stylish, silly romp that's just wonderful free-flowing fun, City of Death is the perfect meeting of sci-fi icons as Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams turns his with on Tom Baker and Lalla Ward romping through seventies Paris. With Julian Glover excelling as the snide Count Scarlioni and one of the greatest cameos ever, plus the thrill of an on-location shoot, it's family entertainment at its best. No wonder it's the most watched Doctor Who story ever.

The Caves of Androzani
Season 21 (Fifth Doctor), written by Robert Holmes, directed by Graeme Harper

Peter Davison saved his best until last in this unbearably tense adventure. For once The Doctor's got no objective but to escape, but he's trapped in one of the toughest spots he's ever been in, caught between vile business magnate Morgus and the elegant but evil Sharaz Jek. Run through with corruption, self-interest and backstabbing, Davison is brilliant as The Doctor at his most vulnerable, yet also at his most heroic, with his basic goodness shining through. Complete with tragic ending, this was voted the best Doctor Who story of all time in 2009.

Also try: Davison was dogged by poor scripts throughout his time with the program, but the mystical voodoo themes of Kinda are an obvious standout, while 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors is a fun mess.

Vengeance on Varos
Season 22 (Sixth Doctor), written by Philip Martin, directed by Ron Jones

Colin Baker's time on the show is generally recognised as a creative nadir, but Vengenace On Varos is the best of a bad bunch, a bitter commentary on the commercial appeal of violence and sadism that displays unusual smarts for what was ostensibly still a kids show. In the modern age, as a commentary on the toxic nature of reality TV, it arguably works even better, and Nabil Shaban is great as the repulsive Sil.

Also try: Don't, there's not much worth watching here. Well, if you must, the Robert Holmes penned The Two Doctors can be fun, though that's mostly due to the elegant presence of Patrick Troughton.

Remembrance of the Daleks
Season 25 (Seventh Doctor), written by Ben Aaronovitch, directed by Andrew Morgan

The beginning of the show's creative renaissance in its last two years, Remembrance is witty, clever and engaging, aided by tremendous character writing and a renewed focus on brains over action. Sylvester McCoy finally feels at home playing The Doctor as half whimsical eccentric and half cunning schemer, while Sophie Aldred immediately proves why Ace is the prototype for the modern companion - tough, smart and more than capable of handling herself.

Also try: The show's dying days prompted some clever scripts - check out the alternative dsytopia of The Happiness Patrol or the bonkers surrealism of Ghost Light to see some underappreciated latter day Who.

Doctor Who
Television Movie (Eight Doctor), written by Matthew Jacobs, directed by Geoffrey Sax

The TV movie is a weird, mixed bag. A lot of it doesn't work - it's way too continuity heavy, the plot relies a lot on magic time bullshit and Eric Roberts is totally wrong as The Master (though I'd be lying if I didn't admit he's incredibly fun to watch). But there's still some magic here, chiefly in the performance of Paul McGann, who nails an elegant, refined portrayal of The Doctor while still imbuing him with  the sense of energy and 'alien-ness' that the character has in his best moment. Great special effects too - the TARDIS has never looked better than its Edwardian outfit here.

Games of the Generation #6 - Journey

Don't Stop Believing

They say the journey is always more fulfilling than the destination, but that's especially true in videogaming because ultimately the destination is just a 'game over' screen. Every game is a journey from beginning to end, be it through a story, a mechanic or a level. The secret of Journey was that it embraced the adventure part and realised that ultimately the ending doesn't matter that much.

The joy of playing Journey then is in its minimalism. This is a game without distractions like scores, weapons, or even any sort of interface. There's no barriers between you and the gorgeous, vivid world that thatgamecompany created, a wonderfully drawn environment that manages to feel alternately vast and intimate. The game possess a sense of wonder and discovery that very few pieces of entertainment period have managed to achieve. Though you're channelled towards a point, there's still a sense off freedom to take it slow, and drink in the sublime sights and sounds that surround you.

The desire for minimalism even extended to the game's 'multiplayer' which was less of a gameplay mechanic and more of a way to build stronger emotional connection to the adventure that you're on. Faceless, voiceless and nameless, these companions drifted through your experience, sometimes walking alongside you, sometimes striding away. Their presence was both broke and reinforced the illusion of loneliness, reminding you that while you appeared solitary, this was a goal many were striving for.

In the end, Journey does what all true art does, which is transcend its medium. You don't think of it as a game, and you don't critique it in those terms. Instead it's an experience, one given additional richness by its interactivity. An experience which spans the highs and lows of joy and sadness, fear and bravery. Through its heady wash of images, music, gameplay and (dare we say it) a touch of philosophy, Journey realised that ultimately, less is always more.

Games of the Generation #7 - Assassin's Creed II

Fly like an eagle

If there's one thing that Assassin's Creed II can teach us, it's that games need character to become great. The first game in the series was a fascinating tech demo that was hollow at its core. It underused its compelling setting and what ultimately resulted was a fascinating advanced world that was drab, dry and possessed little real reason to become invested.

Given that, the opening of Assassin's Creed II feel like a defiant statement. After spending the entirety of the first game trapped in a sterile white laboratory, you're broken out in rapid order and introduced to a crew of actual, genuine characters who are funny, arrogant and, most importantly, recognisably human. And that's just in the real world. Once you plunge back into the digital reality of the Animus, you're reincarnated (via a fantastically daft 'birthing' sequence) as the Italian nobleman Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and now it's time for the party to start.

What Assassin's Creed II remembers that it's predecessor (and some of its successors) forgot was that even if you've got the biggest, most technologically advanced world ever, it's nothing without some semblance of life. So instead of the bleached greens and greys of medieval Acre, we're dropped instead into the vivid blast of the Italian Renaissance, perhaps the most fascinating period in all of history, and weaved into a tale of revenge, discovery, comedy, family and, most importantly, effortless adventure. Assassin's Creed II dances between the raindrops of history while only occasionally getting wet, twisting its mad premise into actual events with barely surpassed glee. It's an unabashedly Hollywood version of history and all the better for it, sweeping da Vinci, Machiavelli, Borgia and Medici alike into the same stew as ancient aliens and Adam and Eve, and climaxing in one of the most memorably jaw-dropping endings in all of gaming. Seriously, it was great.

But it's also a world that's alive in other ways, one filled with glorious scenery and fun, diverting missions. Whether you're scaling Il Duomo and watching the birds soar, or jumping post to post down the torchlit canals of Venice hunting feathers, it's a world which feels at once both a place in time and history, and a playground of near limitless potential This is a game which is equally at home as a breezy history tour or a rollicking chase scene, as a complex platformer or a sneaky stealth sim. It tries to be all things to all people, and gets a damn sight closer than you'd think. Above all it's a game supremely confident in its ability to dazzle and entertain. A game which gives you not only your sandbox, not only all the toys you'll need, but does so with a winning smile and an elegant flourish. Just like Ezio, it's got style and substance.

Games of the Generation #8 - Prince of Persia

Change can be scary. Change, in the videogame world at least, can also be extremely bad for business. Gaming thrives on slow evolution rather than radical re-invention, a gradual honing of mechanics and styles towards a final goal. Sometimes this works very well, as other games in this list will demonstrate. Sometimes it can lead to ennui and creative stanancy. but it'll sell, at least.

That's why Ubisoft's re-positioning of Prince of Persia, one of their flagship franchises, coming into this generation was such a shock. Newly re-emergent as a force in action adventure gaming after the exceptional Sands of Time trilogy, the franchise was poised for a nice graphical brush up and a straight porting of gameplay mechanics. Instead, the Montreal development team blew it all up and started again.

What emerges is a radically different game. Gone is any trace of Persia, replaced instead by one of the most beautiful fairy-tale worlds ever put on screen, a shining collection of towers, spires, canyons and windmills painted in a gorgeous sketchy graphical style. Gone was the tried and true platforming of the previous generation, replaced by a fluid, natural system that kept the Prince jumping, swinging and running without pause. And perhaps most controversially, gone was any trace of time-rewind, replaced instead by your new companion Elika, an infaillable safety net for when your high flying goes wrong. Gone even was the Prince himself, the refined aristocrat usurped by the brash, punkish Nolan North voiced upstart in the red and blue headscarf.

The thing is though, while much changed on the surface, at heart the game stayed true to the series philosophy. It's all about movement through a captivating world, solving the puzzle of 'how do you go from here to there'. It's still about the elegance and fluidity of executing the platforming, a blend of style, grace and verve that has never quite been matched. Even the much debated 'no death' mechanic was simply a means to an end. One less loading screen, one quicker way back to the action. Never stand still.

The critics hated it. The public hated it. Sales were poor and the franchise retreated, first back to the safe haven of past glories, and then to a (seemingly) permanent vacation. Truth be told, not all of Ubisoft's new targets were hit - the Prince and Elika are definitely a work in progress, and some of the combat is tiresome. But so much of what the game achieved was overlooked, the simple pleasure of running from point to point through some of the most beautiful and well designed obstacle courses we've seen in a game, looking out from the observatory tower, watching the torches come alive in the City of Light. Perhaps in time something else will change, and others will look back on Prince of Persia with as much love as I do.