Getting ready to rumble in 'Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones'.

Good sequels are often born out of the simple philosophy that if it ain't broke, you don't fix it. But like a "wet paint" sign or your mom warning you not to touch the stove because it's hot, knowing that you shouldn't mess with something is often all the temptation you need to do exactly that.

But like a "wet paint" sign or your mom warning you not to touch the stove because it's hot, knowing that you shouldn't mess with something is often all the temptation you need to do exactly that.

Which is apparently what happened at Ubisoft somewhere between 2003's outstanding Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time and 2004's disappointing followup, Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within.

The first game was a breathtaking 3-D update of a series that many of us remember from the 8-bit home computer days, and it became a modern classic. The second game reimagined the heroic prince as a snivelling, egocentric, wannabe-badass, who sliced his foes to ribbons accompanied by a nu-metal music score that was laughably out of place.

Well, all is forgiven. Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones is a worthy successor to The Sands Of Time. On top of that, it even takes some of the better elements of Warrior Within and adds them to the mix.

Picking up after the events of Warrior Within, the Prince has returned to his old stomping grounds of Babylon, only to find the city being ravaged by the armies of the evil vizier who unleashed the sands of time in the first game.

Once again out to save his homeland, the Prince must make his way through a series of wildly varied environments, from underground crypts to the famous hanging gardens of Babylon, all the while pulling off breathtaking acrobatic moves, dodging fiendish deathtraps and carving up foes who get in his way.

The catch this time is that the corrupting powers of the sands of time cause the Prince to periodically transform into the Dark Prince, a ruthless and evil version of himself. The Dark Prince adds a whole new dynamic to the game, with a whip-like sword-chain that opens up new combat attacks and new acrobatic moves.

On top of that, the Dark Prince's health is constantly draining and must be replaced by the essence of fallen foes, which means these sections of the game turn into all-out running melees. And the internal dialogue between the Prince's two personalities gives an unexpected amount of insight into a character whose exploits we've been following for three years now.

As God Of War demonstrated, the thing that makes a good action-adventure game truly great is the attention to detail. If we find ourselves wrapped up in the story, the characters and the game world, all that leaping and swinging and slicing and dicing becomes just that much more appealing.

And while The Two Thrones' combat system isn't quite as deep as Warrior Within's, the addition of the Dark Prince and his separate set of moves keeps it more than interesting enough. For those who prefer to skip combat and get straight back to the puzzle-solving and acrobatics, a new speed-kill system lets you dispatch enemies with a few button presses if you can get the drop on them.

Overall it's a hugely satisfying game, combining the brain-teasing environmental puzzles that are the series' hallmark with some new and cool combat mechanics. And even the odd chariot race, though these are more frustrating than fun.

You only have to touch a hot stove once to learn your lesson, right Ubisoft? Prince Of Persia is fixed now. Please don't break it again.

BOTTOM LINE

This return to the look and feel of the original Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time makes up for the disappointing middle game in the trilogy, while still adding a bunch of new and nifty elements to the mix.