Ubisoft is one of the biggest publishers in video games, yet the Wii has been the company’s Achilles’ heel. From bad original games like Red Steel to inferior ports of FarCry and Splinter Cell, the drips keep coming, Rayman Raving Rabbids notwithstanding. That in mind, Prince of Persia: Rival Swords fares better than most things the company has put out on Nintendo’s new platform, but it’s still got its share of issues.

Remember Two Thrones, the third installment of the revitalized Prince of Persia series? Most hardcore gamers probably played it near the end of 2005, when it came out. This is that game, for all intents and purposes, with a little Wii seasoning sprinkled on top. Only thing is, it still tastes about the same; it’s just gotten a little funky sitting on the counter for the last 16 months or so.

But hey, Two Thrones was a darn fine game. As the capper to the PoP trilogy, we find the Prince returning home with the lovely Kaileena in tow. However, something’s not quite right in Babylon, proving the old adage, "You can’t go home again." As such, the Prince has to battle evil minions, perilous platforming, and his own schizophrenia to survive.

This series shines brightest when you’re scaling obstacles and leaping through the air with the greatest of ease, and Rival Swords is no different. Not only are there columns to climb, flagpoles to swing from, planks to balance on, and cliffs to shimmy across; but you’ll now have to use your dagger to get a hand-hold, jump diagonally, and do a few other clever platforming pirouettes.

Platforming is just as fun on the Wii as it was on the other consoles; the main difference is just holding your hands further apart. Somehow, this upped the thrill level for me, but perhaps I was just hallucinating. You have two ways to manipulate the camera: tilt the Wii remote itself, or use the d-pad. Either way works fine; I prefer the d-pad myself.

The rest of Rival Swords’ control functions do their job amiably. The analog stick feels good when you line up your jumps, and running along walls is as fun to do as ever. I did get confused between what worked with the Z button and what worked with B, as I think most people who played a ton of Twilight Princess will, as it seems the opposite of that game.

Combat is of course another big mechanic, and again the Wii version is different without being either better or worse than previous iterations. You’ll be flailing with both hands. The benefit is that it puts you into the fight more, but the detriment is how you don’t really feel as sure about what you’re trying to make the Prince do. Swinging works wonders with the already-awesome silent kills, as you slice the remote at the right time to deal instant death. Swinging doesn’t work as well when you need to latch onto areas with your dagger, unfortunately.

I also have problems with the Dark Prince, just because of his similarities to God of War’s Kratos and his weapon of choice, but he’s cool enough and used well enough in this game to get me to forget my beef. Besides, this is one of the better-designed games out there. The pacing is great, the mechanics are intelligent, and little things like having the Prince reminisce during action instead of going to a cutscene show a real mastery of flow that few titles exhibit. It’s got a killer story, as well.

The main problem here, however, is that people who were going to play this game already did so when it was called Two Thrones. I don’t recall anyone saying, "I’ll wait to play it on Wii." It isn’t even like Ubisoft did much to enhance the package in that year and a half! It looks the same, it sounds the same, and very little was enhanced from a gameplay standpoint aside from the obvious new control interface. If Rival Swords only ran you $20 -- which is the going rate for Two Thrones at the moment -- I’d say go for it, even if you already played through it elsewhere. It’s just cool to dual-wield with the Prince, or experience the perilous scaling in a more hands-free approach. However, this baby weighs in at $50. Virtua Fighter 4 and Fable sported more enhancements in their reissues, yet they still carried a budget price.

By going for the full $50, Ubisoft turns its back on those gamers curious to play the same title in a new way, and only people with zero Two Thrones experience need apply. And honestly, to them I’d say save $30 by buying the Wii-compatible GameCube version: You’re getting a great game either way. Meanwhile, Prince of Persia: Rival Swords is best described as too little, too late.