Remakes or updates of classic games often aren't very good. Sometimes the core game play changes too much; sometimes the makers don't understand what made the original work; and sometimes, the updates just aren't necessary.

But others do work. Last year's "Metroid Prime," for Nintendo GameCube, was crafted in a way that both honored and improved upon a well-loved classic.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" follows that example. The story is epic but intimate, a tale of betrayal and revenge. The young prince, eager to prove his martial skills to his father, King Sharaman of Persia, assists in the siege of an Indian maharajah's fortress, raiding the ruler's treasure vaults and stealing the fabled Dagger of Time. Also taken in the battle is a mystic hourglass that holds the Sands of Time.

The maharajah's traitorous vizier wants these things, but King Sharaman grants his son the dagger and takes the hourglass as a gift to the sultan. The crafty vizier, however, tricks the prince into using the dagger to unlock the hourglass as Sharaman presents it, unleashing the sands of time. These ghastly grains sweep through the sultan's palace, turning all they touch into zombie-like creatures. Only the prince, the vizier and a girl named Farah, daughter of the maharajah, escape the swirling sands.

And so the prince must fight off the hordes of abominations unleashed by the Sands of Time and make his way through the sultan's crumbling, trap-filled palace. He has superb athletic conditioning and the skills of a master warrior on his side. Most importantly, he has the Dagger of Time.

This magical weapon can collect and hold the Sands of Time for the prince to use, and it protects him from their unhealthy effects. If the prince weakens enemies with his sword, he can destroy them forever by absorbing their sand into the dagger. He can slow down and speed up the flow of time around him, and freeze enemies in time to dispatch them at will. He also can catch glimpses of future trials at sand vortexes, which also serve as save points.

But the dagger's greatest power is to turn back time. If the prince takes too much damage, makes a fatal misstep or otherwise meets his end, he can use the dagger in his final moment to turn back the clock up to 10 seconds or so, undoing his misfortune for another chance.

He can do this as many times as he has full sand tanks in the dagger, which he can refill with sand from defeated enemies or from clouds of sand found throughout the palace. Absorbing enough sand enhances the dagger with more sand and power tanks, the latter of which are used for freezing and slowing time.

But the prince has more than the dagger on his side. Aside from his fighting skills, the prince is an accomplished acrobat: He can run up walls, climb and shimmy on columns and ledges, leap long distances and swing on and propel himself from horizontal bars.

The beauty of these maneuvers lies in how easily they can be strung together -- the prince can effortlessly run along a wall, push off onto a column and then leap to a bar to swing himself to a higher platform. Each action flows seamlessly into the next, whether in combat or not.

The combat itself is fairly easy, but it is great fun. The prince, as nimble a swordsman as he is an acrobat, can jump off nearby walls and over enemies to confound the generally slow-witted monsters. Add to this his abilities with the dagger and combat becomes an engaging if somewhat repetitive activity.

The game looks very good, especially the backgrounds, which are full of detail and depth. The character models are decent, but what really makes the visuals is the incredible animation of the prince's movements, which make him a most convincing avatar. The voice acting is good, but lines often sound a bit dim and muffled, as do battle sounds, though the music is excellent.

In "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," Ubisoft has improved upon a classic.

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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

4 stars

SYSTEM: Sony PlayStation 2, also for Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, PC; alternate version on Game Boy Advance
PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
HOW MUCH: $49.99 ($39.99 PC, $29.99 Game Boy Advance)
AGE RATING: Teen