Alundra

Cast your mind back, if you will, to an era where the Japanese RPG was king and the PlayStation was still fresh-faced. It's here you'll find Alundra, a tale about dreams, monsters, and dungeons, all squeezed into a dark adventure from the Legend of Zelda template.

Thanks to the efforts of MonkeyPaw Games, Alundra has been thrust forward two generations via the PS One Classics range so you can visit (or revisit) this 14-year-old, anime-styled adventure.

A shame, then, that Old Father Time hasn't been kind to one of the first PSOne games you might find yourself playing on your PS Vita.

Placing you in the role of a Dreamwalker known as Alundra, the story ticks all the boxes that you'd expect from dark fantasy RPG.

You've got your young hero with a shrouded past (Alundra); a dark ancient evil that's threatening to rule the land (Melzas); and there's only one way to solve everything - working your way through dungeons until you've acquired all the items you need to show evil who's boss.

Things are a little different with Alundra, though. While there are many dungeons for you to explore, your Dreamwalker abilities mean that you'll be invading the world of villagers' nightmares to thwart evil instead of continually delving to the depths of temples and ruins.

This doesn't particularly affect the gameplay. Aside from some odd creatures and décor, these dream sequences play out in exactly the same way that every dungeon does: fussy puzzle, irritating combat, fussy puzzle, boss - something along those lines.

Just like a real explorer, you'll need a strong stomach to take on the dungeons, as the difficulty tends to spike erratically. While some may find this inconsistency bracing, others will no doubt find the dungeons an ordeal.

You might be able to overlook the fact that Alundra never explains why you're venturing to the next temple or tomb, or indeed how to get there, but the fact that the dungeons have completely inexplicable solutions really grates.

Practically all of them use the same sort of logic as a poorly made point-and-click adventure game, and if that wasn't enough you'll need pixel-perfect precision to pull anything off.

If you manage to avoid vomiting with anger at those infuriating puzzles, you may at least be able to stomach the clunky combat and awkward inventory and weapon-selection - which works like The Legend of Zelda, but nowhere near as smoothly.

At least things are much better in the looks department, with the Vita's OLED screen really blowing away the cobwebs and revealing a stunning 2D art-style.

With nearly 40 hours of gameplay to keep you occupied, and plenty of hidden items to obtain, you'll easily be absorbed by Alundra.

It may not have aged well, and it may not relate its dark and winding plot very clearly, and it may be marred by fussy puzzles and fluctuating difficulty, but all that just makes the fact that Alundra is worth playing all the more impressive.