As of all the games I've played in 2003, PoP is one of my favorites. Yes the game is short, it is not that challenging, but it is just pure fun, I fell of cliffs so many times or got chopped by some guy's sword and got completely pissed off, yet I continued to play it. I don't think the fighting is that tedious once you figure out how to avoid being hit and countering. The graphics are great, the story is good and I enjoyed the ending, and the gameplay is as good as it can get with the types of camera angles in this game.
As for the original PoP in the PS2 version, ya it's there, but you have to unlock it at a certain point in the game by breaking down a wall, however I find it pointless to put it in the game because I couldn't play the original for two seconds.