LittleBigPlanet

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Developer: Media Molecule
Genre: Platformer
Release Date: October 27, 2008
Reviewer: Dan

Nintendo has Mario. Anyone with the right amount of money Sega has Sonic. And with the release of LittleBigPlanet, Sony has Sackboy as their own iconic platforming character. But the reason he is now an icon is because LBP is much, much more than a generic journey to the right of the screen.

If you know nothing about LittleBigPlanet, then you will think right away that the game is nothing more than an above-average platformer. In fact, that's how the game starts you out. After a quick tour through the controls and a preview of the arts -n- crafts world that is LBP, you're tossed right into the story mode. Now, there really isn't much to the stories in the story mode. They're there really to explain the craziness going on in each of the stages, which are beautifully designed, I might add.

LBP even goes as far as having bubbles for you to collect, much like coins or rings in other platformers. Some of them will, however, also contain prizes ranging from outfits for your sackboy (gender neutral sackperson for you P.C. types) to stickers and new objects. "Objects" you say? I'll get to that in a moment. The points get added up in the end and you'll have your score posted to the big scoreboard, which contains all the scores of every player to play that level before you.

Each level can be played multiple times, which is something you'll probably have to do if you're looking for the 100% complete and no deaths trophies. Each level also gives you the option to either play on your own or to play with others online. Playing by yourself is nice and all, but if you want all of the prize bubbles, you're gonna need another player to get past some of the puzzles. Fortunately, it isn't a requirement to complete the puzzles to finish the levels, but you want all of those prizes, don't you?

If you manage to get through all of levels in story mode, you'll probably think it was a darn short game. But what about all of those objects you've been collecting in the story mode? What's this "Cool Levels" section? And why do I get my own Moon? Well, the other half of LBP is creation, and I don't mean slapping those stickers you've been collecting all over the place.

LBP allows you the gamer to finally be as creative as you want to be. Utilizing the level editor found on My Moon (it's your moon, it's just called "My Moon" :) ), you can create nearly anything you can imagine (Don't belive me? Go to Cool Levels and then search for "Libidius.jp") and publish it so that others can enjoy your level. You can find levels like tributes to Mario and Sonic levels (including boss fights), recreations of stage one of the show Ninja Warrior, strange renditions of famous movie scenes, mechanical musicboxes, and even SHMUPs.

I could go into painful detail on how to create your own levels, but thats what the tutorials are for. Once your level is published, other players can play and critique your level. After they are finished with a level, they must give your level 1 to 5 stars depending on how good your level was. They can also add tags to describe your level (this helps with people searching for a type of level) as well as leave comments about a level. So if you really want to, you can critique my first level called "Step to Success."

The one big negative I have with the game is the communication. The game says it's headset compatable, but I'm not sure if you're even able to use it in the game. It would be nice to be able to tell people on the fly that they're going the wrong way or maybe how to solve a puzzle. Instead, we have to use text chat for that. Ok, the game is rated E, so I can understand why they wanted to restrict voice chat. Text chat is easier to "filter," thus keeping it a semi-nice place for the kids. But why do I have to use the cellphone keyboard? Can't I use the full QWERTY keyboard? It would be so much nicer if a patch came along and allowed me to use that.

I think an underappreciated part of the game would have to be the narration of English Actor and Comedian Stephen Fry during the tutorials and other various parts of the game. You may recognize his voice as the voice of the guide itself in the movie adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The narration he does for LBP has the same feel, as if you're referencing certain chapters of the "guide" to learn about certain aspects of LBP.

Final Verdict

Talk about a game that becomes more of a bargain everyday. No, I'm not saying LittleBigPlanet is getting cheaper, I'm talking about the great combination of a rather good platformer with a gigantic and fast-growing list of user-generated levels. If you've been teetering on the edge of buying a PS3, then LBP might just be the game to get you to take the plunge. Sure, it does look like a children's game, but the beauty of it is that you can make it to be nearly any game you wish. This is a must-buy, even if you don't really want to make your own levels. Even with the few small problems, I'm giving LBP a 10 out of 10 simply because few games have grabbed my attention like this over the past few years.

LittleBigPlanet "Dream" Trailer

Little Big Calculator