Game Info
Game Name: LittleBigPlanet
Developer(s): Media Molecule
Publisher(s): Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Platform(s): PS3
Genre(s): Platformer/Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): October 21, 2008
ESRB Rating: E
All they need is Toto’s “Africa”
The Collector has attacked the LittleBigPlanet. It is up to all the SackBoys and SackGirls to free the worlds of LittleBigPlanet and stop the Collector. The SackPeople will have to jump, climb, push, pull, and swing their way through world after world if they hope to confront the Collector…but will it be enough to save LittleBigPlanet?
Released as an exclusive for the PS3, LittleBigPlanet (sometimes written as Little Big Planet or LBP) is a platformer puzzle game that also has a create mode for designers. The game was released to critical acclaim and started a franchise. A version was released for the PSP in 2009 and a Game of the Year Edition was released for the PS3 in 2009 (including special level designs by LBP community designers).
LittleBigPlanet was an early release for the PS3 and had me curious about the PS3. I didn’t get a PS3 immediately but eventually when I did, LittleBigPlanet was high on my list of games to get. Having played it through, it is a worthy purchase…but it does get long winded at times.
Skeletons in the closet
First off, the level designs for the game range from amazing to so-so. The creative gameplay does change up the game enough that you do keep wondering what the next level will bring. Once you are on a level however, it can get a little long or tiring or sometimes you get going in a level and it is over before you feel it needed to be. It is fun to join other players in running through the levels and most levels have a need for two players to complete it entirely.
The difficulty level ranges insanely. I found some levels way too easy (throughout the game, not just in the beginning sequences). The final few levels will put skilled platformers to the test at points. Unfortunately, it isn’t because of the difficulty of the levels but the weird floaty nature of the characters. The jumps feel soft and not very precise. There is a weird gravity to the game that seems to make your character sometimes very light (which makes sense) and other times fall not as you’d expect. If the character is really a sack, I don’t see what electricity or being squished would really do to him.
The graphics and sound are quite good. The sounds and music all really seem to fit the game. Part of the control problem does come from a graphic flaw. The game is largely a 2D sidescroller but there is a weird 3D nature to parts of the level. I had multiple times where this led to death and destruction…it was sometimes frustrating.
The Collector must be stopped!
LittleBigPlanet also is a big pusher of the designer game. Players are encouraged to make their own worlds and share it. I’m not big into this aspect of gaming. Games like this and Super Mario Maker might be fun, but I just want a solid game with fun levels. Often made levels are too hard or too easy. Few get the balance right.
LittleBigPlanet is one of those earlier throwback titles. With commanding graphics and sound, a much more simpler gameplay with quick levels feels more like the games being put out now to appeal to those playing on cellphones and online play. There is room for improvement, but it is a solid entry. LittleBigPlanet was followed by LittleBigPlanet 2 in 2011.
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