LittleBigPlanet – Review

Has there ever been a cheerier looking lead character than LittleBigPlanet’s Sackboy? We certainly don’t think so, but he has every reason to be happy. Bursting onto PSP just in time for Christmas, LittleBigPlanet’s a jovial trek across a patchwork world, filled with intrigue, adventure and a tone of smile-inducing fun-for-all ages gameplay.

At its core, LBP’s fairly standard side-scrolling platformer, as our button-eyed Sackboy navigates platforms and ledges and uses a variety of objects to reach his end goal, but it’s been gifted with its own niche: creativity. Creation is the central theme behind LittleBigPlanet, with players able to create their own levels and share them with friends over a WiFi connection. The ‘What You See Is What You Get’ level creator is an absolute doddle to use, while the ‘Collect from Friend’ option gives you easy and immediate access to your friends’ creations over a local network.

But even if you don’t fancy heading into the online arena, the levels that ship with the game will be enough to tide you over for a fair while. Admittedly, the platforming itself doesn’t feel as strong as some of the genre’s finest, feeling relatively floaty and inaccurate by comparison, but the sheer brilliance and imagination on display in each of LittleBigPlanet’s magnificent levels more than makes up for it. It’s a graphical powerhouse too, matching the PS3 version like for in the presentation stakes.

Another strong performer on PSP LittleBigPlanet goes some way to show it can be done with a little thought and creativity, and is almost an essential purchase.