Little Big Planet Review

Little Big Planet is one of those games that pops out and slaps you with something  done often, or not at all.  Using physics and custom maps to cause for some interesting fun.  When I first seen this in show cases and demos, I was captured by the possibilities of fun it could ensue.  So I grabbed a copy and within a day of playing it with the family, I got my moneys worth.  It’s fun, laughs, and pain inducing bellows of laughs that you just can’t get for 60 bucks at any amusement park or entertainment venue.

This game is ripe for all ages, as it’s completely clean fun.  You control a Sack Puppet as it finds its way through mazes, tunnels, pitfalls, hammers, rockets, you name it.  The idea is to either navigate through obstacles or to work together with other sack puppets (other players) to get through an obstacle.  Things such as physics (gravity, velocity, ect) come into play, so you either have to use them as an advantage, or avoid them as possible ways of failing.

The graphics are exceptional.  Granted it’s just a side scroller, you work off of 3 lanes.  It doesn’t draw from it that it is a side scroller.  Often we wonder if 3D unbarred games are necessary to make or break a game.  This is a testimony to getting back to content and not the typical.  The level of detail in each object is fantastic.

The controls are a bit questionable as I often found my character not responding to jumping very well.  Not sure if it’s an unseen element or what, but it was frustrating at times.  Also changing lanes was frustrating as well.  Often the character would react to it’s idea of a automatic lane change, thus throwing you off what you were doing.  However, both of these were minor and didn’t stand out to ruin much.

The sound was great.  Nothing more amusing that listening to a sack puppet force themselves to explode.  However the music itself was rather obnoxious at times.  Seeming as if it was catered to children.. with a hint of ‘hip’ at the same time.  It didn’t mix well often.  Although most of it didn’t stand out too much, it’s replayed melody was annoying at times.

The game is a classic in my book.  The amount of laughs me and my family had playing this game (moving bomb is always fun) was countless.  Although the game did lose it’s appeal over time (good 15 hours or so), it’s loaded with content to keep people playing if they like.  The online community, custom map builder, downloadable content, and more leaves this game to have COUNTLESS possibilities and maps.  After gathering some costumes, you can end up spending a good hour having everyone customizing just the look of their sack puppet.

Family Friendliness-As clean as you can get. (ESRB Everyone)

5 Paws Out Of 5

Pros:

• Family Friendly
• Fun Platforming
• Hilarious Physics and Customization
• Creative Gameplay Mechanics

Cons:

• Auto Lane Changing Can Be Frustrating
• Music Is A Bit Annoying At Times