Review: Little Big Planet (PSP).

Little Big Planet is one of the PS3’s heavy hitting exclusives; a platform game which genuinely broke new ground in the console market by way of its integrated level creation tools which to date have seen over 1 million user created levels published on Sony’s servers.

Universally acclaimed by critics, Little Big Planet has acted as a flagship for what was a struggling PS3 and the games protagonist Sackboy has become a Sony mascot as well gaining a cult following.

It is now just over a year later and Sony has delivered this PSP version; but can it live up to its bigger brother’s success? Or will it sink quicker than a Sackboy of spuds? Let’s find out.

The first thing LBP fans will notice upon booting up the title is that this version of the game has been handled by SCE’s Cambridge Studio as opposed to Media Molecule, the creators of the original game. Stephen Fry still provides the voice over’s however and the style of the game, even from the introduction, immediately feels like the world introduced by Little Big Planet senior.

Despite the similarities, Little Big Planet Portable is not simply a straight port of its bigger brother. The game features 30 completely new single player levels and these are genuinely great fun to play.

The levels start off extremely easy so as to ease new players in but soon become quite difficult, even for platfroming veterans. And this is LBP’s first success because despite the at times hair pulling difficulty, you never really feel cheated, never too frustrated to try again and for me that is a game which pitches it difficulty and reward mechanics at exactly the right level.

Indeed one of my issues with the original game was frustration. Whilst I appreciate I am in the minority, I found the original game suffered from controls which were not as responsive as they should be for a platformer and design which could at times be over complicated. None of these issues affect this portable version.

The controls are tight and the reduction in movement planes from 3 to 2 has in my opinion helped to tighten up the level design and simplify the playing experience perfectly for gaming on the go. In short I played the levels of Little Big Planet wanting to love them; I played the levels of Little Big Planet Portable because I did.

The graphics capture the essence of Little Big Planet perfectly and are as stylish as much as they are impressive. Sound wise, the game again excels and its hard to fault this portable edition in any way in regards to its aural and visual presentation; this is a game you’ll want to show your mates but one you’ll probably lose to your girlfriend.

Of course Sackboy’s world isn’t just about playing; it’s about creating and of course sharing. The level creator was a big part of the originals appeal and it’s no different in this portable edition.

There has been some criticism of this side of Little Big Planet Portable expressed from some reviewers but I believe this to be somewhat harsh because the amount of creativity that is possible in the level creator, given the obvious limitations of the hardware, is simply astounding. Yes some functions of the PS3 version are not there and yes it is more difficult due to the (lack of) controls, but the fact it is here at all I find simply staggering.

The online space is extremely well integrated too; connecting to the Little Big Planet servers to upload and share your level or download other people creations couldn’t be simpler.

Little Big Planet has brought a big smile to my face because I wanted so much to love the PS3 edition and yet for whatever reason I’ve just never been able to properly connect with it. But here with its portable sibling I’ve become hooked by the sheer charm of both Sackboy and his uniquely styled world.

Hardware limitations have meant that the game no longer has a co-op mode but whilst this was a great part of the original it is perhaps inevitable that something would have to be sacrificed in the downsizing.

Ultimately though, if you own a PSP and have any interest at all in platform games then you won’t go wrong by grabbing yourself a copy of Little Big Planet, it’s a wonderful showcase for the PSP and I would not be surprised if one day this ends up being the systems biggest selling game.

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