[Timgt5]

Little Big Planet

Old School Meets Next Gen

Hi! I am back from a writing hiatus with a review a terrific new game. Many of you fondly remember the era of the 16 Bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. In those days side-scrolling platformers with names like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog ruled the day. For those of you who miss those games: Rejoice! Little Big Planet is all that they were and much more. Read on…

Little Big Planet
Developer: Media Molecule
Publisher: SCEA
Platform: PS3 exclusive, (a version for PSP is rumored)
Type: Old School Side Scrolling Platformer.
Number of Players: Single, or multiple online players.
Rating: E (everyone)

Highs: Simple and intuitive game play, beautiful visuals, customizable characters and worlds, awesome multiplayer, irresistibly fun.

Lows: occasional jumping issues (nothing to wreck the game play)

Game play: At its core Little Big Planet pays homage to the old versions of games like Mario Brothers and Sonic. You navigate a character called a “sackboy” or “sackgirl” (Imagine stuffed rag dolls covered in burlap) through a series of “worlds” from left to right. The object is to acquire and collect stickers, decals and custom set pieces which will all be put to eventual use. The controls are simple and rather straight forward. One stick to make your “sackperson” move, one button to jump and one more to activate the “poppit” menu. In addition to moving through the worlds, the player can at anytime in the game customize their sack person, simply pull up what is called the “poppit” menu (it looks a bit like an I-Phone interface) and then from there can add a variety of materials, colors, hairpieces, clothes, hats, eye expressions and so on to their sackperson. As you progress through the worlds you gain more items to add to your sackperson. You can also change the expression on your sackperson’s face with a press of the pad he or she can be happy, angry, sad or frightened. Wiggle the motion controller around and your little sackperson can do a victory dance.
In addition to the customizable characters, you can also build your own levels and play them. Better yet you can go online invite other LBP players to come try your “world “out for themselves and you can experience theirs in return. There are also multiplayer cooperative and competitive games. The level building tool is easy to learn and simple to use. You can also post your Sackperson online and solicit comments. All of it worked very well.

Graphics and Sound: The graphics are uniquely beautiful and actually hard to describe at the same time. Imagine a team of skilled arts and crafts hobbyists let loose on an average household to use anything they come across to build animals, obstacles etc from things like plastic, wood and fabric. Now imagine these sets are digitally captured and reproduced with eerie photo realism. If you are scratching your heads over this, click the link below for a better idea of what all this looks like in action, it is marvelous I assure you.
The sound quality is good as well, with each of the “toy” animals makes the appropriate sound when your sackperson comes across them. The ambient sounds and background music are well suited to each environment.

Kid’s Corner: No problems whatsoever. Little Big Planet can be enjoyed safely by people of all ages. I highly recommend this one for parents and kids to play together as the game fosters creativity and individuality. Of course use all the appropriate precaution when your kids take it online.

In Summary: LBP is a delightful diversion and lovely experience. It is a great game to pick up and play for 10 minutes or 3 hours. For those who have been around gaming a long time, it is a trip back to a simpler time. For those of you, who have a PS3, grab this one. For those of you that do not, this is likely to be in an upcoming bundle, with an 80 or 160 gig system.

Here is a You-Tube Link to some footage, Enjoy: