Review #99: Little Big Planet (PSP)

 Could've been worse. A lot worse

 Little Big Planet is Sony's staple platformer series ever since Crash jumped ship and became multi-platform. I don't own any Little Big Planet game, yet, but I got this one after PSN got hacked, and since I have a PSP now, why not give it a whirl?
 For starters, I like platforming games, I'm not necessarily good at them, but I enjoy them, Little Big Planet is a big odd, for instance, it takes place upon different planes(3 planes on consoles, but, luckily, reduced to 2 in the PSP game), and has some very, very floaty physics. The game is incredibly floaty, fans of tight, pixel perfect jumps that test your reflexes might want to look elsewhere. LBP makes up for this by focusing more on puzzles, you may need to carry objects from place to place, or travel from vine to vine while avoiding incoming hazards. Honestly? I don't like the mechanics, I dislike having multiple planes, and I dislike that your jumps may be hindered by small bumps on where you are standing. Everything feels loose, and I don't like it. Even worse, the game has a fair amount of glitches, I found myself stuck at least three times, which made me kill myself in order to progress(You can kill yourself at will, in case you want to try a jump again or what have you), and the level creator crashed on me, and from what I read on forums, it's quite a common occurrence.

 LBP is a very forgiving game, there are numerous checkpoints throughout each level, and once activated, death will make you respawn at the last that's been activated. Death comes at a cheap price, points, points are but bragging rights, having no impact on unlockables. And unlockables there are plenty, they come in the form of pieces for the level creator, levels, stickers or customization items, and they are hidden throughout each level, there's a lot to find and collect. While most of the game is pretty easy, some of these hidden levels can pose a decent challenge.
 LBP's most touted feature is the level creator, not only can you create your own levels, with a very easy to use and fairly deep creator, but you can download levels created by other players, which can extend the life of the game considerably, if you enjoy its physics. Regardless, as previously stated, the level creator likes to crash, so save often(Even if it can crash during a save, fun). You can also download additional tools and costumes fro Sackboy on PSN, some are free and some are paid(Albeit on the cheap), if you are the creative type you are bound enjoy this.

 Charm is something that this game is made of. Sackboy is impossibly cute, and so is the whole world crafted on the main game's levels. NPCs look as if they were made of wood or other similar materials, and so does most objects on the game. Everything looks as if it was made, built or crafted which is very, very cool. To make it even better, you can customize Sackboy with all sorts of different costumes and pieces, and he looks adorable with everything. Furthermore, the soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal, with many different types of music, and they all fit the overall game perfectly. Basically, both visually and soundwise, the game manages to pull you into it's world, sometimes, it's hard not to smile. Until you get stuck on something, that is.
 Little Big Planet on the PSP is not awful, but unless you can get over the physics, you won't have much fun, and even then, it's a pretty glitchy game. The game does have a fantastic presentation, and sometimes levels have some pretty entertaining set pieces or obstacles to get through, but they weren't enough for me to enjoy the game.
 5.0 out of 10.