Little Big Planet PSP Review

Developer/Publisher: Cambridge Studios / Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PSP (UMD only at time of publishing)
Price: $39.99 (PSN version not yet available as of publication)
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
Verdict: Same great LittleBigPlanet taste, now in a handy travel size
Pros: Plays and feels just like its bigger PS3 cousin
Cons: Some stripping down gets in the way
Acquired via Publisher
Seeing is often believing. A picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth many more, yes? Before I get to reviewing, I’d like to treat you all to what LBP looks like, and — better still — moves like.

Just what is it, exactly, that I find compelling about LittleBigPlanet? This is ostensibly a review of the portable version of the game, released for PSP on the 17th of November of this year 2009. I don’t think a review of the portable version can exist in isolation from its big sack-brother, however.

I think LittleBigPlanet may be my personal game of the year. It’s a fascinating blend of platformer and social gaming engine that I see nowhere else in the stream of games coming out. The heady brew of Create, Share, Play — mixed with a healthy dose of masterful level design from the developers — has taken my family and myself by the eyes and ears. I play this game with my son, my daughter and even my wife on occasion. The kids and I have begun building our own levels as we figure out how all the tools work together, via playing thorough some very engaging Community levels created by other LBP fanatics, and available for streaming playthrough on the PS3 itself. It’s a welcome change from killing, maiming, and shooting aliens and fantasy trolls that I find myself coming back to week after week. So it was with great excitement that I received a preview copy from Sony.

This little sack-brother of a PSP game comes exceedingly close to creating the same joy and excitement of its bigger sibling. The pre-existing levels feel as joyful and innovative as the ones on the PS3, with the same sort of floaty controls that some people love, and others hate. I’m thoroughly in the love category, as they give everything a happy, gentle feel that I find missing in many platforming games, including the Mario ones we all look to as the grandfather of the genre.

Much of my time in cooperative LBP play with my kids is spent as a puppeteer. I thoroughly enjoy dressing up my little sack person in the wacky fashions I’ve gathered through “Gadding about” the levels or outfits I have downloaded from PSN. The spacesuit is a current favorite on the PS3 version. I can get my kiddos to giggle and laugh with my sack-person’s arm waving and facial expression antics, playing with the emotions available at the touch of a d-pad button. In this portable version there is a stripped down version of the same system, with emotions being chosen in the same way, but the puppet motions are limited to four distinct avatar animations per emotion. It’s fun, and cute, but not quite the full control that a player can have on the PS3 version.

The platforming, as I said above, is wonderfully joyful and floaty, though the analog stick isn’t quite as responsive as the one on the PS3. I’m dying to try the game out on my PSP Go, as a PS3 controller can be hooked up via bluetooth. Then we’d see some serious analog stick action! As it stands, the PSP analog stick is competent, and rarely did I feel frustrated solely due to the stick itself. There are 38 newly created levels across seven different environments to play through right out of the box, which doesn’t include the hundreds online that are stunning in their creativity. Add an amazingly quirky soundtrack, a limitless supply of lives (no more red ring of doom doors), and you’ve got yourself an incredibly well-ported experience.

The three dimensionality of the portable version of LBP is similarly stripped down. This game utilizes two layers of depth, rather than the three on the console version. Most of the time, this is just fine, as your sack-person automatically finds the correct layer to go to when jumping or running along. I find that this becomes an issue when creating levels (especially when using the pre-made background templates) particularly as you lack any sort of camera control. There’s just not enough space to feel the freedom of creativity that can be found on the console. The level creation tools are very similar to the ones on the PS3 version, though I find that the permutations of button presses needed to make certain actions occur tends to be a little wackier and less intuitive than on its big brother. This is most likely due to the PSP itself having far fewer buttons than the PS3’s controller.

The online portions of LBP Portable are similarly stripped down, but in this case, it’s a good thing. Being able to download community-created levels is a breath of fresh air: playthrough never stutters or halts due to connectivity issues. There are only a limited amount of creators out there, as I played the game before its wide release, but I’m sure that will increase as players obtain the game, perhaps for the holidays, and play through it. I do wish that there were a way to play through the game cooperatively in adhoc mode, as the mode is limited thus far to sharing created levels.

Overall, this is a worthy portable version of a game that has exceeded or met many genre-based expectations of gamers and pundits out there. Aside from some of the slightly stripped down features of the game due to the hardware transition, it’s essentially LBP in the palm of your hand, going with you wherever you go. Sadly, the only version available as of publication is the UMD one, but the developers and Sony are currently working to get the digitally distributed version up on PSN soon.

So, why would someone purchase this on-the-go sack-person platformer? I’d recommend it for folks who haven’t played the game on the PS3, who need a dose of sack-person love while on the go, and those who just want to extend the LBP fun through 30-plus new levels. All are excellent reasons for a purchase, and once the PSN version is up, there’ll be no stopping you PSP Go owners from playing this as well.

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