Game Review: LittleBigPlanet

Mclatchy -Tribune News Service

LittleBigPlanet

For: Playstation Portable

From: Studio Cambridge/Media Molecule/Sony

ESRB Rating: Everyone

Despite what the name implies, "LittleBigPlanet" isn't a straight port of the 2008 Playstation 3 game of the same name, but a legitimate followup with an entirely new suite of single-player levels.

Better still, despite what common sense and a knowledge of that PS3 game's sky-is-limit scope might imply, the PSP incarnation of "LBP" also isn't a watered-down tribute to its predecessor, but a full-featured game that matches it in terms of ambition and possibility.

The overriding style, of course, remains the same. For those unfamiliar, "LBP" is a 2D platformer that incorporates real-world physics to an exponentially deeper degree than, for instance, "Super Mario Bros." Objects slide, swing and topple according to their real-world properties, and even your playable character - the obnoxiously adorable, highly customizable Sackboy - runs and jumps according to the rules of inertia and gravity.

These physics, combined with the use of multiple planes on a 2D playing field and a reward system built around discovery more than mere survival, allows "LBP" to present levels that simply aren't possible in other games. The generous checkpoint system and modest penalty for failure also frees the game to challenge players far more than its charming exterior would imply. Mining each level for its every last secret is a dicey endeavor, and Studio Cambridge really lets its cruel flag fly during some brutally tough side levels that, fortunately, are there for fun and don't prohibit player advancement.

All of this extends to the game's level creation engine, which sacrificed almost nothing during its migration from the PS3. Some additional controller gymnastics are necessary to overcome the PSP's button and joystick deficiencies, and the graphics and physics calculations obviously aren't as refined. Two-player level creation isn't possible - there's no wireless multiplayer of any kind in the PSP version - and levels designed in one game aren't playable in the other, which is to be expected but nonetheless is worth noting for those who might hope for the impossible.

Elsewhere, though, "LBP" has everything it needs to develop a community on the level of its PS3 counterpart. Learning to harness the level creator's insane power isn't a blink-and-you'll-get-it affair, but the game's exceptional presentation coaxes newbies in and makes it fun to learn and make mistakes. The toolbox responsible for the single-player levels lies completely at players' disposal, and sharing levels online and downloading others players' creations is as simple here as it is on the big screen. As always, "LBP" has an online leaderboard for every created level, so there's always a record waiting to be broken.

"LBP's" true value will become apparent in the coming weeks, but some inspired levels have already appeared online, and things look promising. The PS3 game continues to pay dividends a year later even for those who ignore the creation tool altogether and simply download other players' designs, and having a similarly bottomless well of gameplay on the go is just about the best thing this series could have done for a second act.

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