LocoRoco is a fantastically designed game with the most uniqe style of gameplay you will have ever seen.
The game play in LocoRoco is simple yet very effective. While it may seem at first that you control the LocoRoco, a sort of blob creature that absorb and divide at will, this is not the case. You actually play as a planet in LocoRoco and its your task to protect the Loco Roco from the invading and I suppose alien Moja. You do this by using the L and R triggers to tilt the level and alter the centre of gravity, this allowing the LocoRoco to roll an navigate obstacles. By pressing the two triggers in tandem you can shake the earth and cause the LocoRoco to, effectively, jump. While playing you will also see small gaps that you made need to squeeze through, and a quick tap on the O button will cause a lightning bolt to break up your LocoRoco into separate, smaller beings. This game has a great reliance on good physics and it is something that is achieved very well, the change in gravity in the game reacts the way that it should and provides the strong base for the game. This is the extent of the controls in the game and at first glance you may not be too impressed, but its only when you play the game that you truly appreciate the game. The game benefits from solely having the PSP in mind, the simple controls translate well to the handheld and definitely provide something other than an awful port to play.
The levels in LocoRoco have a great number of different environmental hazards that you are going to need to avoid if you want to move onto the next stage. These range from simple gaps that you may have to jump across and pipes that you may have to squeeze through to the evil, terrifying presence of the Moja and Burr’s, the latter being a spiked object that you have to move around if you want to keep all of your LocoRoco. There are also plenty of other characters and obstacles that you will have to avoid or navigate your way around but I won’t go into to much detail on specifics right now. The level designs are very individual and each have there own properties, from the slippy ice levels to the gnarled and twisted branches of the tree levels. One of the most interesting types of levels would be the ones which take place inside a “giant creature”, be this a toad, penguin or a variety of other animals. These levels feature a lot of spongy walls and floors mixed in with some hard done sections. The detail in the design of LocoRoco’s levels is impressive to say the least.
During your journey to the Loco house at the end of each level you will need to collect certain rewarding objects. These come in three different forms. The first thing that which will be top priority while you are playing and berries, plants with a orange bud on the end of them. These will add another LocoRoco to your blob and cause you to grow in size, the number of LocoRoco that you have basically determines how many hits you can take before you die and o off to the big Loco house in the sky. The next item on your list are Pickories, small fly type creatures that you eat. These are effectively your coins, your rings, these are what you collect to get a higher score at the end of the level. These also act as currency for taking part in the mini games that are unlocked as you progress through the game and collect the third collectable, Mui Mui’s. Mui Mui’s are described as the LocoRoco’s friend, and these will unlock music and mini games for you to use in other areas of the game. They also reward you with Loco house parts which will be explained later.
Although game play provides a good experience and is definitely something unique, where LocoRoco really shines is in its near perfect design. I have already talked about the level design in this game but that would be meaningless were it not supported by the fantastic character design, music and AI in the game. Each LocoRoco has its own unique style of singing (a favourite past time of the LocoRoco it seems) which seems to give it certain character traits. The style of the LocoRoco and its individual song will definitely lead to you having a favourite in no time at all. There are also a lot of different characters in the game that will either help or hinder your progress in that level. This is all compounded by the fantastic music in LocoRoco, this is all performed by the LocoRoco themselves. This is where the game becomes even more impressive than it already was. The language which the LocoRoco sing in was created solely for this game. Each sound is given a corresponding emotion or object and the songs were made out of these to create a song about whatever it may be about. This definitely leads you to wondering what exactly they are talking about when each LocoRoco meets and what each sound is referring too. It’s this depth in design that makes LocoRoco a joy to watch and listen too.
Another impressing point to LocoRoco is the AI, but not of your enemies. As you do not control them directly the LocoRoco have their own AI system. This will mean that they jump by themselves and sometimes do something that you really do not want them to do, although this may sound frustrating it doesn’t happen all that often and definitely adds a extra level to the game. The LocoRoco will also try to stack up on top of each other and make pyramids, it is small touches such as these that gives LocoRoco all of its heart and charm.
The length of the game is roughly 6 to 8 hours for one trip through each of the 40 levels, this alters depending on how much you search your first time through. Of course, this time increases when you consider the fact you will most likely have to play through the game more than once to collect every item. The game also contains a few mini games, the most interesting of which being a primitive level editor. Using Loco house parts that you collect while playing the game you can create levels and share them amongst your friends. These levels are small and simple and the editor is very basic but it is a nice addition to the game and one of only a few aspects that you could see expanded upon in the future. There is a huge replay factor to this game and it is one that could keep you busy for a long time.
LocoRoco is a fresh and exciting venture from SCEJ and it is nice to see a PSP game that is designed with the PSP in mind. While game play may be simple and not exactly the most stimulating that you have ever seen, the design in LocoRoco is among some of the best I have ever seen. The thought and effort put into this game is phenomenal and it is definitely the best PSP game to date.