LittleBigPlanet? It's more like GiantEnormousGalaxy.

User Rating: 9 | LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition PS3
Gameplay

LittleBigPlanet's motto is "Play, Create, Share." They should have added "dress-up" after share, because big part of the game is dressing your character. He/she can be anyone from Genghis Khan to Solid Snake! There are loads of materials, clothes, weapons (they don't do much though), glasses, etc.... to unlock, which makes exploring every inch of the game all the more fun. You shouldn't buy the game merely to dress-up, because you can just do that in your mom's closet when she's out grocery shopping, or play a flash dress-up game online or something.

One of the main parts of gameplay in LittleBigPlanet is layers. At any time possible, you will be able to press X and up/down to switch to another layer. It's hard to explain, but I'll try my best to explain how the layers work. Let's say there's something blocking your path and there's no other way to get by it – try X + up/down and you might jump forward/backward if possible and be able to go in front/behind that object to get around it. It's really hard to explain that, so if you really need to know, I'd recommend watching videos. Also, one of the most annoying parts of the game is when you're trying to run straight and it automatically recognizes it as a layer switch when you jump. This can be annoying and has amounted to at least 50% of my deaths.

Another annoying thing is that once you get farther into the level, you will often die a few times and have to start the whole mission over again. This can make the game very frustrating, and it might make you stop playing the game for a few days if it's one of the tougher missions. This happened to me on the level where you have to save Jalapeno 5 times in a row due to cheap stuff like trying to jump over cacti and failing because it's impossible to do a running jump on a rock as big as you are.... Sorry, needed to get that off my chest.

Since getting through the level is mainly just running, walking, jumping and holding (well, that's the basics). Jumping is something you're going to be doing a lot of, and it gets harder and harder as the levels progress. More or less due to the AWFUL jumping – when you want SackBoy to go to a certain place, 50% of the time he'll go too far or not even make it there. He'll also randomly stop or keep moving, OR the frame-rate will slow down and screw you up badly. Due to the bad-natured controls, I probably swore more times than any other game combined, and made a total of 47 different swear-words such as "Flaggerhockler!"

One of my favourite parts of this game is the boss battles. I didn't expect frequent, nor good quality, boss battles. The bosses are some of the best on the PS3; especially the later ones. The only one I had a problem with was the boss battle from The Metropolis. He was just cheap, and after hitting him about 20 times and having nothing happen, makes one very annoyed.

LittleBigPlanet's motto is "Play, Create, Share." They should have added "dress-up" after share, because big part of the game is dressing your character. He/she can be anyone from Genghis Khan to Solid Snake! There are loads of materials, clothes, weapons (they don't do much though), glasses, etc.... to unlock, which makes exploring every inch of the game all the more fun.

Graphics

The graphics are actually quite charming and the game looks very, well, charming! They picked every kid's favourite landscapes (Haunted House, Desert, etc....) and made those the bases for the levels. Considering the game is (technically) a 2D platformer, they did a really good job, and it looks nicer than some 3D platformers ever looked.

I do think there is room for improvement on some of the textures, however, as sometimes they tend to look a bit choppy. The main instances of this are some of the moving objects in levels, mainly in the later levels.

Sound

Okay, the music in the game, though very repetitive and kind of annoying after a while, is quite catchy. Most of it you'll only hear during certain levels, but some of it they play a lot more. People usually use the same songs in their games, and they get really annoying after a while; so annoying that I've actually had to mute the game or put on some music just so I didn't have to listen to it. LittleBigPlanet has a pop sound-track made for the game, and it really fits the game's bouncy theme, and ties together the game quite nicely in a fashion that makes you smile while you're playing - even if there are only a few songs.

Story

To be fair, LittleBigPlanet isn't a story-orientated game at all. The only reason they even added those little bits of text that I guess you could call a story is just to tie things together, because it wouldn't really make sense if you just randomly traveled around the world. Most of the stories revolve around someone or something getting kidnapped/stolen, and you have to get it back. There are one or two main characters per world that will give you your missions and explain what's going on, but I wouldn't call it a story-line.

The final boss, The Collector, isn't very well introduced or explained, but the levels you have to play through to face him are annoying. I barely even remember what he was trying to do, which is pretty important for any boss, especially the final boss of a game.

Multiplayer

The main part of LittleBigPlanet that makes it Game of the Year quality is: Online. LittleBigPlanet not only has a very vast amount of user-created levels, but it also has MANY users playing online at a time, and with all those levels and players, you can have some fun with races, puzzles, and extraordinary levels. There's really only one thing you need to do to be a pro at level-creating – creativity. Sometimes, even the most simple of levels can keep players busy for hours! I played a shark-attack level with just simple rafts and sharks, and I played it for about 40 minutes straight!

Longevity

The single-player campaign isn't that long, but you'll want to play it through to the very end. You probably won't want to play it a second time, unless you're going for the Platinum or really liked it the first time, but the multiplayer is where it's at. Creating your own levels will give you a ton of laughs and fun times, but playing the imaginative levels of other players will keep you busy for 'x' number of hours. The levels vary from races to adventures, and there are over a million of them, so you'll be kept busy for a long time.

The Verdict

Pros:

• Lots of online content

• Plenty of downloadable-content

• Very charming

• Great customization

• Unique game.

Cons:

• Controls often screw you up.

• Mediocre textures

Gameplay: 9.2

Graphics: 8.6

Sound: 8.0

Story: 5.0

Multiplayer: 9.5

Longevity: 9.4

LittleBigPlanet has something for everyone, not just those who like to play, create, or share. It's definitely one of the best games for kids on the PS3, too! And if for some reason what LittleBigPlanet already has doesn't satisfy you enough, there are also TONS of map packs and costumes to buy/download for free!

8.9/10