Sometimes you’ll come across a video game that manages to bring out your creative side. For many PlayStation fans, this was the case with the British studio Media Molecule and their most well-known Playstation 3 Exclusive game titled LittleBigPlanet. Back then this game was seen as the ultimate package for Playstation buyers as it offered the opportunity to create your own levels with many working parts. It also offered a separate adventure as players would be able to traverse all through the LittleBigPlanet and all of its creative inhabitants. Now that some time has passed, can this game still deliver the joy and wonder now as it did back in 2008?
In a world where dreams and ideas can form into different worlds, Sackboy finds himself traversing through the many creative worlds and meeting their respected creators. However, later in the game, we find out a mysterious being called the collector is stealing all the creativity and ideas for himself which prompts Sackboy to take action.
Now the main conflict in the story doesn’t become prominate until later into the game but the rest of the story regardless is adorable and fun in many ways. A lot of the charm of the games adventure mode story comes from your interactions with the many creators of their respective worlds. There may not be a deep or thought provoking tale underneath all that cuteness and charm, but there is still a likable and fun journey that is worth playing through until the very end.
There are several different worlds to explore in adventure mode. You and your friends will most likely have a fun time running through creation, collecting prize bubbles and extra challenges, and solving puzzles. The way you play the game is very simple to understand and the game does get more and more challenging especially during the last few levels of the game's adventure. One thing that I like is how accessible the game really is to a wide audience. Anyone at any age can pick up and play this game no matter what skill level of gaming you have and everyone can still have a fun time. The adventure levels are well crafted and traversing them brought such a smile to my face. Although the game’s sequels would continue to improve on what this game started, I still had just as much a fun time playing through the game now as I did when I was a teenager.
One of the major selling points this game has to offer is the ability to create and share your own levels from around the world. This was seen as a pretty big deal at the time and it sure did spark a group of creatives that have been sharing what they have created for quite a while. The prize bubbles you collect during adventure mode can be used to help you in creating your own objects and levels. I am downright impressed with the amount of freeness the player gets when customizing their own levels. I’ve never made a full level myself, but I still had fun playing around with the tools to make interesting pieces of work. Although it is sad to hear that recently the LittleBigPlanet servers for PS3 are permanently down, I bet most of us will never forget the joy of what creative mode did for many players everywhere.
The levels in adventure mode are made with the same tools and materials that you’ll eventually get to use later and offer a nice little appetizer to what you can expect to make in create mode. These levels are based on different locations across the globe and the passion and effort to make them are clearly visible to the final product. The levels have that homemade crafting kind of appeal and your sack person can look however you want as you’ll be able to customize your character with skins and costumes. The animation of Sackboy is downright adorable and I like how you can change your characters emotions by simply pressing the directional buttons. The music in this game varries from level to level and much like the game itself, it's downright adorable and fun. it's especially cool that in create mode you can tweak the music to make it sound how you see fit.
LittleBigPlanet started something far bigger than most of us were expecting. It was a game unlike most where you could not only customize your character but cutsomize your own levels as well. Sackboy would become an instant icon of the Playstation brand because of this charming and well put together first game that while it may lack in comparison to it’s follow ups, it was still the start of a franchise that would keep getting bigger and better from there.
(Final Grade: B)