Screenshots :.
Loco Roco
PSP
Jay
17-03-2008
"Space hopper, anyone?"
"Or perhaps a bunch of stoned grapes?"
"Bless."
"Not entirely sure what's afoot here."
"This is what a vindaloo does to your guts."
I realised after writing my Patapon review, making references to LocoRoco, that we hadn’t actually got a review for it. We’d certainly played it, but for whatever reason hadn’t put fingers to keys and let everyone know what we thought of it.
As stated before with Patapon, I outwardly admire these little Japanese titles that work so well to PSP’s constraints. Their fantastic stylised art and quirky gameplay are a refreshing treat. Like its Patapon friend, it’s as if a bunch of guys were gathered together in an air tight room with some burning tarmac going and told they’d have to stay there until they’d come up with a game concept. LocoRoco may have been brought to life with such dramatic measures, but for all it’s wackiness it’s generally a well-balanced game that you can hand to your kid and leave them to get on with it.
As all good globular matter living in a faraway world, the LocoRoco are a peaceful sort that enjoy hanging out with their stumpy stick-friends the Mui Mui (which sounds like weewee whenever they say their own name. Sigh.). Suddenly a bunch of aliens invade (because we all know that’s what aliens do of course) called the Moja Troop, which for the best part look like a bunch floating Rastafarian mop heads. Being a gelatinous ball of purile gloop, the little LocoRoco’s don’t know how to fight back. Awww, bless. So, you as the player can aid them…by moving the planet.
Odd, I know, but it’s great. You get to use the L and R shoulder buttons to tilt the planet (map) from left to right moving your little Locos around the place. They either stay as one main blob, or can be divided into a number of smaller parts by ways of a convenient lightning strike, aiding them in getting through smaller locations. Sometimes this’ll be out of your hands as you get mashed around certain obstacles or blown halfway across the map in a jet of colourful bubbles. Your quest? To get across the map, save any Mui Mui’s you find, and reach the end while getting as fat as possible. Sounds simple.
Well, it is really when you lay it down like that. Hand it to a 6-year old and they’ll be concerned in getting to the end in one piece, enjoying the different characters you meet, all singing cutesy random songs, while the rest of us – well we’ve got our work cut out. Each level is filled with a hell of a lot of secrets. It feels like going back to a game like Sonic, where you could jump into some random area and find a hidden part. Well, every time the levels’ walls look a little different, you can probably jump in and find a Mui Mui or some fruit. The fruit’s what makes you bigger in this game; eat some fruit and add another one to your grand blobular mass to the maximum of 20. Of course, each digit is actually a little LocoRoco in its own right that when separated, roams around with the collective, singing its little heart out.
It’s usually in this delicate state of separation where it can get most tricky, in that they’ll roll off in different directions or get picked off by the Moja. Not that the game ever really puts you in a situation where you have no control over your actions, which is why it’s so well balanced. There are usually always choices to be made; taking the easy option out or going for a harder route can both warrant their own rewards or failures. An example of this is that you can collect Pickories, little purple berry flies, which are used as mini-game currency. There are usually quite a lot on each level, but getting all of them can be tricky. Additionally, you can collect house parts on each level that allows you to customise your LocoRoco house.
Further still, you’ll occasionally come across sections of the game that require you to be a certain size in order to sing to an in-game character, like the moon or a bunch of clouds, and in doing so will gain you another house part, a Mui Mui or some fruit etc. This of course means you have to have eaten enough fruit by this point, and sometimes the only way to be the right size is to have found secret areas with the fruit in. Another reason it’s worth exploring each level.
The mini-games are a little extra on the side that opens up as you progress through the game. There’s one for example called the Mui Mui Crane which works much in the same way those annoying arcade machines do, with the claw that you navigate to that special toy that you’ve set your little hopes and dreams on, only to watch time after time as the limp-wristed mechanical hand reliably fails to latch on to any part of any toy, let alone the one you want. Yes, well, it works like that. Only this time around you’ll be fishing for house parts and LocoRocos.
There are 40 levels to play over 4 worlds with various themes, of which you’ll meet 5 other LocoRocos that all have their own unique way of singing their little songs and characterised appearances. You’ll probably find, as the music is such an integral part of the ongoing LocoRoco atmosphere, that you’ll want to keep with one of the LocoRocos whose sound you get on with, or in failing that, you have a wide variety to enjoy or pull your hair out as your kid sings along with them. Every time they play. Without stop. Day-in, day-out. Forever.
Perhaps it could be said that the only downside is repetitive environments, but then I’d argue that there’s enough change in each of the levels they’ve crafted, enough secrets to find, that it happily dampens that problem. Of course, the other side is that that theme tunes for each level, sung by your little LocoRocos as they head around the level are somewhat short, and thus repeat themselves quite a few times before you reach the end. I tend to find that this only happens on a subconscious level as you’ll be spending so much time focusing your attention matters at hand.
After you’ve completed the game, you can go back and try a beat your scores or each of the levels, grab more house parts, find more Mui Mui’s or as the Editor is unlocked, build and play your own levels. It really has a lot to entertain post-completion, which will keep your wallet happy if anything!
LocoRoco’s a fun, addicitive gaming. It appealed to my twee factor, much the same as Patapon did, with its good vibe gameplay and out-of-the-box game design. For a game that works so well for PSP it’ll appeal to anyone who can get their hands on it.
As stated before with Patapon, I outwardly admire these little Japanese titles that work so well to PSP’s constraints. Their fantastic stylised art and quirky gameplay are a refreshing treat. Like its Patapon friend, it’s as if a bunch of guys were gathered together in an air tight room with some burning tarmac going and told they’d have to stay there until they’d come up with a game concept. LocoRoco may have been brought to life with such dramatic measures, but for all it’s wackiness it’s generally a well-balanced game that you can hand to your kid and leave them to get on with it.
As all good globular matter living in a faraway world, the LocoRoco are a peaceful sort that enjoy hanging out with their stumpy stick-friends the Mui Mui (which sounds like weewee whenever they say their own name. Sigh.). Suddenly a bunch of aliens invade (because we all know that’s what aliens do of course) called the Moja Troop, which for the best part look like a bunch floating Rastafarian mop heads. Being a gelatinous ball of purile gloop, the little LocoRoco’s don’t know how to fight back. Awww, bless. So, you as the player can aid them…by moving the planet.
Odd, I know, but it’s great. You get to use the L and R shoulder buttons to tilt the planet (map) from left to right moving your little Locos around the place. They either stay as one main blob, or can be divided into a number of smaller parts by ways of a convenient lightning strike, aiding them in getting through smaller locations. Sometimes this’ll be out of your hands as you get mashed around certain obstacles or blown halfway across the map in a jet of colourful bubbles. Your quest? To get across the map, save any Mui Mui’s you find, and reach the end while getting as fat as possible. Sounds simple.
Well, it is really when you lay it down like that. Hand it to a 6-year old and they’ll be concerned in getting to the end in one piece, enjoying the different characters you meet, all singing cutesy random songs, while the rest of us – well we’ve got our work cut out. Each level is filled with a hell of a lot of secrets. It feels like going back to a game like Sonic, where you could jump into some random area and find a hidden part. Well, every time the levels’ walls look a little different, you can probably jump in and find a Mui Mui or some fruit. The fruit’s what makes you bigger in this game; eat some fruit and add another one to your grand blobular mass to the maximum of 20. Of course, each digit is actually a little LocoRoco in its own right that when separated, roams around with the collective, singing its little heart out.
It’s usually in this delicate state of separation where it can get most tricky, in that they’ll roll off in different directions or get picked off by the Moja. Not that the game ever really puts you in a situation where you have no control over your actions, which is why it’s so well balanced. There are usually always choices to be made; taking the easy option out or going for a harder route can both warrant their own rewards or failures. An example of this is that you can collect Pickories, little purple berry flies, which are used as mini-game currency. There are usually quite a lot on each level, but getting all of them can be tricky. Additionally, you can collect house parts on each level that allows you to customise your LocoRoco house.
Further still, you’ll occasionally come across sections of the game that require you to be a certain size in order to sing to an in-game character, like the moon or a bunch of clouds, and in doing so will gain you another house part, a Mui Mui or some fruit etc. This of course means you have to have eaten enough fruit by this point, and sometimes the only way to be the right size is to have found secret areas with the fruit in. Another reason it’s worth exploring each level.
The mini-games are a little extra on the side that opens up as you progress through the game. There’s one for example called the Mui Mui Crane which works much in the same way those annoying arcade machines do, with the claw that you navigate to that special toy that you’ve set your little hopes and dreams on, only to watch time after time as the limp-wristed mechanical hand reliably fails to latch on to any part of any toy, let alone the one you want. Yes, well, it works like that. Only this time around you’ll be fishing for house parts and LocoRocos.
There are 40 levels to play over 4 worlds with various themes, of which you’ll meet 5 other LocoRocos that all have their own unique way of singing their little songs and characterised appearances. You’ll probably find, as the music is such an integral part of the ongoing LocoRoco atmosphere, that you’ll want to keep with one of the LocoRocos whose sound you get on with, or in failing that, you have a wide variety to enjoy or pull your hair out as your kid sings along with them. Every time they play. Without stop. Day-in, day-out. Forever.
Perhaps it could be said that the only downside is repetitive environments, but then I’d argue that there’s enough change in each of the levels they’ve crafted, enough secrets to find, that it happily dampens that problem. Of course, the other side is that that theme tunes for each level, sung by your little LocoRocos as they head around the level are somewhat short, and thus repeat themselves quite a few times before you reach the end. I tend to find that this only happens on a subconscious level as you’ll be spending so much time focusing your attention matters at hand.
After you’ve completed the game, you can go back and try a beat your scores or each of the levels, grab more house parts, find more Mui Mui’s or as the Editor is unlocked, build and play your own levels. It really has a lot to entertain post-completion, which will keep your wallet happy if anything!
LocoRoco’s a fun, addicitive gaming. It appealed to my twee factor, much the same as Patapon did, with its good vibe gameplay and out-of-the-box game design. For a game that works so well for PSP it’ll appeal to anyone who can get their hands on it.
9/10
