Save the Blobs, bounce the Earth (Loco Roco (PSP))

Member Name: nevikrose

Product:	Loco Roco (PSP)
Date:	07/12/07 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun and original, you can pick up and put down.

Disadvantages: a little repetative at times

I was bought a PSP recently as a bit of a fun gift, its well known that I have a bit of an addiction to gaming, and what better than a playstation i could carry around?

My shiny new toy came with LocoRoco, and while I am usually an RPG player I wanted something I could play on the go, without having to compose that evelasting question "ok, now i havent played this in a couple of weeks, just where the hell am i in the story?...ok stuff it, i'm starting a new game"

LocoRoco delivers all this and more, it is a lovely little compact game, engaging and endearing, Appealing crossmarket, and the proof as they say, is in the pudding, I couldnt wrest my little console from my mother for an hour after I offered to 'give her a go'

--Story--
Well, there actually isnt a whole lot to say about the story. the peace loving and simple locoRoco are under seige by the mean and nasty Moja. Naturally we must rid the world of the Moja and save the LocoRoco from harm.
Interestingly the player is not the LocoRoco, but instead plays the planet itself, more about that below.

--Gameplay--
As the planet, you want to save your inhabitants, you arent at all happy about the Moja infestation and do anything you can to help the bouncy LocoRoco defeat them.
The player must tip and tilt the landscape using the shoulder buttons bumping the balloon-like LocoRoco along the horizon, timing bumps to launch them into the air either with the help of run-ups (which can take a few attempts) or air currents, or other helpful inhabitants.
There are many LocoRoco on the planet, and they have the ability to merge into larger singular beings, you can ask LocoRoco to join up so you can move them along easier, as which point they all start shouting at each other until they have all melted together, certain actions will divide them again, spliting them up into lots of little creatures to fall down pinball machine-like holes or be blown along air currents.
It is nessecary to have enough LocoRoco in your party to sing the melody to wake up certain gatekeepers, or to be heavy enough when joined to open up parts of a level or ending.
LocoRoco, having no set form will also mould themselves into various shapes if asked, either by being swallowed by a helpful owl and spat out in a more solid shape, say a square, or by sliding into shaped holes in the landscape. these can help you solve certain puzzles like pushing a particular button.

I have noticed more than one person leaning to their extreme left or right while attempting to shunt the LocoRoco off a precipice of the landscape, its as much fun to watch someone playing it as it is to play it yourself in my opinion.

Graphics
By far one of the game's selling points. On the PSP's crystal clear screen LocoRoco shows up bright and clear and cheerful. Initially it looks childish and simple, as do many aspects of the game.
The planet (the player) has a stylish and iconic landscape, lots of strong dense shade and solid shapes of colours, the characters themselves are maliable, most often in the shape of gelantinous blobs with cute faces. Other creatures in the world are equally as simply drawn. The Moja are jet black and look menacing enough that you can spot a bad guy a mile off, but if you get too close it will suck up a LocoRoco from your party and swallow it, a rather disturbing occurence as you do get quite attached to these little guys.

Sound
As you might expect from such a stylish game, the music is no exception. As you progress in the world you can meet other types of LocoRoco, and these have their own style of music, soundtrack, and their own melodies. You chan choose at the start of a level, which breed of LocoRoco you want to play as, which in essence only really affects the music and sound effects you hear.
When seperated groups of LocoRoco sing together to wake up a gate keeper, I cant help at be amazed at the creativeness of the designers, they dont all immeadiately sing in unison, it takes them a little while to get in synch, sounding like an unruly school choir. The same happens when you ask them to merge, all of them have a little voice of their own, all calling "join!" at different piches and each one goes silent as they join up into the main LocoRoco.
I think the sound as a result is one of the most delightful aspects of this game.

--sidequest--
There are a few little sidequest games, accesible from the main menu, which you can spend tokens found in the main game to play. My favourite is the grabber-machine game...like the arcade machine that you try to pull a teddybear out of a bundle with a ludicrous butterfingered grabber....
You grab parts for your house in the grabber game...

--the house--
Now the house is a hotly contested area, many people feel it isnt necessary, I find it just adds an extra playing element to the game, you dont need to play it if you dont want to. You find building blocks in the game or win them in the sidegames, you can build all sorts of wacky buildings that have an air current flowing through them, a LocoRoco will move continuously forwards through the environment, and the aim is to pick up the bonus that is placed somewhere on the screen. Since you cant jump the LocoRoco like you can in the main game, you need to build all sorts of levels, moving platforms and aircurrents to get them to touch the bonus and collect it. I found it frustrating sometimes, and havent spent much time on it.

Take a look at LocoRoco if you have found yourslef in a rut from all the racing games and handheld RPG ports, a real gem.

Summary: I would definately say that anyone who owns a PSP shouold have this game, it is a pleasant diversion