It's not often that a game comes out with a really new idea.  Little Big Planet has done just that!  Who knew that Platformers could be so much fun!  Little Big Planet is a blend of scrapbook like personalization, platforming, creativity and online fun.

What is Little Big Planet?

Little Big Planet or LBP is a new hot game that is essentially modeled after an old school platformer. Your character Sackboy hangs out in his Cardboard Pod, and selects worlds to stop in to visit. Before your pre teen or young teenager bursts into laughter over the game protagonist's name, I should point out that he is so named because he is made of a burlap sack. 

Each world is a platform design where you have to get from Point A to Point B, passing save spots along the way. Of course, each level is much more than a mere point A to Point B, there is plenty of fun between beginning and end. You have to run, jump, crawl, and race through the levels. For example one level is a giant pirate ship in which you must make your way to the lower decks, up to the deck, up the sails and to the captains cabin.  Along the way you collect point orbs and unlock a variety of goodies that allow you to customize your character, his Pod or the levels you explore or even ones you create on your own. 

A Platformer? That's all LBP is?

Au contraire, LBP is the most unusual inventive platformer you have ever seen. First off, the layouts are the most whimsical creative levels I've seen in a long time. Everything looks like it was created from household objects, cloth or paper cutouts. In other words, each level looks like it was hand made rather than computer generated.  "Monsters" in one level may be plastic scorpions that drop down on chains or army guys standing on the roof of a wooden block fort in another. Sound effects and music in PS3 surround sound complete the very unique experience.   Some levels looked like Mexico, others like India, but all looked very cool.

It has a very unique and visual look to it that I haven't seen in other games.

Friends and Frenemies!

Levels can be completed by yourself or with friends you meet online. You can sort of "talk" with each other by the various gestures and faces your sackboy and girl can make or show off your various outfits to each other. You can choose to follow someone on their choice of adventures or let sackpeople follow you as you choose the adventures.  Many times you can help one another pushing or pulling your friends up to various platforms and such. Be warned however, a lagger at one end of a level can prevent you from making a jump at the other resulting in a cheap death.  Of course some people can just be annoying, just like in other online games (or real life for that matter).

You don't like the levels? Make your own!

After you have unlocked enough stuff, you can actually MAKE YOUR OWN LEVELS! Yup, if you are creative, you can line up a bunch of objects, select your own backgrounds, put in your own collectable stuff, and maybe even a rocket car and upload it and let your friends or total strangers give it a try.

One of the most inventive levels my son and I played was a tribute to the classic PS 2 game ICO. It was really excellent, your character actually looked a bit like Ico and had to save the princess from a giant castle and her evil mother the Queen.  Other levels just allowed you to drive a car by a bunch of musical elements that played the solo from Guns N Roses Sweet Child of Mine.

My Level was de -de- Deleted?

Okay this part of my review, I do NOT know of first hand, I have only read about it in forums, but I felt it is worth mentioning. Some levels uploaded for all to play have been arbitrarily deleted by Sony, ostensibly for copyright violation or offensive content.  My son and I have never successfully completed a level that was worth uploading, none of them worked the way we wanted to. It takes a lot of work to complete a level!  We liked to include rocketships, but they never quite flew through a level like we planned it to. I do think one of the best parts of LBP is the ability to play hundreds of other peoples creative levels. I hope that the deletion issue is resolved so that people will feel free to create levels with clear guidelines.

Scrapbooks meet Video Games

My hobby is photography, and I have been often asked by people to contribute my photographic layouts to scrapbooks for people.  The concept of scrapbooking seems to be to take said photographs and then add a bunch of other stuff to them, like different backgrounds, frames or little stickers.  Little Big Planet seems to be the scrapbook version of video games! You can change your outfit to an infinite amount of combinations. Eighteenth century garb, ninjas or metal gear solid can be the look of your sackboy or girl. You can have a hip hop look with lots of bling, or dress in a tux. While you go through levels you can stick your collection of stickers wherever you feel like. Once you have a sticker (it could be of anything from a smiley face to a photo of a monster) you can just stamp it over and over again anywhere, including other peoples levels that you play. 

You can also decorate your POD, (your little cardboard spaceship) with almost anything from giant jungle plants and flowers to feng shui asian ornaments.

Rating / Difficulty

This is an E game, it's for Everybody! Unlike many of today's video games, there is no kill or be killed, its just pure fun. Make no mistake though, some of the levels are difficult and require just the right jump or some puzzle solving ability.

Online

I will tell you right out, if your PS3 isn't online with broadband or equivalent, forget this game. My son and I both found the online playing of the game to provide the most fun due to interactions with other players and playing on other player made levels. Even with broadband, lagging occurs on occasion which can result in cheap death. Without online, this game would quickly wear out, the true fun is the online element.

Replay Value

My only complaint with Little Big Planet is that the play value can only last so long. The included levels with the game are enough to give you a fun experience, but eventually you want to explore the online world.  Many people create levels that are just plain awful. Those that can't create their own levels (ME) can criticize those who did. On the positive side, everyone can leave a word or two to describe a level, so that a sort of word salad describes each level.  Avoid levels that say   boring, difficult stupid and pick levels described as cool, unique, fun! However, overall there is no real OBJECT to the game, so you may end up getting bored at some point.

Summary

Little Big Planet is a fun game, suitable for everyone from young kids to adults. You do need a good online connection to enjoy all the game has to offer, LBP provides most of its fun because of its online community.  The playability may wear out after one realizes that there really is no point to the game other than mindless fun.

Recommended: Yes