Of all the games released over the past year — hell, this entire console generation so far for that matter — there’s really only been one game that has kept me coming back for more day in and day out. That game is Media Molecule’s PS3 masterwork, LittleBigPlanet.
Unfortunately, I never was able to get around to properly reviewing the game. Sony PR had such high demand to meet given the game’s high profile that I missed out on a review copy, and then the game’s last-minute delay threw a kink in my schedule amidst the insane ’08 holiday rush and I became so buried in games that I simply couldn’t get around to playing it until well into December.
It’s now a good 6-7 months out from the LittleBigPlanet‘s launch, and considering how much I still play this wonderful game I felt compelled to gush over it one more time. So consider this sort of an informal review and a reminder of just how significant a game release LittleBigPlanet is.
As a game, LittleBigPlanet is about as basic a side-scrolling platformer as they come. It even suffers from a few niggling control issues that can make the simplest of jumps unnecessarily frustrating. But the beauty of LittleBigPlanet is its constant evolution stemming from developer and community support.
Thanks to the built-in level editor, the possibilities are endless. Yes, LittleBigPlanet is a conventional platformer at heart, but with time, effort and a little creative thinking it can also be molded into virtually any type of game you want it to be. It can be a shmup, a puzzle game, an adventure game, a racing game, a functioning calculator, a table-top board game like Connect Four, a Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course, a Rube Goldberg machine or even a pinball game. Four-player online and offline support and an abundance of user-created min-games also make LittleBigPlanet the ultimate party game experience. Forget the Wii, pick up a PS3 and a copy of LittleBigPlanet and you’ll have all the waggle-free mini-games you’ll ever need!
The player community is quite strong with new user-created content popping up around the clock — 275,000 community levels have been published as of April, and by now that number has surely crossed the 300k mark — and the quality and diversity of the user content has been absolutely remarkable.
Sony and Media Molecule continue to show strong support for the game as well, expanding it with new content on a weekly basis. Sure, much of the DLC consists of costume packs, which for me personally seem like a waste of money since new Sackboy skins add no additional replay value to the experience, but new creator kits loaded with new creation tools and stickers are also made available regularly, and these kits keep creative users tinkering away at new levels to share with the community.
More premium level packs from Media Molecule would be great, though. The Metal Gear Solid add-on was fantastic, and I’m disappointed there haven’t been any more developer-made cross-over level packs for games like Final Fantasy VII, Ratchet & Clank, Killzone 2, Resistance, Jak & Daxter and so on (I’d kill for official ICO and/or Shadow of the Colossus level packs!). Of course, I’m sure Media Molecule is busy with other projects — they are working on a PSP version after all — but still, another premium level pack or two in the near future would go a long way towards pleasing loyal fans.
With such tremendous support from its creators and player community and such incredible gameplay diversity, LittleBigPlanet finds itself in my PS3 every single day, and every single day I discover something new and oftentimes more brilliant than the day before. Replay value like that is nearly impossible to find anywhere else, and the best part is there’s no end in sight. The community continues to grow, and the game itself really has yet to reach its full potential with features like cooperative online level creation and the “Play, Create and Share” scoring system still missing in action.
Oh yes, my fellow SackBoys and SackGirls, LittleBigPlanet truly is the game that keeps on giving!
Matt Litten is a 27 year old from-the-womb gamer turned video game reviewer/blogger and current editor/owner/operator of VGBlogger.com.
In 2004, Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com, and after a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez Matt turned his attention to making VGBlogger one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Some of Matt's all-time favorite games include ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid, Legend of Zelda, and, well...too many others to list here. 
I agree. This game has been the best purchase I’ve made game wise since the PS3 it’s self.
Everyone should try it!
I was so dissapointed by this game. I had such high expectations for it. I remember telling everyone I knew that the second coming of Mario Bros./Pokemon was coming. I just knew Sackboy/girl would become the next big icon in the gaming world. I was sure this generation would remember Sackboy as the modern day Mario. None of that happened.
I thought little kids and grown ups alike would fall in love with Sackboy and Sackboy plush dolls would adorn the room of little kids all over America, maybe even the world. But it never happened.
I enjoyed the game the first few days, but then realized how time consuming it was to make a decent level. How frustrating the controls could be. How almost unplayable some levels were with 4 players. How hard it was for kids to pass some of the levels. How having to replay a whole level because I died at the end was incredibly annoying. I sometimes wanted to throw my control at the PS3.
But the one thing that turned me off the most was the fact that all along I thought you would be able to download levels to your PS3 and save them for later. That was what really broke the game for me. Streaming levels is fast and easy, but there should be an option to download. I like taking my PS3 with me, and some of the places I take it to, don’t have an ethernet cable in the living room, or don’t have WiFi so we can’ really log on to the PSN to play any other levels but the game’s levels.
What the hell went wrong with this game? How could it not sell well?
I would agree with some of your points to an extent. LBP certainly hasn’t caught on with the mainstream as much as hoped for, but to me that’s more caused by a lacking advertising push by Sony than problems with the game itself.
And I think it’s far too premature to say SackBoy won’t become a star mascot. The PS3 cycle is really only beginning and I have a feeling LBP is going to be one of those games that just keeps a steady selling rate over the long haul.
It is nice to see that it has solid support – sales were terribly disappointing, only a few hundred thousand in the first few weeks despite the high profile and position in the hot holiday rush period. It took months and months to crack 1 million …
See, I don’t think the sales were THAT disappointing. Yes it was a hyped game, but come one, no matter how hyped it was a cute-looking platform game like this was never going to light the world on fire in a crowded release period with so many games in well established franchises coming out at the same time.
From the stats I’ve seen it sold over 600k in the US alone by end of December, and the last-minute delay/recall pushed it to late October and sapped some of the excitement out of the launch. I’d say that’s actually pretty damn good for two full months in a crowded market.
I don’t think we disagree – I was concerned that a game so many were calling a ‘system seller’ that hadn’t managed to sell a million in a month would be seen in a very negative light in this market and therefore killed as an idea.
I’m glad they understand that the market that has Mario Kart DS on the top 10 lists 4 years later is different than the typical console action game selling 80% in four weeks.
I think the game is great, but I don’t want to wade through user created levels. I want more of the story mode and more ad-ons and costume packs don’t count! My wife and I had a blast playing through story mode together, but once we finished that we stopped playing the game. We’d easily pay 10-15 dollars for a set of coherent levels!
Man, you are really missing out! There are a ton of user levels that are even more fun and creative than Media Molecule’s story levels. There are a number of users creating their own mini series that are a ton of fun to follow.