Loco Roco

February 27,2007 - Amidst the flurry of ports and unimaginative titles on the PSP, LocoRoco brings a level of imagination and creativity that Sony’s handheld desperately needs. Its unique style and controls exemplify that the PSP has what it takes to combat its image in the market place and show gamers that there is some originality worth playing. LocoRoco does a superb job setting itself apart, but it has a couple of minor pitfalls that prevent the game from being a true masterpiece for the PSP. Regardless, there are no glaring issues that would warrant any suggestion other than purchasing this one of a kind title.

With evil forces known as Mojas invading and disrupting the peace of five worlds in the Roco universe, you are tasked with cleansing the worlds by collecting berries, pickories (the game’s currency), and Mui Mui (strange little men with some kind of indecipherable importance) necessary to drive the Mojas out. The story is nonexistent, but like many games of this style the story is only there so there is a reason to complete the levels. There are five worlds comprised of eight themed levels, such as icey and sticky areas. The continuity of themes between the worlds makes the game quite repetitive during extended play, but the level and platform designs somewhat succeed in keeping the individual experiences fresh and enjoyable. For example, each ice world in the game shares many basic principles, but the construction of each is quite different and offers individual challenges.

After consuming one of the 20 berries located in each level your roco will grow larger, which has implications on how you progress through the level. If you weigh a lot you’ll have difficulty jumping on hard to reach ledges, but you’ll also be able to unlock certain areas based on your weight, oftentimes required to collect a piece of the Loco House, a mini-game in which you build a house with the parts you collect and then let your collected rocos go crazy.

LocoRoco does come off as quite easy at first glance, but the meat of the game doesn’t lie in the straight path to the finish line, but in the hidden areas scattered throughout the levels. After some time you’ll begin to learn what hints to look for, since these hidden areas are accessed by rolling through what seem to be walls which become transparent as you pass through them. It could even be said that the levels aren’t meant to be beaten – especially since it appeared to be impossible to not successfully clear an area anyway - but meant to be explored, as the most fun derived from LocoRoco is in discovering secret paths where there appear to be none.

There are a number of mini games to unlock including the aforementioned Roco House, Chuppa Chuppa and the mui mui crane. Roco House is as described earlier and you can even share your houses with others online. The Chuppa Chuppa mini game is a blast, requiring you to propel your roco at just the right force to collect berries, slip through holes and avoid spikes that will end the game. The Mui Mui crane plays a lot like the crane games in arcades and Denny’s across America where you have to direct a Mui operated crane in the correct position in order to pick up on the of bouncing and oddly shaped rocos below.

Zipping, jumping, sliding, and being propelled through the marvelously designed and artfully crafted worlds bring an immediate appreciation for the development team’s ability to create colorfully crafted levels and aurally pleasant tunes as the rocos sing throughout their rolling escapades in each level. In fact the look and sound of LocoRoco will make even grown men ignore their infatuation with the unabashed cuteness of each minute spent immersed in the game’s levels. The one problem with the soundtrack is though it is extremely original, the lyrics are repeated so often that after a while it loses its novelty. If there were different songs for each themed level it would have made each area distinctive, but because of the repetitiveness of the songs it gradually loses impact.

LocoRoco is a fantastic game despite its few issues. As reviewers it’s necessary to nitpick and critique games on a higher standard, but there is no reason why you shouldn’t drop your cash or card on the counter for LocoRoco the next time you stroll into your local game or electronics store. It’s one of the best experiences for the PSP, and if you’re a stickler for perfecting games you will get the bang for you buck as you try to collect everything in each level.

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