I've never been one to forgo the chance to play a game just because it's exceedingly - or excessively - suitable for children, and while my friends sometimes think it's odd that I'd rather play Kirby than Grand Theft Auto, this practise has never paid off quite as much as it did when I played Loco Roco, or to give it its full name 'Loco Roco AKA The Happiest Game In The World'.
It's a fairly straightforward 2D platformer with a simple control scheme - your character is a small blob with a smiling face known as a Loco Roco. You press L or R to tilt the level left or right respectively, or press both to jump. The aim of the game is to roll, bounce and occasionally fly through the levels, finding and eating as much fruit as possible, and each fruit you eat makes your Loco Roco bigger (although you can split them down into multiple blobs of smaller size if you want.) Enemies and pitfalls are present, but most of the challenge comes from finding all the hidden fruits, items, and 'MuiMuis', small blue creatures that reward with you house parts you can use in one of Loco Roco's mini-games.
With the concept out of the way, let's talk pros; The graphics are colourful and charming - it's just a bright game to look at, really - and the music is incredibly catchy, so catchy that even the LocoRocos themselves sing along. The levels are a joy to play through, with hidden areas in every level, either behind false walls, or sometimes breakable ones, or perhaps on some of the alternate paths levels give you. Collectibles are scattered in every level, so there's a lot more to do than just get from start to finish. Once I had gotten used to finding secrets, I had to replay the first few levels to look for everything I missed the first time around.
The only cons are things that don't really apply to the game to begin with; there's no story, but there never needed to be one, and I suppose it's not as replayable as other PSP games, although it has an impressive 40 levels and, even if you don't replay them, they'll take around 15 minutes each to thoroughly explore, making it a handheld platformer with 10 hours of material; more than enough for a good game. All in all, while I'm no PSP expert, Loco Roco is the best game I've played on the handheld so far, and I'm sure it will remain that way for a very long time.
So Much Fun
I've never been one to forgo the chance to play a game just because it's exceedingly - or excessively - suitable for children, and while my friends sometimes think it's odd that I'd rather play Kirby than Grand Theft Auto, this practise has never paid off quite as much as it did when I played Loco Roco, or to give it its full name 'Loco Roco AKA The Happiest Game In The World'.
It's a fairly straightforward 2D platformer with a simple control scheme - your character is a small blob with a smiling face known as a Loco Roco. You press L or R to tilt the level left or right respectively, or press both to jump. The aim of the game is to roll, bounce and occasionally fly through the levels, finding and eating as much fruit as possible, and each fruit you eat makes your Loco Roco bigger (although you can split them down into multiple blobs of smaller size if you want.) Enemies and pitfalls are present, but most of the challenge comes from finding all the hidden fruits, items, and 'MuiMuis', small blue creatures that reward with you house parts you can use in one of Loco Roco's mini-games.
With the concept out of the way, let's talk pros; The graphics are colourful and charming - it's just a bright game to look at, really - and the music is incredibly catchy, so catchy that even the LocoRocos themselves sing along. The levels are a joy to play through, with hidden areas in every level, either behind false walls, or sometimes breakable ones, or perhaps on some of the alternate paths levels give you. Collectibles are scattered in every level, so there's a lot more to do than just get from start to finish. Once I had gotten used to finding secrets, I had to replay the first few levels to look for everything I missed the first time around.
The only cons are things that don't really apply to the game to begin with; there's no story, but there never needed to be one, and I suppose it's not as replayable as other PSP games, although it has an impressive 40 levels and, even if you don't replay them, they'll take around 15 minutes each to thoroughly explore, making it a handheld platformer with 10 hours of material; more than enough for a good game. All in all, while I'm no PSP expert, Loco Roco is the best game I've played on the handheld so far, and I'm sure it will remain that way for a very long time.
I give it a 9/10.