LittleBigPlanet was one of the most original and fun games of 2008. The PS3-exclusive title combined beautiful graphics, fun gameplay, an adorable hero, and a robust level creator, and the result was amazing. That being said, LittleBigPlanet wasn’t without its problems, like imprecise controls and laggy online play, as well as community levels being modified out of existence if deemed inappropriate. Still, developer Media Molecule did a fantastic job, and continued DLC and inspired community levels have kept it from ever growing stale. With LittleBigPlanet PSP, the franchise was handed over to Sony’s Cambridge Studio, a move that made some gamers nervous. Even more upsetting was the news that multiplayer was being eliminated completely for the PSP version of the game. Despite the move, LittleBigPlanet on the PSP feels exactly like it should: all of the fun of the PS3 version, only on a smaller scale.

In the PS3 version, Sackboy’s travels took him to fantasy locations that only vaguely resembled real life. LittleBigPlanet PSP brings the game down to Earth—literally. Starting in the outback of Australia, Sackboy gets to travel a more familiar globe this time around, with each world taking the form of a real-life location. Sackboy makes his way from continent to continent, climbing over boomerangs down under, becoming a movie star in Hollywood, and making a float in a South American parade. Once again, the Creator Curator is pulling the strings, and though each area has its own story, the game is pretty light on plot. However, the levels do feel more closely connected than in the PS3 game, and often one will start exactly where the last left off.



Once you get past using the PSP’s analog nub, playing LittleBigPlanet on the PSP feels almost identical to playing on the PS3. The analog stick is used to move, the X button makes Sackboy jump, and the right trigger allows your sack person to grab any grab-able material. The biggest change is that Sackboy is only able to move back and forth between two planes instead of three. This actually doesn’t affect the gameplay that much, though, and the platforming is just as fun—but jumping can still feel floaty, and Sackboy may not always move as fluidly between planes as he’s supposed to. Like many PSP games, LittleBigPlanet does suffer from long load times, especially as soon as you turn the game on; it can sometimes take several minutes before you can even get into a level. Fortunately, though, that’s the biggest technical problem I have.

Instead of being given a set amount of lives for each checkpoint, the only penalty for death is losing some of the points that have been accumulated in the level. This is both good and bad; on the one hand, you don’t have to suffer the frustration of starting a whole level over if you get stuck on one tricky part, but this also takes away any penalty for death, since points aren’t really all that important. You are still awarded bonuses for completing a level without dying, and collecting every item in a level, which should be more than enough incentive to replay each area, and try to make it through without getting killed. There are only 30 levels in the game, which makes it a lot shorter than its PS3 counterpart, and the game can be beaten in only a few hours. However, the level creator, as well as the ability to share original levels with the PSP community, should definitely add more replay value. Other than having to work on a 2D plane, making your own levels is just like the PS3 version. Stickers and items can be collected by completing levels in the story mode, and the game offers numerous tutorials to make you a better creator. The tutorials can be pretty redundant if you have already worked with the PS3’s level creator, but the Stephen Fry-voiced instructional videos are charming enough that you shouldn’t mind too much. Making a level worthy of sharing will take patience, dedication, and a lot of time, but I am confident that once the game launches, the PSP version will have a great community of creative designers, just like on the PS3.



Despite how good this game is, the complete lack of any sort of multiplayer still feels like a glaring omission. Playing LittleBigPlanet with friends on the PS3 significantly added to the experience, and even just local co-op would have multiplied the fun factor in the PSP version. It’s not that LittleBigPlanet PSP isn’t fun to play on its own—it most certainly is. However, I found it strange that Sony Cambridge would take out one of the defining elements of the original game, and I would have loved to experience the wonderful gameplay with a friend or three.

LittleBigPlanet is one of the best-looking games on the PS3, so the handheld version had a lot to live up to. Though the PSP obviously doesn’t have the same graphical capabilities, the portable version of the game still looks fantastic. Different textures are clear, and the environments are beautifully designed. You can still customize your Sackboy or girl by using the pop-up menu whenever you want, and there are plenty of options, some of which have been recycled from the PS3 version. However, because the character appears so small on the PSP, it is sometimes hard to see what Sackboy is wearing, or what accessories he’s got. Though I didn’t think the soundtrack was as catchy or memorable as the PS3 version, there was clearly a lot of attention paid to the game’s audio. The music still suits each level nicely, and Stephen Fry once again did a fantastic job as the narrator.



LittleBigPlanet PSP may have taken the ambitious title and scaled it down, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have just as much fun playing it. It may not look as gorgeous as the PS3 version, and you might miss playing with your friends, but before long you will find yourself replaying level after level, trying to collect every last item. Only time will tell if the level-building community will be as strong as on the PS3, but even on its own, LittleBigPlanet is one of the best games on the PSP. The fact that you can pick it up and play it for a few minutes or a few hours makes it perfectly suitable for a handheld, and I’m already planning to go back and collect all of the items I missed the first time through. It’s addictive, it’s beautiful, it’s fun, and it is something all PSP owners should have in their game collections.