Reviews// LittleBigPlanet (PSP)

If you read our review of LittleBigPlanet (LBP) on the PS3 way back in October 2008 (and if you haven't, you probably should) then you'll know that we really quite hearted that game. So it was with some trepidation that I started the download of LBP for the PSP. Would it live up to its bigger brother? Would I be disappointed with the game after it was limited by the smaller console's lesser power? Would Sackboy have lost some of his cuteness due to the lower resolution?

If you want the short answer to those questions, it's "No", now skip to the end and shout loudly at the number I've placed there.

Still here? Good. You obviously want to read a bit more about this game and what I thought about it so you can put the number at the end into some sort of context. Good for you.

I'm going to proceed as if you know the gist of what LBP is about, so you may want to read the PS3 review if you really don't know anything about it.

The PSP obviously has imposed some compromises onto the version of LBP that now graces its hardware. We've lost two shoulder buttons, motion control and an analogue stick in the transition from the PS3. This has affected the controls slightly, you now can't wave your arms around for example, but the core gameplay controls are all there and exactly the same. The biggest changes come with the creation tools - yes you get to build levels on the PSP too - where, for example, rotating and sizing objects has become a little fiddly.

Another significant change is the screen size; in order to see Sackboy well enough to move him around, he has to be quite large on the screen and this makes seeing exactly where you are going a bit of a pain at times. The camera can pull back and show more of the level, but sometimes the zoom is too close and you can be frustrated jumping for platforms that aren't always where you expected them to be.

However, the game has taken the move very well, this is a testament to the simple, fun gameplay of the original and the skill of the guys at Sony Cambridge who have managed the port with so much intact.

You're still drawn into the world of Sackboy and his gadding about LittleBigPlanet in the same way you were in the original game. The other characters are colourful and the levels are fun and challenging, with a few classically frustrating platformer sections thrown in.

The levels are all new to the PSP version of LBP, but they aren't beyond the wit of the creator community to replicate on the PS3. There's no new tools, objects or effects here other than static objects, which we'll come to later.

The music is as bouncy and fun as it was in the PS3 version, but these are almost all new tracks. Steven Fry still does the voice over work, his script and delivery are as dry and witty as before.