Reviews// LocoRoco (PSP)

Which brings us to one of the fundamental elements to the gameplay. Aside from simply adhering to the laws of gravity and rolling and bouncing in accordance with the lie of the land, the LocoRocos have one magical little trick up their proverbial sleeves: the ability to divide. A quick tap of the circle button does exactly this, splitting the big fella up into a group of smaller ones, which in turn enables them to access certain narrower areas, as well as enjoy some of the game's most visually entertaining sections, such as riding on swirling, high-speed winds, filtering through complex arrays of cogs, and even bouncing around pinball-inspired puzzle sections.

While the cheeky and goofy grins plastered across the faces of each Loco are contagious enough, it's these rides, descents and various other little set-pieces that make you smile the most, and that's thanks largely to the game's impeccable physics. For a gameplay mechanic that relies so heavily on gravity, it's crucial that a game of this ilk should feel right, and for this SCEJ should be commended. Simply sitting back and enjoying the meticulously-recreated chaos is as much fun as the hands-on itself, and never before has a game had the ability to inspire such an amusing display of facial contortions, vocalisations and flailing limbs purely as a result.


Functional Harmony

Although featuring no actual interactive feedback, the music within LocoRoco plays an important role throughout. As mentioned before, the Loco's anthemic ensemble is pivotal to the overall restoration of peace throughout the land, but it also plays a more fundamental part within the game's myriad worlds. Each level plays host to a number of obstacles and challenges that can only be overcome by uniting in song (and often requiring a specific number of co-operating crooners) such as sleeping blocks that need waking up and ledges that can grant access to hidden areas.

There's a culturally diverse offering of six different colour/creed/races of Loco to uncover along the way, each in possession of its own unique idiosyncrasies and, more importantly, its own exclusive anthem, taken from an equally heterogeneous collection of internationally flavoured folk and world music. Ranging from J-pop to soul, African to Mediterranean, the roster of music on offer is satisfyingly complementary to the on-screen exploits and by no means lacking the ability to plant the odd catchy hook firmly in your brain. For days.

But where the music clearly shines, however, is when it is literally at one with the visuals. When each particular breed of Loco is on home turf they get the accompaniment of their own tune, which means they get to sing it for the duration of the level. And a bunch of odd looking blobs singing straight at you, with almost perfectly synched two-frame animation, as they bounce around quite absurdly really cannot fail to crack the sternest of expressions. It is indeed something that needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, and almost definitely something that will be remembered as one of gaming's greatest moments in years to come.