Reviews// LocoRoco 2 (PSP)

Aside from the main game there are a few mini-games that you can use to pass the time. MuiMui house is similar to the Loco House from the first game, a sort of playhouse for the MuiMuis. Chuppa Chuppa involves a set of windbag creatures blowing your Loco about a level.

LocoRoco 2 is very firmly in the "more of the same with a few tweaks" mold, and when the original game is as good as LocoRoco was, this is a very good thing indeed.

However, a few of the frustrations have remained from the original game too. You can read our thoughts on the original game in full in Jay SPOnG's review.

Firstly, the levels are very much single paths, with no branching, just side paths for collectibles that either rejoin the main path or must be backtracked along. Even so, it's quite often the case that you aren't sure where to go next.

Sometimes the bouncing sections are very difficult to navigate, causing you to drop to the start and frustrating you no end when you replay the same section over and over again.

In a similar vein are the various "cheap" traps that return you to the start of a section because you strayed too close to a particular creature. These traps usually protect collectibles or the exit from a section. I spent about 10 minutes trying to get past an otter-like creature on one underwater level, each time I was caught my Locos were returned to the surface and split up.

There are many parts of the levels that can't be backtracked along, which forces you to replay levels to try and get all the Locos in each one. These usually take the form of drops you can't get back up or winds that propel your Locos to another part of the level entirely.

These frustrations can be very annoying, but usually only for a few seconds or so. The rest of the game is so charming that you don't often mind replaying levels or sections. Certainly I've never had the impulse to throw my PSP across the room like I have with some other games.

LocoRoco 2 is, in my estimation just as much a classic as its predecessor, the only issues I have with it are continued from the original game, nothing that has been added has detracted from the experience, indeed it has all enhanced the game.

Conclusion
LocoRoco 2 follows on from its predecessor in a very satisfying way, it feels like an extension of the game without being a reinvention of it. If you missed out on the first game and you have a PSP, firstly what were you thinking? Secondly, get this one!

SPOnG Score: 87%