I first played LocoRoco 2 on a whim after I found it within a Lego Harry Potter case. When the game first loaded, I was astounded by the colors and sounds that were definitively not Lego Harry Potter. One my confusion subsided, I couldn't resist trying it, despite never having heard of or played the first game and man, am I glad I did.

LocoRoco as a series is one of the most unique concepts for a platformer I have ever seen. The idea of titling the levels themselves to move this little gelatinous alien blob into all sorts of hijinx is an experience like no other. My younger self was completely infatuated with it.

LocoRoco 2 as a sequel builds on the first game in all the ways it should, my only complaint (as cliche as it sounds) is that there isn't more of it! I pray to one day see another traditional LocoRoco game as farfetched as that probably is.

This is an interesting game for me. Because right when I got it from my parents back in 09-ish I was convinced before ever trying it I was gonna hate it. I mean just looking at it you can see the justification from a 12-13 year old kid's mindset. It's colorful, light-hearted & the characters are cute - clearly a game made for babies! Not like 1 of the handheld GTA games for example (which I deemed more fitting) but my parents would not budge on buying an M-rated game until I had tried something more age appropriate.

So I started LocoRoco 2 begrudgingly & to make a very long story short it became my favorite title on the PSP by a mile. It became my comfort game to play while traveling & over 3-4 different saved games I have just south of 150 hours total logged in it.

It's hard to encapsulate what specifically I like about it, but its just... So joyful & charming? Like it consistently always had an effect while I was younger putting me in a good mood when playing it. The music is wonderful, its relaxing to collect all the other LocoRoco's - but never becomes so easy it feels boring, customizing the Mui Mui house is a great distraction too.
Before writing this review I did wonder how much of this was nostalgia just elevating the experience. So booted up the game to see how it holds up way better in my mind than reality - Though after an almost 3 hour session I stand by my high praise. I haven't touched the game in years, but it still managed to give me the same calming feeling it did all those years ago.

I can admit that this is a very subjective review. Because I'm not doing a whole replay of the game & checking what holds up 14 years later. Realistically it should probably be around an 8/10, but its one of my favorite of all time due to how monumental it was for me for a few years & not interested in heavily challenging that perception.