LittleBigPlanet might be one of the most accurately named game series of the past 20 years. "Little"? Sure; the series's debut was developed by Media Molecule, which was founded-only 3 years prior to its release-by a group of 4 game developers. "Big"? You bet; the series became a leading mascot of the PS3, and its debut was one of the best selling console exclusives in its lifetime. Even "Planet" felt accurate; the series was above all else, known for an extremely strong and loyal community, and was responsible for this game's continued popularity until its online servers were finally shut down in 2021. But the mark its made is indisputable; LittleBigPlanet was a great success, garnering critical acclaim, vastly exceeding sales expectations, and-perhaps most importantly-bringing the idea of fully-fledged user creation tools to console players for the first time.
LittleBigPlanet was marketed around three basic concepts; Play, Create, & Share. Ever since the servers went offline, though, it's been limited to just playing and creating. Don't be fooled, though; LBP's main story mode is excellent, and is more than enough of a reason to play this title today. For what might appear from the outside to be a typical 2D-platformer, you'll be hard pressed to find a game quite as unique as this one on the PS3. Its story levels are absolutely bursting with charm, and it's clear right from its intro that this is a game with a lot of personality. Each level has a distinctly handmade vibe, almost deliberately imperfect, but that only enhances the idea that you're playing through a world that was crafted specifically to be so. Even the fantastic soundtrack is interactive, playing different parts of each song as you pass by speakers in game. It's an absolute joy to play through most of the story levels, and there's bonus unlockable mini games in each world which offer a neat diversion from the standard gameplay. LBP also supports couch co-op for up to 4 players, which is a great addition, and it's where those semi-competitive mini games really shine. The camera can be a bit difficult with more than one player on screen, though, and it's disappointing that 100% completion of the story mode is locked behind completing a few levels with 4 players.
For that reason, multiplayer action is best suited more towards the casual side of the game, which is really where the game shines. The game isn't particularly difficult at any stage, so it's a really great game to enjoy with friends or solo, but the closer you venture towards 100%, the more annoyances are likely to arise. Although it's a 2D-platformer, there's 3 depths present in the game, and you can jump deeper into the background or closer to the foreground. This allows LBP to flex a lot of its creative muscles in a way others in its genre can't, but it also means you're likely to lose more lives than you should. In casual play this isn't a huge problem, but if you're trying to ace every level, it can quickly get frustrating. The game's ragdoll-or, more appropriately, sackboy-style physics emphasize the handcrafted style of LBP perfectly, but they're also a source for quite a bit of frustration for playing going for a perfect run. Set-pieces sometimes won't go off quite correctly, or you'll get blocked by an unfortunately placed piece of debris, and will be forced to restart. It's an aspect of this game that, again, is many times charming, but at other times, can certainly prove irksome.
That's only one part of the game, though; once all story missions are completed (or before, if you prefer), you'll be invited to create your own levels. This is the feature which set LittleBigPlanet apart from everything else, and even if there's no online community for its debut title, it's still incredibly fun and worthwhile to create your own levels. That's the magic of LBP; not only does it give you the creative tools to make levels just as good (or better than) the story ones, but it makes it feel so approachable, so unintimidating. With an excellent tutorial system and an intuitive design system, it's perhaps LittleBigPlanet's best trait-and that's saying a lot.
LittleBigPlanet is a fantastically innovative title, and until its servers went offline, it still had a dedicated and thriving community. Decade-long loyalty like that is rare even for excellent games, and while LBP is an excellent game, it's its promise of endless possibilities that kept it so popular for so long. But even without its online capabilities, LittleBigPlanet is still a great single player or couch co-op experience. So immensely fun, so creative, so joyous that you're likely to have a big smile on your face the whole time. There are moments when LBP feels like it's working against you, but they're unlikely to sully your mood for long. It's a really great 2D-platformer which serves as both a love letter to the genre's classics, and a beacon to the genre's future. Unambiguous fun, pretty much, from beginning to end.
LittleBigPlanet was marketed around three basic concepts; Play, Create, & Share. Ever since the servers went offline, though, it's been limited to just playing and creating. Don't be fooled, though; LBP's main story mode is excellent, and is more than enough of a reason to play this title today. For what might appear from the outside to be a typical 2D-platformer, you'll be hard pressed to find a game quite as unique as this one on the PS3. Its story levels are absolutely bursting with charm, and it's clear right from its intro that this is a game with a lot of personality. Each level has a distinctly handmade vibe, almost deliberately imperfect, but that only enhances the idea that you're playing through a world that was crafted specifically to be so. Even the fantastic soundtrack is interactive, playing different parts of each song as you pass by speakers in game. It's an absolute joy to play through most of the story levels, and there's bonus unlockable mini games in each world which offer a neat diversion from the standard gameplay. LBP also supports couch co-op for up to 4 players, which is a great addition, and it's where those semi-competitive mini games really shine. The camera can be a bit difficult with more than one player on screen, though, and it's disappointing that 100% completion of the story mode is locked behind completing a few levels with 4 players.
For that reason, multiplayer action is best suited more towards the casual side of the game, which is really where the game shines. The game isn't particularly difficult at any stage, so it's a really great game to enjoy with friends or solo, but the closer you venture towards 100%, the more annoyances are likely to arise. Although it's a 2D-platformer, there's 3 depths present in the game, and you can jump deeper into the background or closer to the foreground. This allows LBP to flex a lot of its creative muscles in a way others in its genre can't, but it also means you're likely to lose more lives than you should. In casual play this isn't a huge problem, but if you're trying to ace every level, it can quickly get frustrating. The game's ragdoll-or, more appropriately, sackboy-style physics emphasize the handcrafted style of LBP perfectly, but they're also a source for quite a bit of frustration for playing going for a perfect run. Set-pieces sometimes won't go off quite correctly, or you'll get blocked by an unfortunately placed piece of debris, and will be forced to restart. It's an aspect of this game that, again, is many times charming, but at other times, can certainly prove irksome.
That's only one part of the game, though; once all story missions are completed (or before, if you prefer), you'll be invited to create your own levels. This is the feature which set LittleBigPlanet apart from everything else, and even if there's no online community for its debut title, it's still incredibly fun and worthwhile to create your own levels. That's the magic of LBP; not only does it give you the creative tools to make levels just as good (or better than) the story ones, but it makes it feel so approachable, so unintimidating. With an excellent tutorial system and an intuitive design system, it's perhaps LittleBigPlanet's best trait-and that's saying a lot.
LittleBigPlanet is a fantastically innovative title, and until its servers went offline, it still had a dedicated and thriving community. Decade-long loyalty like that is rare even for excellent games, and while LBP is an excellent game, it's its promise of endless possibilities that kept it so popular for so long. But even without its online capabilities, LittleBigPlanet is still a great single player or couch co-op experience. So immensely fun, so creative, so joyous that you're likely to have a big smile on your face the whole time. There are moments when LBP feels like it's working against you, but they're unlikely to sully your mood for long. It's a really great 2D-platformer which serves as both a love letter to the genre's classics, and a beacon to the genre's future. Unambiguous fun, pretty much, from beginning to end.