Loco Roco (PSP) Review
Posted by Joel Beggs on 09.07.2006
Sony takes a leaf out of Nintendo's book. This time, it's a good thing.
When Sony’s PSP and Nintendo’s DS launched last year, it was seen as not only a conflict between two pieces of hardware, but also a conflict between the ideologies of two different companies. Sony’s approach involved cramming as much power as they could into their machine, slapping some multimedia playback capabilities on top, and launching with a number of their most established franchises. Nintendo were keen to alter the face of portable gaming, offering a daring new control scheme and demographic-smashing new titles to go with it. With the DS comfortably outselling its rival all across the globe and the vultures seemingly circling above Sony’s woe-begotten plaything, it’s not surprising that Sony themselves have ripped a page right from the book of Nintendo for their newest title. Loco Roco!
What is Loco Roco?
Loco Roco is a ray of sunshine. It’s a frightfully simple and fiendishly addictive game, and in an instant the crowning jewel of the PSP. If dreary ports of Playstation 2 games are getting you down, turn this on and you’ll practically be physically assaulted by its melodic, joyous charm. It may be too much to call Loco Roco the PSP’s savior, but it shows a genuine step in a positive direction for Sony’s machine.
Gameplay
Your quest is to repopulate the world. The Loco Roco’s, a proud and determined species, have all but vanished in the face of a predatory alien race. Now the onus is on you to take the few Loco’s that remain and multiply until the world is a cheery place yet again. Unfortunately, there will be no getting it on with the Loco ladies, for they are plain and unattractive. Instead, the one Loco Roco given to you at the start of each of the game’s 40-odd stages can be bounced and maneuvered around, picking up flowers as he goes, and gaining a new companion for each flower he collects. As Loco Roco’s are little more than adorable little blobs with adorable little faces, they’re capable of some very cool (but always, ALWAYS adorable) tricks. Once you have more than one you can keep them as tiny, separate entities, or in the blink of an eye you can pull them all together to make one big blobby mess.
The levels you move around in are filled with crevices, obstacles and all kinds of nasty creatures. It’s a dangerous place to be a Loco Roco, but the simplicity of the controls gives our precious blobs more than a fighting chance. The left and right triggers are all you’ll need to find your way around. Hold your left button down and the whole world will instantly tilt in that direction and your Loco Roco will gleefully begin rolling down your newly created slope, hold right and he’ll head off in that direction. Pressing both buttons at once will have your Loco bouncing up and over the mightiest of ledges, the spikiest of enemies and the most precarious of chasms. Throw in the agility and speed of the tiny Loco’s and the squid bashing, earth-shattering force of the giant Roco’s and you have all the weapons you need to survive in this world.
Every stage in the game is designed to make the most of the Loco’s unique attributes. Ice stages will have your little guys sliding and spinning around at terrific speeds, with loops and jumps that will send you hurtling through the air. Huge gusts of wind will shatter your huge Loco into all its pieces and fling them about in directions you haven’t even heard of. Underground chasms will have you trying to steer ten or fifteen tiny gibbering Loco’s through a huge network of interconnected passages. And of course, there are dozens upon dozens of secret areas, multiple routes and hard to reach flowers that will have you coming back again and again, as you strive to make your Loco as big as it can possibly be. Each new stage throws something new and unexpected into the mix, and from its humble, innocent beginning to its epic boss showdown at the end this is a special, one-of-a-kind experience.
Graphics
The graphics do nothing but heighten the sensations you get playing this game. It’s all presented in a very simple 2D format, but the boldness of the colours and the simplicity of the shapes make it stand out as nothing else ever has on that little screen. The Loco Roco’s are captivating when in motion. They jiggle, stretch out and flatten like pancakes as they endure their rough terrain, but they always manage to keep the gosh-darn cutest expressions on their blobby little faces. The world’s themselves are simple in design, but somehow manage to exude a personality of their own. The screen is always awash with a gaudy array of shapes and colors and it’s next to impossible to look away when it’s in motion.
Sound
The soundtrack is comprised mainly of kitschy J-Pop songs, and while this can become grating after a while, you’ll barely notice. The Loco Roco’s steal the show again, screaming and laughing and singing the most joyous of songs as they make their way around. The burliest and beardiest of men won’t be able to resist the sonorous charms of the Loco’s as they sing their cares and worries away. Couple this with the raw appeal of the visuals and you’ve got an irresistible presentation.
Lasting Appeal
With a certain number of Loco’s to be found each level along with innumerable hidden sections all throughout the game, it’s not the kind of title you’ll be satisfied with merely completing. The unrelenting appeal of the game means you’ll be happy to dive back into every single one of its levels and go searching for every last secret. With each secret comes an unlockable part for a Loco house. More parts mean a better house and a better house means more fun for the Loco’s that play inside.
Fun Factor
It seems that with Loco Roco, Sony was determined to find out how much fun could kill a man before backing off ever-so-slightly. It’s a glorious lesson for all those other jerks out there making PSP games. By taking the focus away from the PSP’s raw power as a handheld and opting for an eminently simplistic approach, Sony have distributed to us it’s most fun product yet.
The 411
The Nintendo DS has been providing us with games of this type for a while now, and it’s a real pleasure to see the PSP finally deliver something fresh and entertaining. Most times the best portable experiences aren’t about expansive landscapes and epic storylines, they’re about accessibility and short-term gratification. Loco Roco has the latter qualities in spades. Hopefully it marks the start of a bold new line of products for the PSP and a fresh identity overall for the machine. Buy Loco Roco the second it reaches your shores, lest we be subjected to Loco Roco 2: The gun-toting blob with a score to settle and a wacky wise-ass robot for a friend.
We need more games like this one.
Graphics
8.0
This is why that tiny little screen costs so much.
Gameplay
9.0
Uses the PSP's controls better than any game before it.
Sound
9.0
The sweet serenade of japanese schoolchildren will follow you into your dreams.
Lasting Appeal
8.0
A minute to learn, a lifetime of bouncing around like a crazy person.
Fun Factor
10.0
The simple equation BLOBS + BOUNCING/ROLLING = FUN tells the story.
