LocoRoco

Author: Lance William
Published: 22nd June 2006
Comments (21) Stumble
The key to LocoRoco's success is two things: first, the fact that unlike Yoshi's, for example, its unusual controls don't rob it of the fluency of a 2D platform game, instead allowing for a range of subtle flicks and angled jumps that can be every bit as pixel-perfect as any of Mario's or Sonic's.

Subtly different then, but with its roots in familiar places - and like the traditional platform games to which it superficially eschews comparison, the second key point is that it owes a lot of its charm to likable characters and ideas, and a range of level design elements that squeeze your face into a grin with the alarming regularity of a doddering grandparent.

LocoRoco Join! LocoRoco Join!
There's a range of helper animals that spit you into hard-to-reach areas, pinball machine bumpers and flippers, smiling bounce-pads and downward steps that sound little tunes as you cross them - and occasionally offer up a hidden red plant when you pause to play a favoured note. The music is a particularly enjoyable aspect - unlike a lot of PSP games which you can play out happily in silence, LocoRoco's memorable little tunes will have you singing along in gibberish and scouring Yes-Asia in search of a soundtrack (nothing yet, sadly). The LocoRoco even sing along, breaking into a chorus as they are split apart.

LocoRoco Join! LocoRoco Join!
Lovely enough on first impression, there are smiles hidden within smiles. It's always amusing to watch the little LocoRoco dropping into a bottle on the end-of-level screen, which holds up to 20 and acts as a sort of percentage marker; but your grin will break into a smile the first time you end the level with square blobs, and a couple of them spill out of the bottle and start dancing around under the level stats.

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