LocoRoco 2

LocoRoco 2

PSP owners who missed out on the original LocoRoco, a big, happy game of pastel-coloured blobs and squelchy platforming, needn’t worry. If the ‘story’ of the first game is continued in any way by this sequel then it's lost on us…

In narrative terms, LocoRoco 2 is what it must be like for a foreigner to attend a Japanese kindergarten class: an enjoyable but inscrutable experience, filled with insufferable cuteness and weird nonsequitors. Thankfully the gameplay is a smart continuation of the first title’s principles, is easy to grasp and enjoyable to explore for newcomers and fans alike.

You control a smiling blob that moves around a 2D platform level whenever you tilt the game world left and right using the trigger buttons. Hit both triggers simultaneously and your blob jumps into the air. Every time you collect a red flower you gain an extra blob and, once you have a couple you can order them to mesh together into a giant blob by pressing the circle button (“Join!” They shout in unison as they do so). Tap it again and they disassemble into their constituent parts. You’ll need to turn this ability to you advantage, breaking up your blob to move through small funnel holes in the environment (blobs piling through gaps like grains of sand through an egg timer) and joining together when you want to squish enemies who stand in your way.

For this sequel Sony has introduced a number of neat new ideas. In particular the level design stands out with a raft of interesting and unusual scenarios. In one standout mission you work your way through the cartoony guts of a giant creature, gravity shifting orientation as the monster moves around. There are also now vehicles, which must be ridden down hill at speed and then jumped off at the optimal momentum into order to reach objects high up in the clouds.

Of course, collecting stuff is of primary concern and in LocoRoco 2 there is a vast array of objects to be found. In addition to the berries and pickories you must also collect musical notes. Collect a hundred of these and the stage will ‘level up’ so that you can find more items with greater ease.

Despite the game's twenty-odd levels there’s still a feeling that it’s a little on the short side. But while it lasts it burns brightly, a fizz of cute inventiveness and abstract gaming that builds delightfully upon the successes of the original while downplaying its shortcomings.

4 out of 5