LocoRoco 2 (PSP)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 02/10/2009
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Genre: Action
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: SCEA


LocoRoco 2 might sound like a bad idea on paper: it's very easy, has kid-friendly gelatinous protagonists, and large parts of the text are poorly translated. But none of that matters when you pop the game into your PSP. It's like a puppy wearing a tuxedo -- you may hate the super-cute aesthetic, but it still makes you smile. The first LocoRoco was decent, but once you played through the first set of levels, you pretty much experienced the entire game. LocoRoco 2 fixes that problem, providing a game that builds on the original's charm, and adds in a reason to continue on even after the main storyline is through.

For those new to the series, the titular LocoRoco are bouncing, wide-eyed creatures that eat berries to grow bigger and increase in number. They come in several colors, but the only differences between them are their theme songs. The tunes each one sings affects the background music while you're playing, and gives each one a sense of personality (I have an affinity for the sultry pink one with the French accent, and the upbeat yellow one). Though you technically protect all the denizens of the LocoRoco world, your main charges are humanoids called MuiMui. A few are hidden in almost every stage, and rescuing them sends them back to the MuiMui house, but more on that in a second.

Like the first game the controls are simple. The two shoulder buttons tilt the stage left and right respectively, and hitting both makes the LocoRoco jump. Holding the circle button joins all your individual LocoRoco into one unified blob, while a quick tap breaks them back apart for easier access through tight spaces. It's simple enough that anyone can pick it up and almost instantly understand the concept. The first game's problem was lack of variety, as it mostly consisted of a linear slide through pretty, but overly simple, levels. LocoRoco 2 changes up the first game's monotony by gradually introducing new abilities, such as the power to swim, and to tug on certain hanging items (used for both pulling hidden items out of the ground and taking down enemies with long tails). To get a 100-percent rating on each stage, you have to revisit earlier ones after acquiring power upgrades, but they fly by so quickly I was eager to go back.

LocoRoco's story is broken up by minigames, that, while not terribly deep, work to vary the gameplay. One is a side-scrolling shooter where you pilot a plane while towing a LocoRoco behind you, while another puts you in a cannon defending your MuiMui house from an onslaught of flying attackers. One game, called Loco Rider, allows for ad-hoc multiplayer: up to four players can connect locally to try and ram their friends' LocoRoco into spikes set in the floor and walls of a small arena. It's fun for a game or two, but it doesn't last long, and with a dearth of options, it feels more like something that was added just to put a blurb on the box, rather than a serious attempt to get people to play together.