February 8, 2011
The First PSP Game With Updates
Little Big Planet 2 just came out!
So, uh, I rented Little Big Planet for the PSP.
I had basically just wondered what the fuck this was. How would it even work on the PSP? It was a mystery! So I went to give it a go.
First off, this game has some seriously technical weirdness. First thing it does is tell me to turn my PSP’s wifi off of “power save mode.” I have no idea what this is, but I have to quit the game to check. I look all over the options, and can’t find anything like that. I eventually just ignore the message, as I don’t know what the hell it meant.
Secondly, this is the first PSP game I’ve ever played that required an update, a process which I had to quit out of the game to do, which was also baffling.
Anyway, it’s kind of appropriate that my PSP was acting even more like a PS3 for this miniaturized PS3 game!
I kind of hate Sony’s tech sometimes.
The game itself, though, is impressive and fun. The built-in levels are all new, and, personally, a lot more fun, because all checkpoints are infinite life checkpoints, unlike the bullshit in the original game. This really cut down on frustration. The bullshit lives were why I never actually beat the original’s campaign.
For the most part, it really looks like Little Big Planet as well. There are only two planes in this version, instead of three, but in some ways that’s actually better, as the levels are much less confusing because of it. I never completely bought the planes thing. When they worked, they worked, but it seemed like so often they didn’t! They didn’t bother me here, though.
The levels themselves are nice and varied as well. There’s a chase sequence stage that’s pretty cool, and some very puzzle-y levels that are quite clever, from what I played. There’s also a ton of “cute” racism! Everyone loves that, right?
I logged onto the Playstation Network to see what kind of levels I had access to… there were some! But the method of playing them was cumbersome. I had to download the files to the memory stick. I couldn’t just pick them and play like on the PS3. I didn’t really try out the building tools, because if I was going to build something, I’d try it on the PS3, you know?
I guess that’s really my thing. It’s a very well done game, but for most of it, I admit I was just kind of wishing I could like… export this level pack into Little Big Planet proper and play it that way, with access to all my costumes and co-op and such. The new levels are nice, but this game isn’t something that a LBP fan needs to have. They already have what they need, you know? I guess it’s for people who don’t have a PS3, of which there are some? I suppose those people exist. But to get the most out of the game, you’d need to be in wifi range, so…
I don’t know. It’s a mysterious game. Not bad. Pretty fun, really. Has all the charm of its big brother. At the same time, I’m unsure who would rush to buy it. I’m not sure who would need it. It’s a strange little game. Hmm.