Boy, he'll grow on you
Unlike most people, I did not take to Sackboy, the plush-toy avatar you control in this platforming game, immediately. Sure, the little guy is charming, with his cute button eyes, wide jubilant smile and an oversized zipper for a tie. However, in my books, it is not what you look like but what you can do that matters. The ugly fact is that Sackboy simply cannot jump like a regular Mario. His jumps are too floaty, which makes it hard to control where you land with pinpoint accuracy. So I approached Little Big Planet with apprehension.
However, after just one hour of play, I was won over by Little Big Planet's vivid environments - everything from people to landscapes have a lovely handicraft visage - and the game's varied obstacles - including crossing on buffalo backs during a stampede and fleeing from a giant bulldozer. I was also charmed by Sackboy's tenacity to overcome those obstacles. There are some control issues. Imagine running and jumping at full speed to reach a small platform, only to slip upon landing and pummel into an unsympathetic pit of fire below. However, for the most part, the expertly designed levels in the solo (or coop up to four) campaign alone makes Little Big Planet one of the most fun platformers this year. Additionally, Little Big Planet is also a channel for self-expression. A versatile level editor lets you mess with pre-existing levels or create entirely new ones by inserting items collected throughout the solo campaign - objects, stickers, enemies and traps - and manipulating their properties.
You can also make your own objects and stickers by using the PlayStation Eye camera to take pictures and trace them out - turning your mind into one big playground where the imagination can run wild. Even if you are the all-play sort who will not spend time building levels, you can still sit back and surf through the cavalcade of user-created content. Each level gives a lode of inspiration doused with creativity. For instance, one player cleverly used single-note sound boxes to produce a piano version of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine. There is a lot of variety in the player-generated levels here. To the extent that variety is no longer just the spice of this virtual life but a magic potion that extends Little Big Planet's shelf life indefinitely. If you are a cynic like me, treat Little Big Planet like it were French fries: sprinkle on a generous pinch of salt and give it a fair shake. Then, my friend, you too will be able to taste fun the Little Big Planet way.
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