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If you don't get caught up at least a little bit in the simple gameplay and infectious fun of Loco Roco, then either you are dour and cynical, have no soul, or perhaps should check your pulse. This is not the best or most innovative game on the PSP, but it is so full of simple joy that you owe it to yourself to playﾗand once you play, the game pulls you back again and again.
A happy and peaceful world is attacked by dark clouds that threaten to destroy its happy inhabitants. You are a Loco Roco and are tasked with saving as many of the inhabitants as possible in various areas of the four different game worlds. The game is essentially a two-dimensional side-scrolling action game that is reminiscent of the Katamari Damacy games in terms of play style and art design. You use the L and R shoulder buttons to tilt the world to the left and right, and press both together to jumpﾗbounce might be more accurate. As you move through the stages, your primary task is to collect as many items as possible as quickly as possible to get the highest possible score. The game is tremendously entertaining, but is single-minded in its approach and limits you to doing pretty much the same thing over and over again. You either love it or hate it within the first few minutes and nothing that happens later in the game will change that opinion. The mini-games don't add much to the core gameplay, and the total game only takes a few hours to complete the first time. Despite this, Loco Roco is worth playing. This unconventional and quirky gameplay is infectious and addictive beyond objective analysis. You want to keep playing and never stop. You want to hear the songs over again and see the different levels using different Loco Rocos. Put it aside for months at a time, but you'll be back to Loco Roco again and again, never letting it get too far from your PSP.  
There are a number of things that make this game perfect for kids of all ages. The charming fun is infectious. It rewards you when you do well but doesn't punish you for not excelling. It's also hard to lose as the game lets you complete a level so long as you make it to the end. You're not trying to become the most powerful being in the universe, just save the inhabitants of a planet from encroaching enemies resembling pollution.
A lot of the charm comes from the infectious style of the graphics and music. The look is simple and not very detailed. It's bold, colorful and effective. Even the physics are amazing. If you bounce off of a hemispherical platform your trajectory follows the expected path, slowed or accelerated appropriately if you tilt the world one way or the other. In areas where you know there is something good hidden just a couple of platforms above you, you can count on your knowledge of how to control the world instead of fighting the controls of other arbitrary game-imposed dynamics. Whether or not you like popular music in general and Japanese popular music specifically, you will love the songs of Loco Roco. When you come upon one of the sleeping suns or clouds along the way, you always hope that you collected enough of the small blobs so that your Loco Roco will split apart and begin singing. The songs wake the sleeping creatures and unlock a new path or Loco Roco house part. Also, each Loco Roco has different sounds and songs, and you will likely find a favorite to play more often than the others. The songs and sounds are a constant pleasure that compel you to play. Loco Roco is more than the sum of its parts, and its content is such that it's appropriate for little kids to play on your PSP. This review edited by Dave Long Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "locoroco" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Loco Roco |
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