• Format: PSP
• Unleashed: Out Now
• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
• Developer: Studio Cambridge
• Players: 1
• Site: http://www.littlebigplanet.com/

When LittleBigPlanet was in development a lot of people laughed at it; people said it would fail, tragically. Why would you want to have to make your own levels? How could a side scrolling platformer survive in this world of CoDs, GTAs and Drake’s Fortunes? Well, now that it’s had time to root itself into the PlayStation community what we see today tells a different story, one where LBP has amassed a ton of fans and if two million or so levels won’t convince you of its popularity then we’re lost on how to persuade you of it.

Following in the original LBP’s footsteps comes the PSP version, and from the moment you switch it on and hear Mr. Fry’s voice, you know it’s going to be fun. The first level from the main selection is sure to make you smile, as the similarity to its bigger brother is uncanny. What you see on-screen is as close to the PS3 version as the PSP could possibly muster and that is a very good thing. As you traverse the levels, you’ll find them to be a little trickier than what you might be used to and the omission of a third ‘plain’ will become obvious within the first twenty minutes to those who have played this on PS3. Not that this is a terrible problem, but what it means is that the developers have had to come up with some devilishly cunning level design to compensate.

PSP LBP certainly carries the same charm and warmth as its predecessor and you’ll soon find yourself leaping, grabbing and pulling switches quite merrily like there’s no such thing as a PS3. No doubt on your journey you’ll be left looking at the screen with a quizzical expression resembling the old Cat Vs Balloon conundrum while wondering how to obtain those out-of-reach prize bubbles from time to time, but you’ll be safe in the knowledge that you can return for them later. Themes within the levels are similar to the first game but diverge with things such as Egyptian, Australian and Hollywood themes, all of which encompass varying degrees of fun stuff ranging from construction sites, camel and dragon rides, theme parks, giant robots and even Mission Impossible parody levels. These are stuffed with tricky platforms (but never too tricky) and silly humour that will keep you playing right through to the end.

The level creator is where you’ll likely be heading to straight after (or even before) you complete the other pre-made levels. Now before we go any further, we’d like to point out that we’re not saying the level creator is broken exactly, just a little under par with what we’re used to. There are the perfectionists amongst us and nowhere is that more obvious than in the PS3 LBP online community levels, if you feel you’re one of them then you’d better listen up: First off copying and pasting objects with ease is out! You’ll have to capture it, poppit, select it, then paste it, no more L3-ing for you! Also, once you’ve made that object – that’s it stuck at that size. If you want a smaller version then you’ll have to make it all over again. Stickers will only go on the front of objects, they won’t wrap around them and they won’t stick to score bubbles, entrances or continue doors. Our biggest problem with the level creator; you can’t draw shapes! You can’t draw or make something just by moving the nub around and holding ‘X’, to make a unique shape you’ll have to draw out the basic outline with a small square or circle attached to a locked grid then use the corner editor to mould the basic shape into what you want. If the shape is too complex (which is often the case) the Line Re-shaper tool can get a little confused, not only making it difficult to make natural looking shapes, but changing them with any precision can be frustrating. Really we only found other small limitations concerning the creation aspect, things like not being able to change the size of the score or prize bubbles, and it seemed we could only put our own creations in prize bubbles too. Our other gripe was not being able to skip the tutorials; luckily we find Stephen Fry to be rather amusing, so we didn’t complain too much! With all that said, the ‘Static’ and ‘Dynamic’ selections are a welcome change. Choosing the Static option will allow any material to hover/float like dark matter from the PS3 game which we found rather useful.

If you stick with it all of the above can be forgiveable (it just makes the creation aspect of LBP a little longer and more fiddly than it should be) but once you re-programme your brain to compensate, creating unique and fun levels will glean the same pride and sense of accomplishment as it once did before, or if you’re new to LBP and don’t have a PS3, ignore everything we’ve said in the last few minutes and just get creating! If you get bored of that, or if creating isn’t your thing, then there’s a load of other pre-created levels to download made by other people too. Failing that, there’s a whole bunch of other stuff to download from the PSP network including costumes, level kits and other stuff.

What all this amounts to is one of the most expansive games available for the PSP, and at a general price of £25 you really can’t go wrong with it.

As Britain laments the passing of its few summer days and moves on into the winter months, most of us find ourselves becoming a little down in our nature. However, for gamers this is a time of anticipation, a time we can look forward into the coming months with great expectations for what’s to come. Myself and our glorious CG leader; Master Luke (see what I did there?), found ourselves at the Eurogamer Expo, filled to the brim with new up-and-coming games, developers, and PR people, most of whom would soon find themselves being bashed around the head with a rolled-up sheet of questions until they told us what they know (yes, we believe in tough love at Critical Gamer HQ). One of the first places we decided to venture to was the PSP lounge area, where we were greeted with odd shaped seating and umpteen PSP Gos attached to tables and large Sony branded cereal bowls.

The main attraction on the PSP (for us at least) was the chance to get some hands-on time with the PSP version of LittleBigPlanet, and before I say anything about the game I’d like to point out it was also my first hold of a PSP Go. Now, I have small hands and have always been comfortable holding smaller gadgets, but the Go seemed too small even for my girly sized digits! In its defence though I should point out it was attached to a table via a tether-wire, which meant I was playing tug-of-war whilst trying to play. Not to be put off by this I continued with the LBP demo I had found. The first thing to hit home was its similarity to its bigger brother. The character animations are smooth and move around the screen with the same enthusiastic bounce as their PS3 counterparts. The backgrounds are also bright, vivid, and share the same art style we have become accustomed to from LBP. The theme of the demo levels were of the Australian persuasion and although it was hard to hear those little PSP speakers, I could definitely hear lots of didgeridoo twangs and kangaroo-type noises. So, all very cute and lovely then? Well, not quite. One of the things that has frustrated the LBP community is the way that Sackboy/girl moves between the three planes, sometimes getting stuck next to 3D objects for example; and while the PSP version only has two planes, on the smaller screen this seemed to be a bit of an issue. Although my contorted fingers were wrestling with the size of the Go (and I was still playing tug-of-war with the selfish table that clearly wanted its PSP back), which probably didn’t help matters. I think the only real hindrance here would be if you were playing a level as a race or chase.

Unfortunately there wasn’t any option to have a go at creating a level on the demo either, which is one of the things that concerns me the most. We’ve already heard from Luke how Cambridge Studio have overcome the ever elusive second nub problem on the PSP, but it would have been nice to be able to see how creating a level works without that all important second stick. We’re assured that it will become second nature, and I’m sure if focused on just the PSP version, newcomers will be none the wiser. Though having never tried it, don’t take my word as gospel.

My thoughts on the PSP version of LBP? A smooth transition from the big screen to your pocket. Controls for the most part seem tight and responsive, costume tailoring is also quick and easy just like the PS3 version and from what we hear, there will be an extensive costume catalogue to come. The graphics are a little rough around the edges in comparison, but obviously the PSP does not have the horsepower of the PS3, so this is to be expected. It’s unfortunate that you have to download levels rather than just play them while connected, although this also means you can keep your favourites and take them anywhere with you. If Cambridge Studio put as much effort and support behind this as Media Molecule have the with the PS3 version, then this will quickly grow into a must have for PSP owners old and young. Maybe even a reason for those without to buy a PSP.

Wonderful things were to be found in the PSP lounge at this year’s Eurogamer Expo. Many PSP Gos (some of which even worked), several people from Media Molecule (three of whom Ross and I hijacked for a full half an hour to interview), and even people from Studio Cambridge, developers of the PSP version of LittleBigPlanet. Artist Laura Dilloway was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and found herself being quizzed by my good self before teatime.

With LittleBigPlanet’s established community and critical acclaim, I wondered, did Studio Cambridge feel any pressure to deliver?

“I don’t think we’ve been pressured so to speak, but we have listened to the LBP community when making certain decisions.” she says earnestly. “Costumes, for example. There are going to be loads and loads of different costumes for Sackboy, but we steered away from full body costumes. The community have said ‘We don’t like all in one pieces, we want smaller items like hats and shoes we can mix and match’. We’ve had a huge amount of feedback from the community and Media Molecule on various aspects of development, and it’s played a huge part in how the game has evolved.

“The guys at Media Molecule have been a guiding hand more than anything, but their input has been really valuable to us and to the game. What they’ve seen, they’re really pleased with. Although we started developing the PSP version before the original LittleBigPlanet had been released, comments from the community since then have definitely influenced several design decisions.”

Are they expecting existing LBP fans to be their main audience?

“I think we’re hoping for a new audience, as the PS3′s quite a specialist system, and obviously in a different price range as well. Being a portable, you can take the PSP on the school bus, train etc. It’s a lot more accessible. I think it’ll appeal to an even wider range of people. Not just journeys to school, but of course people play their PSPs on the long journey to and from work. You have the whole Play Create Share thing, and with the PSP, you can Play Create Share anywhere; you don’t have to sit in your living rooms and do it.”

Had they been given strict rules about what they could and couldn’t do with the game?

“We didn’t really have any limits. When we first started designing the game, every person on the project played through the PS3 version, so we had a good idea of what we were working with. With regards to art style, we split into two groups within the development team, We had the artists, and the designers. The designers did all the functionality, made sure everything was working perfectly. Each artist was assigned a theme, and they then had control over the entire art style for that theme. The themes are all new, so that meant we could do what we wanted; but because we were so familiar with the LBP style, we carried it on whilst doing our own thing with it.”

And gamers can copy what the developers have done exactly, as with the PS3 version?

“Completely. You can make anything we’ve made.”

So far so good; it sounds like a surprisingly faithful LBP handheld experience. The PSP, and PSP owners, have been crying out for a second analogue stick since the system’s release, however. The second stick is integral to the LBP big screen experience; did the lack of a second stick cause problems for Studio Cambridge?

“There aren’t any problems, but we did have to make a few changes to the controls.” Laura conceded. “For example, in Create mode, the two shoulder buttons are used as shift buttons. So you hold them down, and the analogue stick is then used for scaling rotating, zooming etc. as appropriate. It’s a small change, and you get used to it quite quickly. What we can’t have without a second stick, is moving limbs individually so you can slap your friends and that kind of thing. What we have got, is really cool little animations. So depending on what mood you’re in, you can set off one of these animations with the d pad in conjunction with the left shoulder button. And if you leave Sackboy idle for long enough, he’ll go into a pre set animation then, too, start doing star jumps or something!

“I don’t think it has caused any problems. The d pad is used for the animations etc, so that wasn’t an option for character control. In story mode, it works perfectly fine. In Create mode, the zoom is actually really useful, as it allows you to get the right level of detail for what you’re doing. It can take a little bit of getting used to, but you adjust very quickly.”

How will they provide level sharing without the benefit of PSN?

“We’ve still got upload and download, we’ve still got community moon. When you go online, you’ll be presented with levels that people have uploaded, and you can then download them. Because you’ve downloaded the levels, they stay on your PSP even when you go offline. Which is quite cool, as you don’t have to be online, you can still take them with you wherever you go. When you reconnect however your scores will be uploaded, so people can still see how many people have played each level. It still works in a similar way to the PS3 version. You can upload a maximum of twenty levels, and how many you can download is dependent on the free space on your memory stick.

“We’ve also got a new feature in ad hoc sharing, so you don’t have to go onto the moon at all. If you’re sitting with your friends and you’ve just made a really cool level, you can send it to them straight away with ad hoc sharing, which is basically instant local level sharing via wi fi.”

Is there anything the PSP version will offer that the PS3 game doesn’t?

“One thing we do have which is really useful, is static and dynamic objects. Whereas in the PS3 version you have to use ‘dark matter’ to make objects that hang in the air, in the PSP version you can make anything hang in the air like that by making it ‘static’. It’ll never move, and it doesn’t matter what material it is. ‘Dynamic’ objects will be subject to gravity however, and you can change the property of objects you’ve made as and when you want. This can be incredibly useful, because I don’t know if you’ve ever made a level on the PS3 version, then unpaused it and watched the whole thing crash! We don’t get that.”

Anybody hoping for connectivity between the two games will be disappointed…

“We’ve got seven brand new themes in our game, and thirty nine new levels and minigames. There’s no connectivity. They’re completely different games made by completely different companies, and they even use different servers. So there’s no compatibility.”

A LittleBigPlanet game…without multiplayer?

“It’s true, but, the multiplayer was a trade off to get the whole Create experience in. LittleBigPlanet without Create would completely defeat the Play Create Share philosophy. It was either the full Create mode – which we have, the functionality is exactly the same as the PS3 version – or multiplayer.”

So does that mean a more challenging single player mode?

“Our checkpoints give you unlimited lives. There are only unlimited life checkpoints but I think that’s a good thing, because you don’t have to keep redoing the same few tricky levels in order to progress because you ran out of lives, and keep redoing the sections you have no trouble with, as you do in the PS3 version.”

Luke annoying - er, interviewing - Laura.

Will existing LittleBigPlanet fans be able to find levels made by Studio Cambridge devs somewhere on PSN?

“I think some people had made levels outside of work, but sometimes it’s hard to do a full day making your own game and then find time to make a complex level when you get home! Doing this kind of work, you really do appreciate how long it takes to put together a really good level.”

LBP fans have enjoyed a phenomenal level of post – release support, and it seems that people who buy LittleBigPlanet PSP can expect similar long – term developer attention.

“We’ve got downloadable content planned until Christmas next year. Lots of costumes, lots of stickers, possibly some new levels, although we haven’t made any yet. There’s also the possibility of working with other game franchises, such as the Metal Gear Solid pack on the PS3 version. I’m not saying we’ve got that, but that kind of thing is a possibility. We were working on something, but it’s on hold at the moment, and I can’t talk about it.”

Are you sure you can’t talk about it, I ask? Could she just give me an anagram?

“No.” she says, laughing. And then, deftly changing the subject, “The Media Molecule guys are putting together a new community website, so hopefully we can get some PS3 players over to the PSP version with that, and build up the community by bringing players of both games together.”

Developers are always secretive when it comes to future plans, but I thought I’d give it a shot…

“We’ve got some in – house projects that I can’t talk about because they haven’t been announced yet, but yeah, we’ve got some exciting new projects.”

You should by now find yourself more excited about LittleBigPlanet PSP than ever. To find out more about LBP PSP, and other games on Sony systems, visit uk.playstation.com.