LittleBigPlanet PS Vita PS Vita

Released on 21-Sep-2012

• Editor's Choice - Best of 2012: Handhelds

  
  

  

  
  
  

  We're spoilt for choice when it comes to gaming that fits comfortably in the palms of our hands; not only has the Nintendo 3DS found its feet in 2012, but we also welcomed in the powerhouse that is the SONY PlayStation Vita in the same year. So if you've picked up either from GAME (or even both!), then here's our list of 2012's best games for each handheld...

  

  Gravity Rush (PS Vita)
  Poke the laws of gravity in both eyes with this fab third-person action game that puts you in control of Kat, a girl whose ability to defy gravity would have given Isaac Newton an aneurysm to go with his apple. Couple our heroine's awesome aerial acrobatic skills with an open-world and an intriguing sci-fi plot and you've got yourself a pint-sized classic. Sequel please!

  

  Professor Layton & The Miracle Mask (3DS)
  The charm of Professor Layton series touches down on to Nintendo's finest with wonderful cel-shaded 3D graphics and effects. Battle the 'Masked Gentleman', an utter rotter who's turning citizens of Monte d'Or into rock and unravel his dastardly plan by solving 150 puzzles that cover the whole gamut of gaming from mindbenders to minigames. And then pile through 365 more puzzles, one for every day of the year! Generous doesn't even begin to cover it...

  

  Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS)
  Fancy a rest from screenfuls of rainbow colours and Nintendo mascots? Then get back to the bleakness with this RE title that packs in all the tension and scares of the survival horror series with some fantastic multiplayer action too. The best in the series since Resident Evil 4.

  

  LittleBigPlanet (PS Vita) - packed with pucker platforming, this handheld version of the SONY juggernaut is a perfect conversion plus the ability to create and play user-generated levels means endless replay value too.

  Honourable Mention

  New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) - it's Mario ergo it's essential. Do we need to say more?
  

  Published: 20/12/2012

• LittleBigPlanet PlayStation Vita - Review

  
  

  

  There were many who worried that Sackboy's trip to SONY's voluptuous new handheld from his PlayStation 3 birth home was to be one made out of duty rather than true calling. After all, his Guildford-based creators Media Molecule have moved onto projects new, passing responsibility for this game to a bevy of smaller game developers - Tarsier Studios, Double Eleven and others. With less experienced hands on the creative tiller, the best we could hope for was a game that didn't spoil the memories. Right?

  In reality, LittleBigPlanet's arrival on PlayStation Vita is cause for wild celebration. Here is a game that locks knitted fingers with SONY's handheld, making creative, dazzling use of its features to build upon the previous two games in endlessly exciting ways. The PS Vita is a curious machine, stuffed with a generosity of ideas, from its two cameras and two touchscreens to its two analogue sticks. LittleBigPlanet Vita is undeniably the first title to tame this unfettered mass of glass and ingenuity, demonstrating to the world just how it can be done.

  

  Touched With Genius

  Which isn't to say that the game re-invents the wheel. LittleBigPlanet has always been an artisan kind of platformer, constructed from random bits of fabric, dusty pulleys and wheels - the kind of junk you might find in a cardboard box in your auntie's attic. It's part of the charm: a knitted chew toy leaping through a world of cotton reels, paperclips and batteries; the extraordinary constructed from the everyday.

  But what's different here is the way in which you interact with the world. While LittleBigPlanet veterans will be familiar with the rocket projectiles and grappling hooks given to Sackboy over the course of the game, the manner in which you control them has matured into the PS Vita's feature-set. Rockets can now be precision guided with the drag of a finger across the screen. The grappling hook can now be attached to moving anchor points that will slide left and right as you tilt the machine in your hands. Likewise, cogs and wheels must be pulled into place, while both the front and rear touchscreens are used to pop platforms forwards and backwards in order to solve spatial puzzles.

  

  Things To Make And Do

  The sheer amount of creative fizz on display is what truly delights here, and the long, winding levels bristle with ideas. Even the off-shoot stages dazzle with their ingenuity, offering hand-stitched takes on arcade classics like Puzzle Bobble. Of course, each level comes packed with a slew of collectible objects, stickers and other bits and pieces which can be used to customize your hub or, perhaps more importantly, used to create your own levels in the expansive and powerful level editor.

  Sharing has always been at the heart of the LittleBigPlanet experience and it's no different on PS Vita, where you can store and save up to thirty levels before sharing them with the world for them to play. The intention, as always, is that the community will extend LittleBigPlanet's life long after you've completed the main storyline and, while the editor takes some effort to fully get to grips with, it seems likely that this is a game you'll want on hand for months to come.

  Bold, assured, exciting and creative, LittleBigPlanet compensates for its visual familiarity with a host of exciting new features and level designs. An essential purchase then, regardless of whether you're here to create or consume.

  GAME's Verdict

  The Good:

  • Rich, interesting levels
  • Powerful editor
  • Creative use of Vita's features

  The Bad:

  • Level editor can be difficult to get into
  • Some slowdown during level creation
  • Familiar structure

  Published: 20/09/2012

• LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation Vita) - Preview

  
  

  

  Carnival Time

  LittleBigPlanet on the PS Vita offers a new story-driven platforming experience which sees players step into the shoes of PlayStation's impossibly cute mascot Sackboy (or Sackgirl). Set on the fairground planet of Carnivalia, where the Puppeteer is stealing all of the joy from the LBP universe, players are challenged to travel through a series of quirky levels to foil their mysterious enemy's evil plans and restore fun and laughter to the world.

  Like its predecessors on PS3 and PSP, early showings suggest the latest LBP will be another charming adventure packed with thrills, spills and funny moments, and one that's powered by not just the game's developer, Tarsier Studios, but also the player's own imagination as they create and customise multiple aspects of the experience.

  New Ways To Play

  This is the second time the LBP franchise has appeared on a PlayStation handheld, but the PS Vita version will be a far more comprehensive offering than 2009's PSP edition. In fact, feature-wise it looks set to be the equal of the two PS3 titles currently available, and in some ways the experience will surpass the home console versions thanks to the PS Vita's unique features.

  

  Not only does the PS Vita offer new ways to approach LBP's excellent platforming gameplay by encouraging players to tilt, touch, pinch, push, pull, drag and flick their hero back and forth through its cleverly constructed environments, but it also promises to introduce a number of innovative touch-based, arcade-style mini-games.

  Creation Station

  And much like the gameplay, level creation will be more varied than ever before, as all of the existing tools from LBP 2 will be available with added PS Vita functionality. Users will be able to select and place items on-screen with simple finger taps, and rotate or resize them with pinches.

  It'll also be possible to draw objects directly onto the touch-screen and to use the handheld's cameras to capture stickers and textures for use in-game, allowing players to make a level look like anything they want with the minimum of effort, and to build complex structures that would take significantly longer to make on the PS3.

  

  Share The Fun

  LBP can be as accessible or as deep an experience as players want it to be. If you fancy yourself as a level designer, you can create your own and share them with the game's online community via the PlayStation Network. If not, you can simply enjoy the fruits of other people's labour free of charge. The LBP community is known for releasing large volumes of quality content, so players will probably be able to enjoy the game for months on end without ever having to replay the same level.

  The game will also support up to four online players simultaneously in competitive and co-operative modes, while local multiplayer modes will feature turn-based and multi-touch games. With something for every type of player, from casual gamers to aspiring level designers, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita looks set to be another fantastic entry in the series. And perhaps best of all, it'll be enjoyable on the go, any time, anywhere.

  Published: 26/07/2012

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