The more time we spend working on the peripheral of the videogame industry, the more jaded and cynical we become. We spend most of our time playing and writing about games that, if given the choice, we wouldn’t touch with a barge-pole. However, every once in a while something comes into the Play office that wipes the frowns off our faces and reminds us why it is we get out of bed every morning. As you’ve probably guessed by now, LocoRoco is one such game; a game filled with so much happiness and quirky charm that even soulless wage-slaves like us can’t help but crack a smile when we play it.

To start a review on such a positive note without going into detail first is not something we often do, but LocoRoco is special, deserving all the praise that the videogame press will undoubtedly lay at its feet. In last month’s preview we proclaimed our love for the game, and one month on our feelings haven’t abated – if anything they’re stronger now than they were then. To put down in print what it is exactly that makes LocoRoco such a fantastic piece of software isn’t that difficult a task, but doing so coherently when your head is swimming with the kind of feelings usually reserved for lovesick teenagers is.

As good a place as any to start is the story, and LocoRoco’s is suitably bizarre. The dastardly Moja Corps has invaded the planet and is looking to make a meal out of the LocoRocos, who don’t stand much of a chance on their own. Just as it looks like they’re out of luck, the planet steps in to save the day, turning this way and that to keep the LocoRocos safe. However, the Mojas are nothing if not persistent, which leads to the planet having to take a much more active interest in the LocoRocos.

LocoRoco is the first game we can think of where you control a planet, but it’s more than just a device to explain the gameplay. As the LocoRocos’ protector you fear for their safety, probably more than you would if you controlled them directly. When exploring the world of LocoRoco, it is undeniably the little fellas that establish themselves as the stars of the show, and it’s very easy to become enamoured with them. You start out as the yellow LocoRoco, but as you progress through the game you meet the other five: pink, blue, red, black and green. Each LocoRoco has its own unique song, look and lives in a different part of the world, giving the game a distinctly cosmopolitan feel. When the LocoRocos meet for the first time they gleefully greet one another, chatting and bouncing away, which just makes it feel all the more cheerful.

The non-LocoRoco inhabitants of the planet are equally as charming, and even the nasties that want to eat the LocoRocos look happy and unthreatening. Our personal favourites are, the MuiMuis, the little human characters that are the LocoRoco’s best friends. Three are hidden throughout each level, and when you meet them the exchange between the MuiMui and the LocoRoco would melt even the coldest heart. Most of the other friendly creatures serve to provide the LocoRocos with assistance on their journey, be it in the form of items or access to areas they couldn’t normally reach. There are the cloud-like Cuna Cu-na, the long-legged Ho-Ho, the giant Nyokki, the tickling KeraKera, the owl-like Unfu-Ku and the Chuppa.

The visual side of things is probably the area in which LocoRoco makes its biggest impact though. As with most things in the game, simplicity is the key, from the uncluttered backgrounds to the basic design of the LocoRocos themselves. However, when you see the game moving, it evolves from a garish static image into a vibrant world alive with beautiful details. It shows how much thought has actually gone into the design of LocoRoco when its 2D world is more involving than some in 3D, and you actually find yourself believing that this cheerful little place is somewhere that the LocoRocos could live happily with their various friends.

The sensory assault doesn’t stop there, and the sound is as important in creating the world of LocoRoco as the graphics. The music is the primary element, and is sung by the LocoRocos themselves as they roll and bounce through the levels. When we say sing though, we actually mean sing, and you can see the LocoRoco’s mouth moving in time with the words. When your big LocoRoco splits into smaller ones, the song changes, becoming a harmony sung by the group. These nonsense tunes are ridiculously catchy, and it doesn’t take long before you find yourself whistling along to them, much to the annoyance of your colleagues.

This is all cosmetic though, but LocoRoco is equally as accomplished in its gameplay as it is in its presentation. Again, simplicity is paramount, and you’ll only ever need three buttons (Left, Right and Circle) to see the end of each of the 40 levels. The game is a mix of puzzle elements and platforming, and there are a number of obstacles you’ll need to guide the LocoRocos past in order to lead them to safety. As you control the planet instead of the LocoRocos, you only have indirect control over them, so when you turn the screen, you’re tilting the level, and you need to let gravity do the work.

None of the levels are particularly difficult, but getting to the end is an entirely different proposition to finding all of the hidden items. To start with, there are 20 flowers that your LocoRoco needs to eat to increase in size, and finishing a level having collected all 20 gets you an item for the LocoHouse and opens up a time attack mode. On top of that, there are five more LocoHouse items to collect, three MuiMuis to meet and hundreds of bees to find. This makes the game much more inclusive, so anyone can see the end of the game easily enough, but after that there are still plenty of reasons to carry on playing.

Everything that makes a good game is present and accounted for in LocoRoco, from superb character and level design to superb gameplay. Anyone can have fun with the game, be they a regular videogame player or someone who only picks up a pad once in a blue moon. However, what makes LocoRoco truly special is that it actually has something to say, despite its message being smothered in layers of saccharine cuteness. Believe it or not, we’re not talking absolute rubbish, and while playing LocoRoco we really felt that it was telling us something about the world we live in.

There are six types of LocoRoco from different parts of the world: each is a different colour and speaks with a different accent. Despite their differences, the LocoRocos are always happy to see each other and live happily in the world together. By working co-operatively and with their planet, the LocoRocos are able to repel the Mojas and resume their charmed existence. See where’s this is going? It really struck us as a parallel to our world, trying to tell us that only through working together and throwing away racism and war can we overcome the major problems facing us as a species. Not many games have a message other than ‘killing is fun,’ so to come across one that not only has a serious lesson to impart, but is loads of fun to play, goes someway to restoring our faith in the industry.

All this may seem like pointless overanalysis of a game that looks like the result of a children’s book illustrator’s bad trip, but it would be an injustice to judge LocoRoco solely by its looks. Regardless of whether its message of racial equality and global co-operation is an intentional one or not, we have to say that LocoRoco did force us to ask one very important question of ourselves: why do we play videogames? Aside from the obvious sarcastic response (it’s our job), the best answer we could come up with was that we all play videogames for fun, or at least we should do.

LocoRoco knows this, and wants to remind you that your leisure time should be spent doing something that you enjoy. It’s almost as if the designers sat down and said, “let’s make people happy,” because there wasn’t a single moment in the whole eight-or-so hours we spent playing through LocoRoco that we didn’t sit there with a warm fuzzy feeling inside and a grin on our faces. It’s an impossibly happy game, and that happiness is contagious, infiltrating your body through your eyes, ears and fingers. The levels are the perfect length for the bite-size gaming of the PSP, but you find yourself on the “just one more go” roundabout, craving a few more precious moments with the game. This is as much thanks to the simple yet addictive gameplay as it is to LocoRoco’s unparalleled design, making for what will undoubtedly be remembered as the PSP’s defining title.

Jude Salmon