In 2008, Media Molecule and Sony launched the ambitious platforming game LittleBigPlanet, which gave players extensive tools that they could use to create their very own gaming experiences. LittleBigPlanet was a huge success, selling millions of copies and earning near-universal acclaim at the time of its release. LittleBigPlanet‘s success spawned a brand new tentpole franchise for Sony, with numerous LBP sequels and spin-offs. PS5 launch title Sackboy: A Big Adventure is the latest LittleBigPlanet spin-off game, and it also happens to be one of the better ones.
Whereas the main LittleBigPlanet games place a heavy emphasis on user-generated content, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a more traditional platformer. Taking obvious inspiration from titles like Super Mario 3D World, Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a 3D platformer that sees up to four players completing a variety of platforming challenges across themed-worlds, all with their own gimmicks and aesthetics.
One of the more charming aspects of the LittleBigPlanet games is the art style, and how the game worlds are always made up of real-world objects. Sackboy: A Big Adventure keeps that design sensibility going with players platforming their way across everyday household objects in worlds that are seemingly crafted out of paper. There are cute little touches everywhere, like water being made out of blue glitter, and part of the fun is taking in these sights.
The vast majority of the levels in Sackboy: A Big Adventure are traditional platforming fare, with players jumping on enemies, solving some minor puzzles, and completing timed challenges. The jumping feels great and simply exploring the levels is a lot of fun, though it’s admittedly a pretty ho-hum experience for much of the game. Sackboy: A Big Adventure‘s biggest issue is that it’s way too easy, lacking any of the tension that’s commonly found in other platforming titles.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure may not be the most thrilling or intense platforming game on the market, but it does have a great deal of variety to mix things up from one stage to the next. Throughout the course of the game, Sackboy and his allies gain access to special gadgets like boomerangs and grappling hooks that lend themselves well to puzzles and platforming challenges. New mechanics like these are introduced regularly to ensure that Sackboy doesn’t get stale.
But while Sackboy‘s platforming gameplay has a ton of variety, the enemy encounters lack innovation. Players encounter the same enemy types constantly from the start of the game to the end, and that extends to the boss fights as well. Players essentially repeat the same boss fight with Sackboy villain Vex multiple times throughout the game, with each encounter having a slight variation.
Playing Sackboy: A Big Adventure with friends will help keep any potential tedium at bay, though the game’s co-op comes with its own caveats that potential buyers should keep in mind. Sackboy: A Big Adventure‘s co-op is best experienced with two players as opposed to the maximum of four, as things can become too chaotic. The camera struggles to properly display all of the action when four people are playing at once, plus it’s very easy to get in each other’s way. Sackboy players will find themselves accidentally jumping on each other’s heads, sending their partners falling to their death, or inadvertently picking each other up with the grappling hook.
Going through Sackboy with one other person is the most ideal way to experience the game, as it minimizes the frustrating aspects of the co-op while highlighting its benefits. Playing Sackboy: A Big Adventure in co-op opens the door to all kinds of new ways to explore the game world, mainly since players can throw each other to elevated, hard-to-reach places. Not only that, but there are a handful of stages in each world that require two players.
At launch, Sackboy: A Big Adventure‘s co-op is limited to local only. Sackboy: A Big Adventure‘s online multiplayer is set to come in an update that’s supposedly in the works for later this year, but what this means is that unless players have someone to play with and an extra DualSense controller handy, they are effectively locked out of some of the game’s content. This is unfortunate, but it’s an issue that should be resolved sooner rather than later.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure utilizes the PS5 DualSense controller well, taking full advantage of its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The game also puts the DualSense controller’s speaker to good use, whether it’s the satisfying chimes when picking up collectibles or the hilariously dramatic scream of Sackboy when he falls into a pit. Anyone that has managed to get their hands on a PlayStation 5 should definitely pick up the PS5 version of Sackboy over its PS4 counterpart, as the DualSense controller adds to the experience in a big way.
Regardless of which version of Sackboy: A Big Adventure players pick up, they have quite a bit of content to look forward to. It will take about 8-10 hours or so to reach and defeat the final boss, but there’s plenty of secret levels to find, time trials to complete, trophies to unlock, and in typical LittleBigPlanet fashion, tons of cosmetics to find as well. Each stage is full of collectible costume pieces that players can use to fully customize their Sackboy, not to mention some that can be purchased from the in-game shop. Players are free to mix and match cosmetics in the game, including emotes.
Emotes come in handy in Sackboy: A Big Adventure at the end of levels, as the game zooms in on the players and gives them time to celebrate their accomplishment. The player that performed the best is given a trophy and gets their picture taken, though the other player has the opportunity to smack the trophy out of their hand. This is amusing at first, but by the end of the game, Sackboy players will wish that this end-level score count and celebration could be skipped entirely so they can jump into the next level as fast as possible. There is a fast-forward option, but it still takes a while.
Nitpicks aside, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention one of Sackboy: A Big Adventure‘s best level types, and those are the stages set to licensed music. The songs include hits like Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” and “Toxic” by Britney Spears, with enemies bobbing to the beat of the music and the levels paced in a deliberate way to highlight the lyrics. Along with gimmicks like the grappling hook and boomerang, these musical levels go a long way in ensuring Sackboy: A Big Adventure has plenty of variety and never gets boring.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is an easy recommendation to fans of the platforming genre or anyone looking for a co-op game to play on their new PS5 console. While it would be nice to see a proper LittleBigPlanet 4 come to Sony’s next-generation system, hopefully, fans can look forward to future Sackboy platforming adventures as well.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is out now for PS4 and PS5. Game Rant reviewed the game on PS5.
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