(This is the 1,500th game I've logged on the site! BACKLOGGD FOR LIFE)
The PS5 showcase in the summer of 2020 sold both me and my wife on the system, and one featured game that interested us was Sackboy. Once it came out, reception was middling, so we held off on buying it. But when it hit PS Plus earlier this year, I ran out of excuses to keep putting it off.
The co-op seemed like the preferred way to play, so my daughter and I started making our way through... and she lost interest REAL quick. Now, she's beaten Mario 3D World multiple times, so the genre seemed like a good fit for us, but the whole thing just felt uninspired. The movement is boring, the level design is boring, the enemies, the collectibles, the music, etc. I've tried to keep playing by myself for a while, but while the game is clearly a competent platformer, there's not really anything going on here that stands out from its peers. This is the kind of game that could be fun with the right group or if you were a kid with like 3 games, but in my 30s with a shortage of free time, I can't justify sinking more hours into the gaming equivalent of an ambivalent shrug.
The PS5 showcase in the summer of 2020 sold both me and my wife on the system, and one featured game that interested us was Sackboy. Once it came out, reception was middling, so we held off on buying it. But when it hit PS Plus earlier this year, I ran out of excuses to keep putting it off.
The co-op seemed like the preferred way to play, so my daughter and I started making our way through... and she lost interest REAL quick. Now, she's beaten Mario 3D World multiple times, so the genre seemed like a good fit for us, but the whole thing just felt uninspired. The movement is boring, the level design is boring, the enemies, the collectibles, the music, etc. I've tried to keep playing by myself for a while, but while the game is clearly a competent platformer, there's not really anything going on here that stands out from its peers. This is the kind of game that could be fun with the right group or if you were a kid with like 3 games, but in my 30s with a shortage of free time, I can't justify sinking more hours into the gaming equivalent of an ambivalent shrug.
Começou bem e terminou chatinho. As vezes ele perdia um pouco o gas. Ele é longo demais e não muito criativo. Mas ele é competente em fases diferentonas e consegue te entreter bem com os visuais. Vale muito
I dropped the game when I got to the level set to Uptown Funk. I don't think I'm returning to it any time soon.
Isso aqui é uma covardia para com os dois primeiros títulos da franquia que estão presos no PlayStation 3 até o presente momento. Chato.
How can you not like this game ?
Bit of a team effort this (niche sentence, some of the music done by the Go Team), as I played some but equally my son and daughter played co-op together. Which, given she has only just turned four, points to a pretty intuitive control scheme as she held her own really well. The levels are neat, soundtrack is cool, some great voice-acting, an all round fun time.
Finished in 2024
Played this in co-op all the way through. It was fun to play, but nothing special. Levels were a bit of a hit or miss situation. Ran into some trouble with the depth perception quite a few times throughout the game.
Played this in co-op all the way through. It was fun to play, but nothing special. Levels were a bit of a hit or miss situation. Ran into some trouble with the depth perception quite a few times throughout the game.
I have a problem with abandoning games, I usually don't do that and don't want to, and I've been almost a month without touching this game because there was nothing that drew my attention to it. I finally finished this just out of self obligation for getting rid of another rock in my backlog more than anything else. A thing you're sure to have heard when looking for reviews of this game is that this is just a Super Mario 3D World clone. I have played 3D Land, the one for the 3DS, and looking for gameplays of 3D World, Sackboy: A Big Adventure seems to have more in common with 3D Land than 3D World. The extent of Sackboy's originality ends there. This really is nothing more than a SM3D Land clone. Not even one remotely as good. This game lacks a lot of polish in its jumping and movement mechanics. Something like the ability to punch enemies is something that in theory should enhance the combat, but there's a reason why the ability to punch enemies is locked behind a power-up, the tanooki suit, in Mario and it is to create a more meaningful challenge centered around jumping on enemies. Maybe because the jumping isn't as precise, here on Sackboy, the best way of eliminating enemies is via punching, though the game throws some enemies that are better eliminated by jumping on them, but the hitboxes are unclear meaning there's a high chance of getting hurt while trying, so ultimately the best option is to go past those enemies.
The bosses are a mishmash of uninspired sequences that add next to nothing to the gameplay and are just common enemies with more life, bigger and with specific stages for them. At the end of every world there's a battle with the main villain, Vex, that repeats exactly the same world after world. And the worlds themselves are nothing more than the same one repeating over and over with a new coat of paint each time. New mechanics like the boomerang and the propulsion boots get introduced, but even then, they repeat from world to world, separating them from their originally specific context to put them into whatever scenario, getting rid of the minimal effort that was put into making each world feel unique and distinct from one another. All of this while a narrative that keeps telling you how important creativity is and how equally important is to protect it plays out, all while the most uninspired game design is being exhibited. LittleBigPlanet wasn't a unique franchise because of the quirky art style and forgettable campaigns, it was a unique franchise because it put a really interesting twist into something that had been extremely overdone like Unidimensional Platformers with a "Create and experiment" philosophy with really profound mechanics that led to the creation of a lot of imaginative levels made by the community. And this way, it managed to start interest on game development in a lot of people. Something that truly tied into the narrative about creativity those games always had. With its mechanical complexity, LittleBigPlanet could be an FPS (Garry's Mod), a creative sandbox (Minecraft) and a wacky 2D physics game (Happy Wheels), but Sackboy: A Big Adventure could never be any of those. And I mean, it doesn't have to, it's a 3D platformer. But that just begs the question: Why is this game in any way connected to LBP?
I've been trying to put my finger on why I dislike this game, and after thinking and thinking, I think I have a conclusion. Some levels in this game are made to be timed to a licensed pop song's tempo. This reveals, indirectly, the truth behind this game. This game's true meaning isn't about how important creativity is, because Sackboy: A Big Adventure doesn't give a crap about creativity. It wants to pretend to be young and quirky. I would say its only reason of being is to be a PlayStation 5 tech demo, but it also released on PlayStation 4 and Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart proved itself to not just be a better tech demo, but also a more interesting experience than Sackboy could have ever been. Through a combination of its uninspired worlds, unpolished combat and movement mechanics, half-baked narrative and playable systems and its top-charts extremely popular licensed pop music as well as the repetitiveness, Sackboy: A Big Adventure ultimately reveals the biggest disinterest possible in trying to be something of its own and its origin, not as a game made by creative minds, but a soulless executive-driven product conceived in a meetings room just to fill the PS5 launch library with no more intention than that. A truly dishonest experience with no commitment to itself.
The bosses are a mishmash of uninspired sequences that add next to nothing to the gameplay and are just common enemies with more life, bigger and with specific stages for them. At the end of every world there's a battle with the main villain, Vex, that repeats exactly the same world after world. And the worlds themselves are nothing more than the same one repeating over and over with a new coat of paint each time. New mechanics like the boomerang and the propulsion boots get introduced, but even then, they repeat from world to world, separating them from their originally specific context to put them into whatever scenario, getting rid of the minimal effort that was put into making each world feel unique and distinct from one another. All of this while a narrative that keeps telling you how important creativity is and how equally important is to protect it plays out, all while the most uninspired game design is being exhibited. LittleBigPlanet wasn't a unique franchise because of the quirky art style and forgettable campaigns, it was a unique franchise because it put a really interesting twist into something that had been extremely overdone like Unidimensional Platformers with a "Create and experiment" philosophy with really profound mechanics that led to the creation of a lot of imaginative levels made by the community. And this way, it managed to start interest on game development in a lot of people. Something that truly tied into the narrative about creativity those games always had. With its mechanical complexity, LittleBigPlanet could be an FPS (Garry's Mod), a creative sandbox (Minecraft) and a wacky 2D physics game (Happy Wheels), but Sackboy: A Big Adventure could never be any of those. And I mean, it doesn't have to, it's a 3D platformer. But that just begs the question: Why is this game in any way connected to LBP?
I've been trying to put my finger on why I dislike this game, and after thinking and thinking, I think I have a conclusion. Some levels in this game are made to be timed to a licensed pop song's tempo. This reveals, indirectly, the truth behind this game. This game's true meaning isn't about how important creativity is, because Sackboy: A Big Adventure doesn't give a crap about creativity. It wants to pretend to be young and quirky. I would say its only reason of being is to be a PlayStation 5 tech demo, but it also released on PlayStation 4 and Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart proved itself to not just be a better tech demo, but also a more interesting experience than Sackboy could have ever been. Through a combination of its uninspired worlds, unpolished combat and movement mechanics, half-baked narrative and playable systems and its top-charts extremely popular licensed pop music as well as the repetitiveness, Sackboy: A Big Adventure ultimately reveals the biggest disinterest possible in trying to be something of its own and its origin, not as a game made by creative minds, but a soulless executive-driven product conceived in a meetings room just to fill the PS5 launch library with no more intention than that. A truly dishonest experience with no commitment to itself.
A fairly standard platformer. Completely fine, and if you have young kids I can see this being a good game to play with them in co-op. Has these musical levels using licensed pop songs that are quite inspired, and there's obviously been a lot of love put into the art direction, but aside from that the game doesn't do a lot that's unique or interesting.
This game reminded me heavily of Super Mario 3D World when I saw that you could collect these orbs and obtain stickers for your sticker book. A solid platformer that would be pretty fun with friends or family, but it's lacking the charm of LBP as I grew up playing the games. The soundtrack wasn't all too memorable besides the licensed stuff. Although this game seems catered to kids, it has some punch to it with the challenge level, especially with the knitted knight trials. The story was also okay and nothing spectacular but I think it serves the game well.
Doesn't carry the charm of Little Big Planet. While the aesthetics are similar the lack of creation tools make the stitch together look feel inauthentic.
The game itself is competent, the levels are nice but Sackboy is slow and floaty. The whole thing is not very fun to play.
The game also locks cosmetics you find in levels behind a shop - nobody likes this artificial shitty feature! If I get something in the game just let me have it.
The cosmetics are always related to the theme of the world and there's not enough baubles to unlock them all without grinding.
There are like 40 free dlc outfits anyways so the whole ordeal is extra weird.
I played Little Big Planet with my siblings and friends back in they, this I played solo and it's probably better in a group.
The game itself is competent, the levels are nice but Sackboy is slow and floaty. The whole thing is not very fun to play.
The game also locks cosmetics you find in levels behind a shop - nobody likes this artificial shitty feature! If I get something in the game just let me have it.
The cosmetics are always related to the theme of the world and there's not enough baubles to unlock them all without grinding.
There are like 40 free dlc outfits anyways so the whole ordeal is extra weird.
I played Little Big Planet with my siblings and friends back in they, this I played solo and it's probably better in a group.
Sights & Sounds
- Being a major release from a major studio, it's perhaps no surprise that the game looks incredible. The textures are crisp, the lighting effects are gorgeous, and the aesthetics are (while not unique) interesting
- Cutscene animations were similarly good, and the voice acting was excellent across the board
- The licensed music wasn't really my taste, but the songs were used well. It was fun hopping from platform to platform to Jungle Boogie and smacking enemies to Toxic
Story & Vibes
- I never had a PS3 and went into this game with no knowledge of Little Big Planet lore. The plot seemed pretty generic for a character action platformer, but I accept that I may be missing some things
- Despite the throwaway "save friends from bad guy" story, the game is still an enjoyable and playful experience
Playability & Replayability
- The platforming is quality, but there's not a ton of untread ground in this aspect of the game. If you've played any 3D Mario game released since Galaxy, you've seen more platforming creativity
- The puzzles are also interesting, but you'll be well-prepared for any challenge the game throws at you if you've played at least one other puzzle platformer
- Gripes aside, this is an excellent co-op experience. It doesn't reach the same highs as something like It Takes Two, but it's still a top-notch couch game
- I had more fun than I care to admit making different outfits for Sackboy
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I'm impressed with the game's optimization. It chugged along at 60FPS without many issues despite the fact that I don't have a ridiculous setup or anything
- As I mentioned above, this is a great co-op experience. I'd unfortunately have a hard time recommending it as a solely single-player game. Not only is it more fun to puzzle solve by tossing a friend around and finish every stage with a finish line slap fight, but you also get additional content in the form of multiplayer-only levels
Final Verdict
- 7/10. As a single player game, it's a 6/10. As a multiplayer game, it's an 8/10. My rating splits the difference. Beyond how many people are playing, it's a well-made 3D platformer with fantastic production values that suffers slightly from a lack of substance but makes up for it somewhat with a boatload of style
- Being a major release from a major studio, it's perhaps no surprise that the game looks incredible. The textures are crisp, the lighting effects are gorgeous, and the aesthetics are (while not unique) interesting
- Cutscene animations were similarly good, and the voice acting was excellent across the board
- The licensed music wasn't really my taste, but the songs were used well. It was fun hopping from platform to platform to Jungle Boogie and smacking enemies to Toxic
Story & Vibes
- I never had a PS3 and went into this game with no knowledge of Little Big Planet lore. The plot seemed pretty generic for a character action platformer, but I accept that I may be missing some things
- Despite the throwaway "save friends from bad guy" story, the game is still an enjoyable and playful experience
Playability & Replayability
- The platforming is quality, but there's not a ton of untread ground in this aspect of the game. If you've played any 3D Mario game released since Galaxy, you've seen more platforming creativity
- The puzzles are also interesting, but you'll be well-prepared for any challenge the game throws at you if you've played at least one other puzzle platformer
- Gripes aside, this is an excellent co-op experience. It doesn't reach the same highs as something like It Takes Two, but it's still a top-notch couch game
- I had more fun than I care to admit making different outfits for Sackboy
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I'm impressed with the game's optimization. It chugged along at 60FPS without many issues despite the fact that I don't have a ridiculous setup or anything
- As I mentioned above, this is a great co-op experience. I'd unfortunately have a hard time recommending it as a solely single-player game. Not only is it more fun to puzzle solve by tossing a friend around and finish every stage with a finish line slap fight, but you also get additional content in the form of multiplayer-only levels
Final Verdict
- 7/10. As a single player game, it's a 6/10. As a multiplayer game, it's an 8/10. My rating splits the difference. Beyond how many people are playing, it's a well-made 3D platformer with fantastic production values that suffers slightly from a lack of substance but makes up for it somewhat with a boatload of style
I went into this excited to just relax with a fun and creative platformer. But this thing is an absolute chore to get through, just boring as hell. The LittleBigPlanet series is what it is because of its creativity. Sackboy's Big Adventure is just every 3D platformer you've ever played before but worse. The story is obnoxious even for a kids game, the controls are unresponsive/floaty, and there's no sense of depth perception which is essential for a 3D platformer. The only thing it has going for it are the 5 licensed music levels, which are pretty cool and worth playing a couple times. Everything else ranges from monotonous to straight up mind numbing.
juego carismático con banda sonora carismática, hacen falta más plataformers 3d en el mundo, aunque a veces costaba calcular la profundidad por la cámara fija
mario like game on playstation
I never really minded Sackboy's floaty and slightly sluggish movement in his 2D outings, but there's something about moving across the Z-axis that feels like you're wading through thick soup. Maybe it's the perspective from the camera angles being used but I was never really able to build up any momentum on those kinds of levels which for me is a hallmark of an enjoyable platformer. Not to say I disliked every 3D level, but I found the game a lot more enjoyable when it returned to LBP's sidescrolling roots.
Even with the movement issues I found some things to like in the later level designs and challenge trials - this outing really does follow the Mario formula of starting easy and then throwing the hardest levels at you as optional content or once you've finished the main story which is a sensible way of doing things, but the majority of those early levels feel rather uninteresting as a result, something especially noticeable given the speed at which Sackboy can move.
Also a final note of praise for the audio team for how well implemented the music is to each world you're dashing about in, whether it's an original piece or a remix of licensed music.
Even with the movement issues I found some things to like in the later level designs and challenge trials - this outing really does follow the Mario formula of starting easy and then throwing the hardest levels at you as optional content or once you've finished the main story which is a sensible way of doing things, but the majority of those early levels feel rather uninteresting as a result, something especially noticeable given the speed at which Sackboy can move.
Also a final note of praise for the audio team for how well implemented the music is to each world you're dashing about in, whether it's an original piece or a remix of licensed music.
Fully played in co-op, which was also the reason why I even finished it. The game just didn't feel nice to play and that's mostly because of how the controls felt.
My thoughts:
(+ = (mostly) positive; - = (mostly) negative)
- Gameplay;
The controls were slow in all ways possible. Hitting an enemy never felt like it landed and the depth perception was off. All levels were unique enough, but mostly not really fun to play because of the reasons mentioned earlier. It's so important to have controls that feel nice to use. It can decide the whole experience for me.
+- Music;
It's alright I guess.
+- Graphics;
Charming but not as creative as it could have been. Paper Mario or yoshi woolly world for example use the environment in an unique way.
-- Story/Characters;
Zzzzzz....
Recommend?
No, plenty of other games that do the job way better. Super Mario 3D World for example.
My thoughts:
(+ = (mostly) positive; - = (mostly) negative)
- Gameplay;
The controls were slow in all ways possible. Hitting an enemy never felt like it landed and the depth perception was off. All levels were unique enough, but mostly not really fun to play because of the reasons mentioned earlier. It's so important to have controls that feel nice to use. It can decide the whole experience for me.
+- Music;
It's alright I guess.
+- Graphics;
Charming but not as creative as it could have been. Paper Mario or yoshi woolly world for example use the environment in an unique way.
-- Story/Characters;
Zzzzzz....
Recommend?
No, plenty of other games that do the job way better. Super Mario 3D World for example.
it was nice its no Rayman legends though and the pc port is a mess
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a really fun Mario-inspired 3D platformer with simple controls and beautiful artsy asthetics. I also wasn't expecting to hear Foster the People or Britney Spears songs in this so that was cool!
Liked 🙂
Liked 🙂
Sigh... it was fine. It was a good platformer, but I just want another Littlebigplanet.
Lbp fans keep yourself safe
3D world for people who don't have a switch
I played Sackboy: A Big Adventure almost entirely multiplayer with my friends. Overall, it was a good, fun experience. Things would get quite hectic with the camera when playing with friends and sometimes it was difficult to tell who was who when bunched up together despite us having different costumes for our characters. Minor aggravations aside, the game was worth our time. Best thing about this game for sure is the soundtrack. It's seriously damn good. So, if you are a fan of collect-a-thon platformers, you should give this one a try.
Uninspired and didn't keep my attention. It attempted to capture the humor and storytelling style of the Little Big Planet titles but just seemed to miss the mark. It's not bad by any means, perfectly serviceable in fact. It just lacks something to make it really stand out from any other modern 3D platformer.
I don't like making the decision that I'm just not going to come back to a game, but I honestly forgot everything about it until thinking about writing this review.
I don't like making the decision that I'm just not going to come back to a game, but I honestly forgot everything about it until thinking about writing this review.
Glad I finally sat down & gave this game a fair shake. Feels like the PlayStation version of Super Mario 3D World. Gameplay is solid, control is tight, visuals are appealing, music levels were a nice touch ---- Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a good time through & through. Collected what I'd guess was about 85% of the main Orb collectibles, and overall, had fun doing so.
A fine enough action platformer. I maybe would have finished if I had a connection to LittleBigPlanet. This would probably be a good first game for a kid.
Bom pra caralho.
hearing the Iconic LBP sound effects on PC is chef's kiss. I definitely enjoyed their approach to gameplay here for a spin off. visually a lot of cool textures and effects to see while progressing through a level. can't tell if its a PC port problem but the desyncing/rubber-banding when playing online with others because of framerate was very negatively impacting my overall experience even when at times all I ever dipped down to was 59 frames.
Joguei em Co-op local com meu irmão. Jogo divertido, com variedade de fases e bons desafios ao que se propõe. No final das contas o jogo é divertido, carismático e cumpre seu papel: entreter.
Maybe the best LittleBigPlanet.
So much damn creativity at every corner. The level design, the gadgets, the presentation of the whole thing. All of it is of such top tier quality. An absolutely incredible OST that includes real fun remixes of listened songs made music-based levels a highlight. Sackboy has also never controlled better. The platforming is tight and responsive and feels wonderful in motion.
Really, the only thing it does worse than the Media Molecule games is UGC. I was never a big UGC guy to begin with so, I'm fine with that.
An absolute and uncontestable home run from Sumo, made even more impressive considering how lackluster LBP3 was. I'm still glowing on this one.
So much damn creativity at every corner. The level design, the gadgets, the presentation of the whole thing. All of it is of such top tier quality. An absolutely incredible OST that includes real fun remixes of listened songs made music-based levels a highlight. Sackboy has also never controlled better. The platforming is tight and responsive and feels wonderful in motion.
Really, the only thing it does worse than the Media Molecule games is UGC. I was never a big UGC guy to begin with so, I'm fine with that.
An absolute and uncontestable home run from Sumo, made even more impressive considering how lackluster LBP3 was. I'm still glowing on this one.