Sackboy brings with him all of the important charm and style of LittleBigPlanet, alongside a ‘new’ 3D platforming flavour which allows for a bunch of fresh mechanics in the form of swinging, hovering, boomerangs, guns(!). The whole thing is really good, simple family fun that looks great and plays intuitively.
So, a great shame then that a game that so clearly should be played cooperatively has so many annoying little issues on that front; the ability to hit your partner is funny for about the first 5 times it happens, but as the levels amp up and the difficulty increases, hitting your fellow Sackboy is a pain for both of you, and happens often. Although not nearly as often as starting a roll and your buddy being dragged along on top of you without a choice, essentially ruining any of the platforming sequences they were currently trying to conquer. The cherry on top is the ability to bounce on top of another players head, except this happens in all the wrong scenarios like the middle of a treacherous jump together, inevitably sending one of you to death. Maybe these criticisms are bearable played locally, but online play can be jittery and janky for everyone but the host, with plenty of ‘I made that jump on my screen?!’ and ‘the enemy never even touched me?!’ shouted during every other stage. These issues are exacerbated in the otherwise deeply enjoyable musical numbers where the levels and their traps are synced to a number of high profile licensed tracks (and covers of) that will have you questioning the likely astronomical music budget of the game - these are highlights of the experience!
This is a critical 4/5, but given that my partner who I played online with experienced a bunch of the annoying connection issues from start to finish, I know his score would be lower and I should at least reflect that in this critique. But don’t get me wrong, this is a super fun platformer that looks, sounds and plays fantastic - just play it locally.
So, a great shame then that a game that so clearly should be played cooperatively has so many annoying little issues on that front; the ability to hit your partner is funny for about the first 5 times it happens, but as the levels amp up and the difficulty increases, hitting your fellow Sackboy is a pain for both of you, and happens often. Although not nearly as often as starting a roll and your buddy being dragged along on top of you without a choice, essentially ruining any of the platforming sequences they were currently trying to conquer. The cherry on top is the ability to bounce on top of another players head, except this happens in all the wrong scenarios like the middle of a treacherous jump together, inevitably sending one of you to death. Maybe these criticisms are bearable played locally, but online play can be jittery and janky for everyone but the host, with plenty of ‘I made that jump on my screen?!’ and ‘the enemy never even touched me?!’ shouted during every other stage. These issues are exacerbated in the otherwise deeply enjoyable musical numbers where the levels and their traps are synced to a number of high profile licensed tracks (and covers of) that will have you questioning the likely astronomical music budget of the game - these are highlights of the experience!
This is a critical 4/5, but given that my partner who I played online with experienced a bunch of the annoying connection issues from start to finish, I know his score would be lower and I should at least reflect that in this critique. But don’t get me wrong, this is a super fun platformer that looks, sounds and plays fantastic - just play it locally.