LocoRoco

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Loco Roco
LocoRoco EU Box cover
Developer(s)Sony Computer Entertainment Japan
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Designer(s)Tsutomu Kouno (game)[1]
Keigo Tsuchiya (art)[1]
Platform(s)PlayStation Portable
ReleaseEurope June 23, 2006
New Zealand June 30, 2006
Hong Kong July 6, 2006
Taiwan July 6, 2006
Japan July 13, 2006
North America September 5, 2006
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single player

LocoRoco (Japanese: ロコロコ, Rokoroko) is a video game developed by for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game console. In the game, the player must tilt the environment in using the L or R shoulder buttons in order to maneuver a variety of coloured jelly-like characters through each level via gravity.

Plot

Living peacefully with the planet they lived on, the LocoRoco and their friends, the Mui Mui helped looking after nature, making the planet a "pleasant place to be", until the Moja Troop came to the planet to take it over. The LocoRoco themselves don't know how to fight invaders from outer space, so the player assumes the role of "the planet" and must tilt the landscape to defeat the Moja Troop and rescue the LocoRoco. You will also meet many different characters along your way, who you know nothing about. Find out what they do and they could be a help...or not.

Gameplay

By eating "berries," the LocoRoco will grow in size, which is indicated by a number on screen. By pressing the Circle button, the larger LocoRoco splits into many smaller LocoRoco. This is necessary for traveling through tight spaces. The many small LocoRoco can be recombined by holding down the Circle button. When the L and R shoulder buttons are pressed and released, the planet will bounce the LocoRoco into the air.

During the game, LocoRoco will encounter characters who will give them Loco House Pieces, which are saved and available from the Loco House Mini game. Loco House Pieces come in different rarities, rated from one star pieces (common) to three star pieces (rare). These characters are mainly Mui Mui but there are also moons, clouds and suns.

Apart from the main gameplay, there are several minigames included.

File:Locoroco boxart.jpg
The US release cover art.
  • Loco House
Loco House Parts collected from the game and other mini games can be used to construct a non-interactive playground that the players' LocoRoco can play within. Parts, once collected, can be selected from a menu and placed into the House level. The different parts can be rotated, but not scaled or flipped before being placed. Once the level is filled with parts as the user desires, players can press Start to allow collected LocoRoco to explore it, pressing Start again to make more changes.
There are also Parts tokens floating around in the House level. Players can arrange their parts in such a way that the LocoRoco will pick up the tokens, which add a random part to the Player's collection.
  • Mui Mui Crane
A skill game where more Loco House Parts can be obtained. The game is very similar to many real-life arcade crane games. There is a bin full of prizes, which include live LocoRocos of various shapes and sizes, and part tokens. The stars on the tokens indicate the rarity of the Loco House Part you will receive. Rarer Part tokens are harder to pick up than the more common tokens, due to their shape.
  • Chuppa Chuppa
A game where the player controls a creature called a "Chuppa" to launch LocoRoco certain distances. Making it slide to the next Chuppa, who, in turn, launches it to the next and so on. Once players' LocoRoco gets to the end they get a prize in the shape of a Loco House part.
  • Loco Editor
The Loco Editor is similar to the Loco House except the is a normal start and goal area, and after players place parts they can press the Start button and actually play the level. There are 12 more special Loco Editor Parts not available in the Loco House.

Pre-release demo

Following the release of Firmware 2.7 on April 25, 2006, a demo of the game was released on the game's website — the first Sony-sanctioned user-downloadable game for the PSP. It includes one level that will take the player around 5-15 minutes to complete, depending on the number of secret areas the player encounters. The demo is currently available in Japanese, English and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).

In addition, some retail stores received physical demos that carried a different level.

Music

Music plays a large part in LocoRoco, with each LocoRoco singing the song for each stage, and the title screen. These LocoRoco have different voices depending on their color, varying in pitch and tone.

The music was composed and performed (except for the vocals) by Nobuyuki Shimizu and Kemmei Adachi.

The lyrics of the songs and "LocoRoco Language," a fictional language were invented by Tsutomu Kouno to ensure that the music would be the same worldwide.[2]

Differences in version

The Japanese, Korean, Asian and European versions appear to be identical in features except for the languages supported. The U.S. version has two levels not found in the other versions. They are accessable from the "Options" menu under "Demo Levels." There are 4 demo levels. The first 2 are included in all versions. The second 2 levels are new and start as locked. As such, the 3rd level is only accesible after completing the 2nd level, as is the 4th level to the 3rd. These levels are extremely challenging.

Critical reception

When professional reviewers first reviewed the pre-release demo, most stated that LocoRoco was "uniquely simplistic", "cute", and "pure fun". But, when the full game was released, reviewers were shocked by how quickly LocoRoco's difficulty increases, one reviewer stating that it was "'nightmarishly' hard". Still, universal scores were above 8/10, showing that LocoRoco has massive appeal to all types of gamers.

Reviews:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b LocoRoco at MobyGames. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.
  2. ^ "LocoRoco creator explains all". YourPSP.co.nz. June 22, 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-01.
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