Back when we played Patapon, I mentioned that the PlayStation Portable had two cutesy and musical platformers and that it was the other of the two that I was more familiar with, LocoRoco. A couple of years later, the bouncy yellow blobs were back for LocoRoco 2.
While I played more LocoRoco than Patapon, I've played little of either - another error to correct at some nebulous point in the future. I get the impression the storyline won't be the important part of LocoRoco 2, though. Who needs a story when everything looks so damn adorable?
Let's get rolling and bouncing through what must be the happiest game on the PSP.
Fun Times
While originally for the PSP, it's the PlayStation 4 Remaster that I'm playing right now, and from the moment the game booted up, I was smiling, partly for nostalgic reasons, and memories of LocoRoco, but mostly because you just can't help it.
Look at that little fella. He's like a space hopper. You can't be miserable on a space hopper. Look at this peaceful backdrop, too. Alright, the skies aren't a brilliant blue, but don't you just feel happy looking at that image? No? Then look at the planet we're on.
Everyone is happy in LocoRoco 2, but what's going on here? What are we, and what do we do?
There are three buttons to worry about. Two shoulder buttons rotate the world left and right, causing everything not rooted to the floor to roll this way or that. Use the buttons together and you can cause the LocoRoco to bounce, and bounce higher depending on how long you hold those shoulder buttons for. Time it all right and you'll be bouncing and rolling and bouncing again, all over the place.
Roll past some edible fruit and we can grow or recruit more LocoRoco. It's hard to say which. Maybe the LocoRoco are birthed by these strawberry-looking things, who knows? Eat them and you get blobbier, that's all you need to know.
Wasn't there a third button to worry about? Yes, there was. A press of the circle button splits the main LocoRoco into however many mini-LocoRoco you've found, allowing them to all roll about the stage independently, until you hold down the circle button to suck them all back into one blobby body.
I've no idea what these presumably Japanese schoolkids are singing, but I like it. The soundtrack does as much as the visuals to make you feel happy, and the gameplay is simple enough to make you forget this is a game. It feels more like interactive art.
The LocoRoco aren't happy for long. The Moja are back to infect the planet with their own music, causing life to wilt and wither. A meteor has even clonked this think on the noggin and pinned them to the floor.
We could move that rock, if only we were bigger...
Levels are fairly linear offerings with mostly clear objectives to meet. Collectables are always worth collecting if you can, and enemies stick out from the background in ways that you can't miss. Clear away the dark clouds by bouncing into them and life is restored to the planet, our reward either more LocoRoco or some form of musical currency that I haven't got any knowledge of.
Make it to the end of the stage and you're greeted with more joyous celebration, and a stats screen showing you what you could have collected if you had your eyes open. There will always be something you missed, but where on Earth is any of it? There's only one route through the level, how could I miss anything?
Frustrations
Ah yes, now I remember. Hidden areas that only reveal themselves when you're practically on top of them. Some are signposted a little - when the route clearly goes right, go left - but others require skill and repeat trips through a stage.
Even though the only buttons are the shoulder buttons, getting them to co-operate can be a paint in the arse sometimes, especially if the blobby physics of your large LocoRoco teeter on the edge of a platform, about to fall and with nowhere left to turn.
It's like trying to juggle jelly but don't let it get to you. Ignore that challenge for now. Move on to the next one. You can come back when you're more in tune with it all.
Further Fun Times
Thankfully, your performance does not impact what you hear but get it right and you're rewarded with items to be used in the hub world for some purpose or another. Truth be told, I don't know what any of it is right now. I hope I don't have to worry about it at all, and can just bounce around the place having fun.
Another afro serves as a pinball, which was a bit of an annoying challenge, it must be said. Still, we ride it down the rest of the level towards the exit and celebrate once more. Everything is worth celebrating to the LocoRoco. Sing about it all, too, go on. Be happy!
Finally a beast of a LocoRoco, we're able to knock this boulder out of the way and celebrate once again. Our reward is a game of whack-a-mole, for some reason, before we get the next part of the plot.
I had to read up on what was going on, but the Moja Corps leader, Bon Mucho, is back with a plan for revenge. I assume this is he, at least. Very little is explained in LocoRoco 2. Perhaps it just doesn't matter. We're restoring life to our land after these guys spluttered their music all over it, but ultimately we're just bouncing around a level, shouting "weeeee!" a lot, and singing at every opportunity.
And now - at least to my recollection - we can do so as something that isn't yellow.
This is too much for me! More colours? Different songs? I must prepare for this, LocoRoco 2, I'm not ready for your confident purple tomboy's.
Final Word
That's where I stopped after 40 minutes or so, with so much more to see I'm sure. Was LocoRoco 2 as good as I thought it would be? Yes, indeed. Was it as annoying to control as I remember LocoRoco being at times? You bet it was, yeah.
As an infectious little distraction on the go, either of the LocoRoco games is worth a look. If Patapon made you bounce to keep the rhythm, LocoRoco makes you bounce because you just want to. But do you want to play levels again and again in search of all the collectables? Do you want to go through them all to see what the story is all about?
For those questions, I have to say that I don't. Not really. LocoRoco 2 is fun, don't get me wrong. It's a game I can see myself playing more of, especially on the PS4 where I don't have to worry about cramped hands (not that I've got the PSP original anyway). It's a game to enjoy if you feel the need to bounce around a whimsical piece of art while schoolkids delightfully sing and shout and cheer in your ears. But is it a game for the long haul?
Patapon is more of a game than LocoRoco, but LocoRoco is so charming that I will always pick it first. But complete it? Well, I know I never completed the first LocoRoco. What made me abandon it? Difficulty? Waning interest? Repetitiveness?
I guess I'll have to try playing it or LocoRoco 2 properly to find out. Right now, though, I need to put a certain song on loop...
Fun Facts
The singing isn't actually Japanese so that international audiences wouldn't be alienated by hearing a Japanese soundtrack. I guess it worked, I want more.
LocoRoco 2, developed by Japan Studio, first released in 2008.
Version played: LocoRoco 2 Remastered, PlayStation 4, 2017.