LocoRoco

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Loco Roco

Developer(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment Japan
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Designer(s)	Tsutomu Kouno (game)^[1] Keigo Tsuchiya (art)^[1]
Release date(s)	June 23, 2006 June 30, 2006 July 6, 2006 July 6, 2006 July 13, 2006 September 5, 2006
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	PEGI: 3+ Australian OFLC: G ESRB: E
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Media	UMD
System requirements	Firmware version 2.71

LocoRoco (ロコロコ, Rokoroko^?) is a Japanese video game released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game console, and developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. In the game, the player must tilt the environment in using the left or right shoulder buttons in order to maneuver a variety of coloured jelly-like characters through each level via gravity. This game was created by producer Kazuhito Miyaki and game designer Tsutomu Kouno.

1 Plot
2 Gameplay
3 Pre-release demos
4 Music and soundtrack
5 Differences in version
6 Critical reception
7 Sequel
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Plot

Living peacefully on a faraway planet, the LocoRoco and their friends, the Mui Mui, helped grow vegetation and look after nature, making the planet a pleasant place to be, playing and singing the days away. When the Moja Troop comes to the planet to take it over, the LocoRoco do not know how to fight against the invaders from outer space. As such, the player assumes the role of "the planet" that is capable of tilting the landscape back and forth, and bouncing the LocoRoco in the air, to defeat the Moja Troop and rescue the LocoRoco. The player will also meet many different characters along the way, some of which are unknown to the player. The player must find out how to interact with these characters, and find out what they know, while determining if they are beneficial or should be avoided as foes. Mui Mui can be found in secret areas in the game.

[edit] Gameplay

Split LocoRoco that the player controls in game.

The player controls the planet the LocoRoco inhabit and uses the L and R buttons to tilt and jolt the planet to move the LocoRoco around. By pressing the Circle button the player can also split larger LocoRoco into individual LocoRoco, and then recombine them by holding it. Splitting is required into order to fit through tight spaces and also solve many puzzles. There are 5 worlds to clear, each consisting of 8 levels.

The object of each level is to find and eat as many "berries" as possible to increase the size of the LocoRoco, to a maximum of 20. There are also "Pickories" and "Mui Mui" to find. The "Pickories" are used as currency for playing the minigames Mui Mui Crane and Chuppa Chuppa, while the "Mui Mui" unlock more minigames and music for the Loco House. The player must also be careful to avoid enemies, mainly "Burrs" (spikey obstacles) and "Moja", which can cause them to lose LocoRoco or even die if the last LocoRoco is lost.

The player can also collect "Loco House Pieces", which are saved and available from the Loco House minigame. They come in different rarities, rated from one star pieces (common) to three star pieces (rare). The player gets one for each "Mui Mui" they find in a level, but they can also be found lying around the level or obtained from other NPCs if a certain number of LocoRoco have been collected by that point. There are 144 pieces to collect, however 40 of them are special (each depicting a character from the game) and can only be obtained by finding all 20 LocoRoco in each of the 40 levels.

As well as the main game, there are several minigames included.

Loco House

A LocoRoco in the LocoHouse.

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 (with some exceptions), 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 Parts and LocoRoco for the Loco House can be obtained. The game is very similar to many real-life arcade crane games. There is a bin full of prizes, which include LocoRocos of various shapes and sizes, and part tokens. Rarer Part tokens are harder to pick up than the more common tokens, due to their awkward 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 that this 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.

[edit] Pre-release demos

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).

A special halloween-themed demo has also been released on October 26, 2006. In addition, some retail stores received physical demos that carried a different level. There was also a beach themed demo released, and a Christmas demo was released on December 11, 2006.[1]

[edit] Music and soundtrack

Music plays a large part in LocoRoco, with each LocoRoco singing the song for each stage, and at the title screen. These LocoRoco have different voices depending on their color, varying in pitch and tone. 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] The music was composed and performed (except for the vocals) by Nobuyuki Shimizu and Kemmei Adachi.

The lyrics to the main theme song as written on the back of the instruction pamphlet are as follows:

pacchonbo- mo-inoinoi chakaretapatton pankorakettonto-n

no-ra churere-rotton poraporapetton pu-rorattantan

pappu-ra mo-inoinoi chakaretapatton pankorakettonto-n

o-ra poruketthi-no poporattantanso-

kokoreccho pie-nto-ra ma-nima-ni ungarafoccha-ra de-ra

totora-pethiton totora-pothiton senekiniko-se-pon

kokoreccho pie-nto-ra ma-nima-ni ungarafoccha-ra de-ra

totora-pethiton totora-mathisi-po-n

pacchonbo- mo-inoinoi chakaretapatton pankorakettonto-n

no-ra churere-rotton lokorokopetton pu-rorattantan

pappu-ra mo-inoinoi chakaretapatton pankorakettonto-n

o-ra poruketthi-no poporattantanso-

The LocoRoco Original Soundtrack has been released with 42 tracks from the video game on it.

[edit] 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 accessible 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 accessible after completing the 2nd level, as is the 4th level to the 3rd. These levels are extremely challenging. Players can play and trade these levels anytime.

[edit] 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. It was praised on X-Play for its simplicity and for avoiding the clichés of modern games, receiving a 4 out of 5 rating. The game has also won two awards at the BAFTA Games Awards on December 5, 2006.^[3]

Reviews:

[edit] Sequel

In December 2006, Phil Harrison first mentioned a sequel to LocoRoco, and he mentioned it again during his appearance at the DICE Summit in February 2007. At the 2007 Game Developers Conference director Tsutomo Kouno talked more about it, and left strong hints the game will release on the PlayStation 3. No exact details were revealed, but he promised "not to betray fans' expectations".^[4]