Little circular balls that can sing and gobble up mini flies that makes them multiply as they  traverse a batch of psychedelic worlds while they sing with the background music and other things. Yes, this is LocoRoco Remastered and it’s as trippy as it sounds.

Platform Reviewed: PS4
Platform Available: PS4, PSP
Developer: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Release Date: May 9, 2017
Price: $14.99
This review is based on a review code provided by the developers/publisher.

I have not really played the original of this game so I really didn’t know what to expect. So I started the game and noticed the colorful layout of the world. It’s like a coloring book that was brought to life. You then have this little ball character that seems like the early makings of an emoji. You then traverse a world eating some kind of fruit that makes you grow and multiply and then little flies that are scattered about.

The controls of this game is very simple yet I sometimes find myself getting frustrated by it. Basically, you use the L1 and R1 to move the tiny Loco but you’re not really moving him. Instead the world you are exploring is being tilted left and right. You can also use the motion sensor to do this and it’s actually very responsive. If you hold either L1 or R1 it will cause the Loco to jump to the left or right respectively. Holding both buttons will let your Loco jump higher.

It’s definitely a unique way to do a platforming puzzle game and sometimes the result can be frustrating. I find myself getting stuck on walls or not being able to jump to the right location because of the weird tilting. And sometimes the obstacle itself is just not cooperating with you.

There are 6 different Locos that you will meet along the way and they all sing a different tune. Other than that, there’s really nothing different with them. There are no unique abilities or anything that would want you to choose a different Loco. I guess you’d choose the other ones for their color but that’s it. They do add a different tune to the background music.

There are 5 worlds for you to complete and in each world there are about 7 levels or so. It’s a short game if you just want to finish the game and not pick up any of the collectibles. After you complete a level there is a results screen that tallies how many fruits you’ve eaten or rather how many Loco duplicates you’ve managed to take to the finish line. It also tallies how many fly things you’ve eaten and how many special star fruits you’ve collected. The star fruits are rare and can only be found in secret areas or waking up NPCs in the level. Waking up the NPCs would require you to have a certain amount of Locos and it could vary from 5 to 18. So if you want to get those star fruits you will have to eat lots of Loco fruits.

There are also little humanoids called MuiMui that you can collect in each level and there’s at least 3 in each of them. Again, to get these humanoids you will have to either find them in secret areas or by meeting a required number of Locos.

Now, when I mentioned that it tallies the amount Loco duplicates you can manage to take to the finish line, this means that there’s a possibility that even if you have eaten all 20 fruits you might not be able to take them all to the finish line. This is because of the many traps and enemies in the game. One particular enemy is the Moja. Well I call it the Moja because it screams the word Moja when it gets near you. Anyway, you need to avoid these things if you want to survive and make it to the finish line. Because the moment they get near you they will try and eat a piece of you and essentially make you lose one of your Locos. You can however, defeat them by bumping into them before they reach you so that they die.

There is also a bigger version of the Moja that only gets stunned when you hit them. So it’s best to run away from them before they eat you alive. Another version of the Moja is the miniature one which sticks to your Loco and makes you unable to jump high. This could be dangerous if there were spikes in the area because hitting a spike also makes you lose a Loco and if all of your Loco is lost, it’s game over.

There are also NPCs that will help you in the game. There’s an anteater like animal that sucks you and throws you into a direction that you want to go to. There’s a dog like animal that eats you and spits you out shaping you into a different form. Your initial form is a sphere and the dog can shape you into a rectangle, a square or a triangle. You can revert to your old form once you hit water or geysers that are in the level.

Aside from the world game, there are also other things that you can do in the game. There’s the Loco House that allows you to create and build a house with the many items that you can collect from the world game and from a mini game where it works like a crane game and you just try to hook up items or Locos.

There are two other mini games that you can unlock by accomplishing certain requirements, one of which involves collecting all MuiMuis in a world. You will just have to figure them out on your own if you are interested to play those minigames.

All in all, this game is definitely not made for children as they would easily get frustrated by the puzzles and traps in this game. It’s a puzzle platforming game at its core and if you just want to waste some time then this game is for you. But if you get frustrated easily with platforming then I suggest you look elsewhere. It’s a fun game and there were times I couldn’t take myself away from it even thought I felt ridiculous listening to the nonsensible music. Even then, it’s a mesmerizing game and it’s a fun take on puzzle platforming. Now I need to find a way to get rid of this music that’s stuck in my head.

6.5

JUSTIFIED

THE GAME IS A GOOD BUY DEPENDING ON YOUR PREFERENCE OF WHAT A “GOOD BUY” IS.
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