Until recently, we had trouble enjoying Sony's ambitious PlayStation 3 video game, LittleBigPlanet. Its mascot, the adorable Sackboy, was shoved down our throats, and the level editor failed to thrill. Paying a company $59.99 to design their game made no sense, and we'd much rather play God of War over a crude homage, at least until a casual play session turned into an all day's romp through colorful worlds teeming with cute animals, twisted creations and catchy music. Now our heads are full of grinning Sackboys, previously completed levels and our own designs. We're hooked.

Cute cardboard cutouts and lots of flowers make LittleBigPlanet a happy place to visit.

LittleBigPlanet is fun for multiple reasons starting with Sackboy. Using the Popit, the game's customization menu, we had a blast trying on different outfits, altering his skin color and adding various accessories like glasses, hats and jackets. Much of this stuff is hidden within the game's Story mode, which brings us to another one of the game's best features, collecting. Pack rats will love searching the created levels for new stickers, parts and other goodies. It's this desire to grab everything that kept us playing, because we refused to proceed until we figured out how to nab that last sticker, even if it meant grabbing a friend to complete one of the game's co-op challenges. If we missed the tribal mask, well, our lives would never be the same.

Story mode is surprisingly good and an excellent look at the game's potential. As Sackboy, you explore various continents bursting with imagination and exquisite music. Europe, for example, challenges you to scale castles and dodge ghosts, while Africa has you avoiding crocodiles and bouncing off meerkats. You'll ride horses, use a rocket pack, complete simple but cool puzzles, avoid burning coals and visit a bizarre wedding, all the while scoring tons of points by collecting bubbles and goodies used for editing. Most of these levels are short, but the various mini challenges and hard to reach areas encourage multiple plays. We just wish developer Media Molecule spent more time on the actual story. Although we ran into numerous characters, they lack personality, which is in stark contrast to the level designs, which are full of it. It's a shame, because it makes Story Mode feel like a simple world tour instead of a Mario or Sonic the Hedgehog style adventure.

Spore Screenshots

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 1 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 2 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 3 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 4 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 5 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 6 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 7 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 8 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 9 of 112)

    Spore, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims, gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers. (Screenshot 10 of 112)


Although we dig Story mode, much of our time was spent in LittleBigPlanet's editor, which is simply phenomenal. With hundreds of parts, all accessible through the Popit, you're able to build entire levels from scratch, constructing castles, mountains and monsters; you can even take pictures and upload them using the PlayStation Eye. It's as simple as accessing the Popit, using the L1/R1 buttons to view different menus and placing stickers with the left analog stick, adjusting their position and size before stamping them with X. Media Molecule has various level templates in case you don't feel like starting with a blank canvas, but designing is easy once you go through the included tutorials. Keep in mind, however, that the game has an excessive amount of instructive videos.