Loco Roco is a Must-buy for the PSP!

Ever since I got Loco Roco for Christmas, it has had me going back to my PSP over and over again. Ever since I stopped traveling for a couple months, my PSP - which I had often used for playing old 16-bit games on emulator, sat around gathering dust. This is the first actual PSP game I've found that I really liked since I first bought the system on the strength of Wipeout Pure, Ridge Racer and Metal Gear: Acid. Loco Roco is definitely a must-buy.

Loco Rocos are the creatures you must help in the game - little blob-like creatures that like to roll around, eat fruit and flies, and sing. With the press of a button you create a lightning blast in the background that scares the Loco Roco into dividing, or you start a "call" between the Loco Roco that makes them hustle to jump into each other and unite into one gigantic blob. Using the left and right triggers, you turn the entire world left and right. It's like a side-view one of those wooden labyrinth games where you try to get the marble to the end without falling into a hole - except here you're controlling a beautiful bouncy cartoon world, and there are very few holes or chances to die. What there are a lot of are secrets - fake walls that fade away as pass through them, pillars that you smash over with your inertia, and switches that unlock doors or start up gusts of wind that deposit you across the level.

Loco Roco is chock full of secrets and unlockables. After you beat the game, which takes some time - about 12 hours is what I think it took me, all together, you can still go back and find your friends the Mui Muis, hidden throughout the levels, as well as trying to collect all the flies or all the fruit in each level and get all the furniture for the Loco Roco House. The House is a game in and of itself - a puzzle game that's kind of like The Incredible Machine or Lemmings with Loco Rocos. Here, instead of controlling the tilt of the world, you place the pieces of furniture you've unlocked around the House to try and guide your Loco Rocos to a part of the screen where another piece has been placed. Eventually, I'm going to get the entire collection of over one hundred pieces of furniture. The collection includes all kinds of steps, platforms, devices and letters that you can use to spell out your initials or words in the House. These aren't even the only ways to get unlockable stuff - there are bonus mini-games that continue to be unlocked as achievements, including a crane game where you pick up boxy tokens for furniture and extra Loco Rocos for the House. It's all a lot of fun, and ups the replay value of the game by a tremendous amount.

If more games like this are released for the PSP, it might just live up to the potential all of us who bought it years ago thought that it would have. It definitely has me looking more closely at the PSP section of the game store. For all who enjoy unique titles, or just anyone who likes good gameplay that is fun, Loco Roco is something you need to look into. The PSP might just be worth buying just for this one game. Highest recommendation.