LocoRoco

Meet LocoRoco, Sony’s new, quirky addition to the PSP family. Simple creatures with simple pleasures, LocoRoco like to roll, they like to bounce, and they live in a bright, vibrant world, which ranges from snow covered mountains to dense jungles and whose soundtrack is said to be as mesmerising as the cartoon visuals.

LocoRoco also like fruit, and their uncommonly easygoing nature means they’re more than happy to be bounced and rolled across the scenery from one snack to the next. The more they eat, the fatter they get, and the more kilos you pile on, the more points await you at the end of the level. That’s assuming you’ve avoided hazards and enemies on the way.

Because they’re free-rolling beings, moving LocoRoco around is beautifully straightforward and involves tilting the landscape up to 30 degrees in either direction by pressing either the L or R buttons. Should you come across a pathway too narrow to accommodate your fruit-filled friend, one button will split him into tiny blobs. Don’t worry, these can subsequently reform into a single portly mass, of course, but it’s worth exploring your surroundings when in tiny form if you plan on finding the hidden rooms and bonus items scattered around the colourful, sunny gameworld.

Appropriately planned as a summer release, LocoRoco promises to deliver an intoxicating cocktail of simplicity and uniqueness that should lift the spirits of anyone who plays it.