Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet was one of the first exclusives on the PlayStation 3 to make a splash. The game’s immensely likeable mascot, Sackboy, quickly became one of the most endearing characters to emerge from the new generation of consoles. Cut to a year later and Media Molecule is back at it again, now assisting Sony’s Studio Cambridge with LittleBigPlanet (LBP) for the PSP. Despite the inherent technical challenges, the studios have done a remarkable job in adapting the ambitious platformer to the handheld.

The transition is so impressive, in fact, that fans of the PS3 version would be doing themselves a favor by checking it out. Not only do you get the experience on the go, but you also get over 30 new levels set in seven different themes. The levels are consistently excellent, with their designs taking into account and advantage of the PSP’s wide screen. Newcomers are in for an even bigger treat, as they will get a chance to try one of the more inventive platformers in recent years without having it watered down.

Concessions were made in some areas, however, to accommodate the system’s limitations, with a few things being trimmed or scaled back. In particular, the background graphics and multiplayer were affected the most during the transition. Backgrounds have been slightly downgraded, with less detail and objects than in the original; but this is actually one of the better trade-offs, as they are still nice while also affording the additional slack to allow for colorful foregrounds and spot-on animation and physics – some of the more impressive features of the console version. The biggest change is with multiplayer: there is none. While this is certainly a negative, I have a hard time imagining the system being able to push multiple players bouncing and hovering around without struggling; the game loads enough as it is.

As nice as a two-player mode would have been – at the least – I was satisfied with the single-player component and downloadable levels. The levels are broken up into sections of levels created by creator curators that have problems that need to be solved. A set of levels represent a theme for each creator that will have Sackboy (or Sackgirl, with the proper attire) avoiding spikes, fire pits, falling icicles, charged surfaces, and blade-wielding snakes and bears to do anything from rescue a dragon’s egg to performing a health and safety check at a desert fun park. But these creators want more than just your help: they want to make you a creator curator as well.

As you go about the various tasks, you will come across large and small bubbles. Small bubbles represent points and the larger bubbles prize bubbles that house special objects – materials, stickers, etc. Collected objects can then be used to customize your avatar, your Sackboy, or your own levels; the story levels can be also occasionally altered by placing stickers in certain locations. Customization is made simple by the PopIt menu, which can be brought up at any time to apply an object. Your hub, My Pod, is now the outside of a rocket ship and allows you to pick an avatar as well as select what of the collected gear – head, hand, foot, material, and so on – you want to adorn on your Sackboy for one of its 100 savable outfits. Once you have kitted your character out, you can then travel to My Moon and create levels either from scratch or based on one of the themes encountered in the story. There are 60 craters in which you can create and save custom levels, but you will have to be architecturally inclined and unbelievably patient to fill all of them up.

Creating is LBP’s bread and butter, but like the PS3 version, designing a level isn’t as easy as it may seem. Correction: it is not as easy to design a good level as it may seem. The handheld’s capabilities are as robust as the console version, but the lack of an analog stick and two shoulder buttons does mean that work goes a little slower. Despite the clever animated tutorials showing off what to do and how to use the various objects, the charming narrator obfuscates the fact that using the tools properly and coming up with a coherent level is extremely difficult. While the story’s levels are great, with puzzles that utilize exaggerated physics through the use of levers, pulleys, and jetpacks along with traditional platforming elements to create sometimes exciting, sometimes ingenious, but rarely dull areas, you won’t be so fortunate. Then again, I was horrible with the PS3 version and some truly incredible – and truly horrible – content has come from it. The ratio of good to bad might be skewed in an unfavorable direction as time goes on, but the handful of solid levels are always welcomed treats and worth the wait.

One of the biggest complaints from the original release was that it was too easy to switch between the fore- and background as you navigate the levels. That was and is a problem, though I found it less so than others, but in a surprising twist, the PSP’s inferior analog stick is actually a benefit in this regard. By having to provide extra force for the analog stick to respond, it is now more difficult to accidentally switch between planes. Unintentional switching can still occur, but far less often. On the flip side, what happens more often are deaths from traps: seemingly safe areas where there is no escape, save for death by a pit of fire or electricity or by bringing up the PopIt and having it take you back to the last checkpoint. This might have bee frustrating, but the numerous quantity of checkpoints made the deaths more inconvenient than anything else – and sometimes your pains are rewarded with a new object.

In all that has made the transition unscathed, the most immediate is the game’s charm. The infectious music, imaginative stages, and Sackboy itself are immediately likable. The disarming presentation will turn on you, though, with tricky puzzles and some timed jumps that seem downright evil. There are even standalone levels that are purely for score and prizes, often having you do one task (e.g. stay on a board and collect bubbles as it gets knocked about waves and a hungry fish follows in pursuit) that are surprisingly addictive. The controls still feel a smidge laggy, but this time around, deaths are often much more reasonable – you know you messed up – and not as frequent as the original. The hidden paths, various collectible goodies, and local and online leaderboards all compel you to keep playing the levels over and over, which is far from a bad thing when it comes to LBP.

Overall: 9/10
Some sacrifices were made in the transition from the PS3 to the PSP, but they are minor when compared to just how well LittleBigPlanet translated to handheld. Creating levels is a little trickier now due to the lack of an analog stick and two shoulder buttons, but the workaround scheme holds up well; however, creating a level that is worth creating is still time consuming and fairly difficult. The omission of multiplayer is a bummer, but the numerous load screens hint that the system might not have been able to handle much more than one player. And in the end, I really didn’t mind playing through the game solo. The ability to download new content, trade levels, and customize SackBoy all made the transition nicely. Newcomers and long-time fans alike will want to grab a copy, but just be prepared for a serious addiction; I burned through more than a few battery charges on this one.