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First started in late 2007, Kasey's Mobile Game Review (then just a regular feature of Kasey's Korner) started as a simul-post between here and IGN. Later I realized there's no reason to post it twice, when I can use the traffic on my own site. so, here we are, in 2010, and the mobile game industry has grown a bit. What do you think?


KMGR of "LocoRoco Hi"

Posted at 1/27/2009
LocoRoco with Mui-Mui and Domingo!Image by Lancer873 via FlickrLocoRoco was a hit on the PSP, where you guide little blobs (that can combine into a bigger blob) around the fanciful and cute world by tilting and bumping the world, and occasionally, by ordering them to split up. On the way, you run the blob into various things. The game's so cute, that Sony decided to port the game to mobile phones. How did LocoRoco Hi fare? Not as well as one had hoped.

LocoRoco has some weird control scheme... Instead of controlling the blobs themselves, you control the world by "tilting". However, as not all phones have tilt sensors, you are reduced to using two keys on opposite ends of the keyboard. You also get to "bump" the field to make the blob fly a little (think "pinball machine") but in this case you have to push BOTH tilt buttons together. ARGH! Who designed this interface? Finally, a button splits (single press) or combines (press and hold) the blobs.

The intro is excellent... a nonverbal explanation about how certain bad elements stole away the sun and you need to use your powers to go through the level, recover the people lost, and try to grow as large as possible along the way as you go about your journey. The graphics are extremely 2D and cute, and nicely animated, though mobile version is nowhere as nice as the PSP version. And neither is the music.

The port's charm is mostly there, but the controls are horrible, and they can't be remapped. Argh! I tried to make it through a couple levels, and through several attempts I was able to jump / bump high enough to access some areas, but it is basically fighting the user interface, which is BAD when it comes to game. Why can't they just let us use LEFT/RIGHT to tilt, UP to bump, and OK to split/combine? Other than that, there really isn't much to complain about the game. This game is basically a platformer in disguise, with some WEIRD controls.

With that said, in actual play most of the frustration is spent on fighting the weird control scheme and getting "bump" to bump properly (and jump to where you *do* want to go). It takes a lot of practice.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: cute, simple controls, great story
Cons: a platformer with weird controls, non-responsive controls

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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2009 at 5:26:00 AM PST

    how about a price?

    ReplyDelete
  2. GuyReviewsFebruary 11, 2009 at 5:46:00 PM PST

    3.99 for a month, or 7.99 forever

    http://products.vzw.com/index.aspx?id=fnd_games_detail&appId=3220074

    ReplyDelete
  3. djratchetFebruary 14, 2009 at 10:00:00 PM PST

    The controls may seem weird, but to anyone who is familiar with the series on PSP, the controls make perfect sense.

    ReplyDelete
  4. GuyReviewsFebruary 16, 2009 at 11:08:00 PM PST

    It may make perfect sense GAME-wise, but it's very unnatural on a mobile keyboard. Remember, PSP has analog stick and shoulder triggers. Mobile phones, even smartphones, do NOT. Thus, what may be natural on the PSP is NOT natural on the mobile, and keeping the control scheme on a different controller medium makes no sense.

    ReplyDelete

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