| LittleBigPlanet | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genres | Platform,endless running |
| Developers | Media Molecule (2008-2014) SCE Studio Cambridge (2009) Supermassive Games (2010) XDev (2010-2012) Double Eleven (2012) Tarsier Studios (2012) United Front Games (2012) San Diego Studio (2012) Firesprite (2014) Sumo Digital (2014-2020) Exient Entertainment (2023) |
| Publishers | Sony Interactive Entertainment PlayStation Mobile (2014) |
| Platforms | PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable PlayStation Vita PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows |
| First release | LittleBigPlanet 27 October 2008 |
| Latest release | Ultimate Sackboy 3 March 2023 |
LittleBigPlanet (LBP; stylised asLittleBIGPlanet) is apuzzleplatform video game series created and produced by British developerMedia Molecule and published bySony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series put a strong emphasis onuser-generated content and are based on the series' tagline "Play, Create, Share". The tagline represents the three core elements of the series: playing alone or with others locally (on the same console) or online, creating new content using the in-game creation tools, and sharing creations and discoveries online with other players.
Tarsier Studios,Fireproof Games andSupermassive Games also contribute to the development of the PlayStation 3 games, creating in-game assets (downloadable content) including costumes, backgrounds, objects, and stickers. Some of these assets will also provide the player more tools and gadgets to use in the level editor.[1]
The series comprises six games across five gaming platforms. The series was launched in 2008 with thePlayStation 3 gameLittleBigPlanet, which was followed in 2009 by aPlayStation Portableversion of the same name, initially developed byStudio Liverpool[2] and later handed toSCE Studio Cambridge. The sequel to the PlayStation 3 version,LittleBigPlanet 2, was released in January 2011 alongside a smaller spin-off title calledSackboy's Prehistoric Moves.LittleBigPlanet PS Vita was developed byTarsier Studios andDouble Eleven, released in September 2012 for thePlayStation Vita. AtE3 2014, Sony announcedLittleBigPlanet 3, aPlayStation 4 instalment that was developed bySumo Digital and released in November 2014.[3] The games are all published bySony Computer Entertainment. The latest instalment for theLittleBigPlanet franchise titledSackboy: A Big Adventure was revealed during the PS5 live event and released on the PlayStation 4 andPlayStation 5 in November 2020. A Windows version was released on 27 October 2022.[4]
On 17 January 2015, it was announced that allLittleBigPlanet servers in Japan would shut down on 31 July, along with thePlayStation Portable version andLittleBigPlanet Karting in late August in all regions. Due to attacks on the online servers, all LittleBigPlanet servers were taken down on 22 May 2021 (the Vita version had remained closed since March).[5] The servers for the PS4 version ofLittleBigPlanet 3 were brought back up on 13 September 2021, however, in the same announcement, it mentioned that the servers forLittleBigPlanet,LittleBigPlanet 2,LittleBigPlanet PS Vita and the PS3 version ofLittleBigPlanet 3 will remain closed permanently.[6] On 8 January 2024, it was announced that, presumably due to more attacks on the online servers, the servers for the PS4 version ofLittleBigPlanet 3 were being temporarily closed while they investigate them.[7][8][9]
On 19 April 2024, the servers for the PlayStation 4 version ofLittleBigPlanet 3 were permanently shut down due to ongoing technical issues.[10]
On 8 October 2024, it was announced thatLittleBigPlanet 3 for the PlayStation 4, alongside its DLC, would be removed from the PlayStation Store on 31 October 2024.[11]
The core mechanics of the series revolve around its tagline, "Play, Create, Share".[12]
In the first two installments of the series, gameplay consist primarily of traditional two-dimensional look in a three-dimensional styleplatforming like jumping and avoiding obstacles to successfully navigate to the end of a level to win.[13] SinceLittleBigPlanet 2, the series has included mini-games, including ones that do not follow the platformer genre. MostLittleBigPlanet games involve a player playing solo or co-operatively with friends to navigate through a level whilst collecting various "bubbles" along the way, which can take the form of either points or collectibles. In-game collectibles can be used in level creation or to customizeSackboy, theplayer character. There are also numerous co-operative parts of levels whereby certain prize bubbles can be earned. InLittleBigPlanet 3 andSackboy: A Big Adventure,Collectabells are also present, being used in various shops to purchase more costumes.
The Create component primarily refers to level creation in the game, along with other features like character customisation. Players can create their own levels with the built-in level creator. Many items that are collected while playing through the story mode and fromLittleBigPlanet's community can be used to help with level creation.[14] These levels can remain as the originalLittleBigPlanet platforming gameplay, or they can include other game types, such as racing, fighting, shooting and sports.[13] The player can also make non-gaming creations such as music and films (commonly known in-game as cut-scenes).[15] InLittleBigPlanet 2, Sackbots were introduced to give players more control overnon-player characters in their levels as well as make the levels in their entirety more intelligent. The creation technique introduced on the game gave the possibility for logic, and it gave the ability to build sets of machines and complex contraptions.[15]
Lastly, the Share component relates to sharing creations with the game's community by uploading levels to thePlayStation Network. There were an excess of ten million user-created levels available to play on the LittleBigPlanet server in the PlayStation 3 games at the time of the server's discontinuation.[16] After the release ofLittleBigPlanet 2 and the LBP.me community website, the Share component also had a strong emphasis sharing discoveries. Players were encouraged to share levels they found with other players by writing reviews and comments in-game and by sharing links to creations' LBP.me pages viasocial networks.
The series takes place in a world known as LittleBigPlanet. Each curator is in charge of a part of LittleBigPlanet and they govern them independently. LittleBigPlanet has geography inspired by the real-lifeEarth. All games in the series follow the main protagonistSackboy, a small anthropomorphic creature made of brown fabric with a zip fastener and button eyes. He can be customized to the player's liking using costumes that are either unlocked in the game or bought asdownloadable content from thePlayStation Store. The player can control Sackboy's four emotions; happiness, sadness, worry and anger, each of which has three levels of intensity. TheEnglish language version of each game is narrated byStephen Fry and in all formats Fry's scripts are written byDean Wilkinson.
| 2008 | LittleBigPlanet |
|---|---|
| 2009 | LittleBigPlanet (PSP) |
| 2010 | Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves |
| 2011 | LittleBigPlanet 2 |
| 2012 | LittleBigPlanet PS Vita |
| LittleBigPlanet Karting | |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | Run Sackboy! Run! |
| LittleBigPlanet 3 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | |
| 2020 | Sackboy: A Big Adventure |
| 2021 | |
| 2022 | |
| 2023 | Ultimate Sackboy |
The first game in the series was released on the PlayStation 3 platform in 2008 and was the first title developed by Media Molecule, under the nameThe Next Big Thing. The player controls Sackboy as he travels around the titular LittleBigPlanet, helping the eight creator curators of LittleBigPlanet with their problems in their own respective realms. Throughout the story, Sackboy tries to stop The Collector, one of the eight creator curators who has gone rogue, kidnapping the creations of LittleBigPlanet.[17] The game received widespread acclaim for its design, gameplay, and customization afforded to the player, particularly the built-in level editor. After its release, it received numerous industry awards.[18]
The second game in the series is a direct sequel to the firstLittleBigPlanet and was developed by Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3 for a release in 2011. The sequel saw a major shift in the direction of the series, going from a primarily traditional platform game in the first two entries to a more varied style of gameplay called a "platform for games". The second game gave players a wider variety of options when it came to level design, which saw the creation of levels other than platforming such as racing, puzzles, and fighting games.[19] Following the events of the first two entries in the series, the game takes place when an antagonist known as the Negativitron invades Craftworld and begins to suck up all its inhabitants. Sackboy must team up with a secret organization known as "The Alliance", led by Larry Da Vinci, to save LittleBigPlanet from the Negativitron.[20] The game also supported thePlayStation Move, with an update post-launch.
LittleBigPlanet 3 is a game for thePlayStation 3[21][22][23] andPlayStation 4. Announced at E3 2014, it was developed bySumo Digital and was released in November 2014. In the game, Sackboy is transported to another world, Bunkum, where he has to awaken its three missing heroes, OddSock, Toggle and Swoop, who are new playable characters. Sackboy travels through different worlds in order to free the 3 new characters and stop the evil Newton from stealing creativity.[24]
A portable entry of the series was developed primarily bySCE Studio Cambridge in association with Media Molecule for thePlayStation Portable. The game, released in 2009, shared the same name as the original game; however, it was not a port of the PlayStation 3 game, but rather a new entry in the series. It has a story-mode with levels and features many of the same mechanics of its PlayStation 3 counterpart, such as customizations, albeit without the multiplayer component of the game. The game takes place after the events of the PlayStation 3 version ofLittleBigPlanet, in which The Collector has been defeated. A carnival is being held and Sackboy decides to go around the world to invite the eight curators of LittleBigPlanet to the carnival whilst finding materials for his own carnival float.[25]
The fourth game in the series was developed byTarsier Studios,Double Eleven, andXDev for thePlayStation Vita handheld and had a 2012 release.[26] The game features the same core mechanics fromLittleBigPlanet 2, with the focus being on a "platform for games" rather than a platformer like previous entries in the series beforeLittleBigPlanet 2. The game utilizes the unique controls of the PlayStation Vita by using its multi-touch touchscreen and its rear touchpad to navigate through various obstacles in stages as well as for level creation by users.[27] The game supportscross-buy ofDLC costume packs betweenLittleBigPlanet 2, as well asLittleBigPlanet Karting. The game takes place on the travelling planet Carnivallia, which is being terrorized by the evil Puppeteer and his army of Hollows. Sackboy is recruited by Colonel Flounder, one of Carnivallia's Curators, to stop the Puppeteer from sucking the joy from the rest of the Omniverse.
LittleBigPlanet Karting is akart racing game developed by United Front andSan Diego Studio in conjunction with series creator Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3.[28] In its story mode, the player ventures through worlds including: LittleBigPlanet, Monster Islands, Victoria's Laboratory, The Progress Emporium, Eve's Asylum, The Space Bass, and Hoard, Sweet Hoard, to put an end to the Hoard racers, who snatch many pieces of the different planets to stash them in theGarage at the End of the Universe. Sony Entertainment America shut down the North AmericanLittleBigPlanet Karting online servers on 31 August 2016.[29]
The game was developed by XDev as a spin-off from theLittleBigPlanet series utilizing thePlayStation Move on the PlayStation 3. It was released in December 2010, as a downloadable title from the PlayStation Store and was later bundled withLittleBigPlanet 2. The game was described as a "demo" and featured 10 prehistory inspired story levels. In the game, Sackboy must save LittleBigPlanet from the T-Rex. Unlike the main games, which can be played as a single-player experience, the game required a minimum of two players to work.[30] This was due to the main mechanics of the spin-off whereby one player would control Sackboy traditionally using thegamepad for platforming while a second player had to use a PlayStation Move similar to a pointer to move obstacles and objects out of the way in order to successfully navigate a level.[31]
Run Sackboy! Run! is afree-to-playendless running game developed byFiresprite and published byPlayStation Mobile that was released oniOS on 30 October 2014,[32]Android on 17 December 2014[33] andPlayStation Vita on 31 March 2015.[34] The game has no real plot, except for Sackboy running through Craftworld from the Negativitron. The game awarded players with exclusive costumes forLittleBigPlanet 3 (which was released at a similar time) by reaching point goals and collecting stickers.[35]
LittleBigPlanet Hub is an unreleasedfree-to-play game for the PlayStation 3.[36] It was planned to be a downloadable title from the PlayStation Store which would have allowed players to create levels and play a curated selection of community levels fromLittleBigPlanet andLittleBigPlanet 2 as well as 16 levels from the games' story modes.LittleBigPlanet Hub would also have contained weekly challenges, not found in otherLittleBigPlanet games. Downloadable content purchased in other games were to be compatible withLittleBigPlanet Hub, and users were rumoured to be also able to access additional content from the PlayStation Store.[citation needed]
Since its announcement in August 2013, no further details aboutLittleBigPlanet Hub were revealed.[37] In February 2024, a beta tester posted a video showing gameplay from a beta build ontoYouTube, and shortly afterwards, with assistance, dumped it online for download. This makes the build playable through unofficial means, such as emulations likeRPCS3 orPlayStation 3 homebrew.[38]
Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a 2020platform game developed bySumo Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for thePlayStation 5 and thePlayStation 4. It was announced at the PlayStation 5 reveal event on June 11, 2020, and was released on November 12, 2020; a version for Windows was released on October 27, 2022, marking the series's first release on PCs. Unlike previous LittleBigPlanet entries with2.5D platforming,A Big Adventure features a range of perspectives and 3D movement. It follows Sackboy as he attempts to stop the evil Vex from taking over Craftworld by collecting magical Dreamer Orbs.
Ultimate Sackboy is afree-to-playendless running game developed byExient Entertainment and released on mobile on 21 February 2023. It is the first LittleBigPlanet game to feature limited-time paid subscriptions known as "Marathons." In contrast toRun Sackboy! Run!, it adopts the style fromSackboy: A Big Adventure and is played in 3D.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a fighting crossover game developed bySuperBot Entertainment released on PS3 and PlayStation Vita on November 20, 2012.[citation needed]
PlayStation All-Stars Island is afree-to-play mobile game developed byZoink and released on mobile on August 8, 2013, in European territories. Sponsored by Coke Zero, the game features many PlayStation characters drinking and collecting the beverage. Gameplay consists of a variety of tasks, split by islands and different characters.[citation needed]
Elements fromLittleBigPlanet appear in theAstro Bot series of games developed byTeam Asobi. Sackboy appears as a VIP bot that can be rescued inAstro Bot.[39]
| Game | Year | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation 3) | 2008 | 95/100[40] |
| LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation Portable) | 2009 | 87/100[41] |
| Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves | 2010 | 66/100[42] |
| LittleBigPlanet 2 | 2011 | 91/100[43] |
| LittleBigPlanet PS Vita | 2012 | 88/100[44] |
| LittleBigPlanet Karting | 2012 | 74/100[45] |
| LittleBigPlanet 3 | 2014 | 79/100[46] |
| Run Sackboy! Run! | 2014 | 65/100[47] |
| Sackboy: A Big Adventure | 2020 | 80/100[48] |
| Ultimate Sackboy | 2023 | 57/100[49] |
Most of the games in the series have been well received by critics with theLittleBigPlanet on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable gainingMetacritic scores of 95/100[40] and 87/100[41] respectively.LittleBigPlanet 2 garnered nearly as much acclaim as the first game, with an average score of 91/100.[50]LittleBigPlanet PS Vita also received very positive reviews and was the highest-ranked PS Vita game at the time of its release with an average score of 88/100.[51] However, the release ofLittleBigPlanet 3 did not receive critical acclaim, garnering a mostly positive average of 79/100.[52]Critically,LittleBigPlanet Karting is the worst-performing major game in the series so far but still gained a "mixed or average" Metacritic score of 74/100.[53] The worst-performingLittleBigPlanet game overall isUltimate Sackboy, which holds a Metacritic rating of 57.[49]
The character of Sackboy is often seen as aPlayStation mascot.[54] In 2011, readers ofGuinness World Records Gamer's Edition voted Sackboy as the 50th-top video game character of all time.[55]
Developed byMedia Molecule forSony Interactive Entertainment | |||||
| Games |
| ||||
| Related | |||||
