Little Big Planet is a 2D platformer with a level editor built in. We have recorded a focus test for this and the instant gratification factor in wanting to build a level is zero. You need to sit though tutorials before you can do anything which insta-fail.
Hoewver the singleplayer platforming is so delightful that its a lot of fun to play. Even though I loved All New Super Mario on DS (the last great new 2D platformer), it didn’t feel all that different to what had come previously. This feels boh new and familiar. I’ve heard complaints abut the jumping, but its fine, no worse than Braids and probably more forgiving than than XBLA game.
There is one thing about LBP. It can overload you with crap. You only have a few buttons (jump, grab and your menu- popit- buttons), but the amount of stuff you collect will get pretty daunting to manage. You need this stuff for making your own levels (or, as is more likely to be the case, just redoing someone else’s levels- oh look 1:1 again) but without the create a level- the SP is almost a collect-a-thon. Hey but its a good collect-a-thon.
I’ve been playing a bit of GHWT, mainly just guitars and occasionally busting out a hit on the drums. I’ve recently investigated what I would get if I picked up Rock Band 1 and 2 as well. All of the songs I like in GHWT are also in Rock Band 1 or 2 so that sucks. New songs unique to the RB 1 or 2 discs? Nothing I like much. The DLC is where there are a few choice morsels, particularly Still Alive from Portal. So I’ve decided to get the cheapest iteration of RB which is the AC/DC track pack and just use that (assuming I don’t also need a RB 1 or 2 disc).
The thing I love about DLC is that there might be songs I like, but aren’t the best for playing in these games. I got the Quantum of Solace song for GHWT the other day. I love the song but as GHWT fodder, its quite average. So the question must be asked. Why is Bohemian Rhapsody in Singstar but not in RB/GHWT?
Here are some fun games you should be able to get fairly cheap on the PS3.
Battlefield Bad Company, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and something a little different, Singstar ABBA
Singstar reviewed on controller1.com. Why? Why the hell not?
Singstar is a Karaoke game popularised by SCEE’s original Singstar titloe a few years ago in PAL countries. Its recently taken off in the US as well. Singstar (for PS3) is a Karaoke game where you watch a video clip of a song and try to sing into a USB mic along to the displayed lyrics and keep in pitch. That’s it.
You can have duets in Singstar (bundles include 2 Mics with a USB adapter), take videos with your Playstation Eye and post them on the net or you can buy new songs. Again, its a really simple concept. Yes, in hindsight its 1/4 of Rock Band, but there’s a lot of kids (read girls) who love this stuff.
This is volume 2 we’re reviewing with sings such as Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing, The Proclaimers “500 Miles,” Tone Loc and Young MC, yada, yada. But with PS3 being able to download tracks what I really wanted this for are the Queen songs on the Singstore. Singstore is the online music portal you can access through the game to buy new tracks or share your scores and videos. Like everything else on the PSN its free, pretty, clunky as fuck and slower than Crysis on a Pentium II.
So after taking a few hours to download the two Queen songpacks (apparently the songs are available on a disc for PS2, or will be- it’s all rather confusing) I finally got to have a go. It is exactly the same as the Karaoke you’d play in a bar, exepct maybe for the inclusion of the original song rather than a cover (and you can’t switch off the original vocals). Singstar does at least score you but then so do a group of your drunken co-workers so I’m still grasping for things Singstar does better. Oh well, if you buy a PS3 for your teenage daughters, then this is a game that should be on your shopping list. It does what it says it does with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of bland euro style. The interface could be a smidgeon less clunky and the mics should be wireless by now. For the price it should be more than 30-40 songs (compare this to 80 or more for Rock Band and GHWT
controller.1com rating 1/3 (2/3 if you love singing or live with someone who does)
On a side note, a friend asked me what she should get for her nephews, Guitar Hero World Tour or Rock Band? The first question I asked her was “do you like your cousins and if so do you visit them often?”
