LocoRoco: Remastered review for PS4

The PSP is back! Actually that?s not entirely true… The fact is that the first PSP remaster for the PS4 is here. LocoRoco was one of my favorite PSP games of all time and it?s fitting that it would be the first (of hopefully many) PSP titles to get a remaster treatment for the PS4. Originally released for the PSP in 2006, LocoRoco is a quirky super colorful puzzle platformer (lite on the puzzle). If you?ve read any of my remaster reviews (Triple-R) you know I have a complicated relationship with them; some are justified, while others are completely unnecessary. The PSP library is an entirely untapped remaster opportunity. The PSP has many classics (Metal Gear Acid, 3rd Birthday, etc.) and I think budget remasters would make a great home on the PS4.

LocoRoco, at its core, is super simplistic. You grow the Locoroco by eating berries. You don?t control them (besides jumping), you control the world by tilting it left or right which will send the Locoroco where you want them to go. Certain areas will also be too small for a larger LocoRoco to fit through, in these situations you can break up the LocoRoco in multiples that are much smaller in size, then regroup them when you feel it appropriate. If you’ve never seen or played LocoRoco this is going to come off like nonsense, so I would advise you at least watch a youtube video of some gameplay to get a gist what it?s all about.

I haven?t played the original LocoRoco (they did make some sequels) in about ten years, and it was obviously played on a handheld. Upon booting up the game, you’re treated with sharp vivid colors and if you never heard of LocoRoco before, you wouldn?t even know it was previously a ten plus year old game for a handheld. I was hit immediately with all the nostalgic feels and it brought me right back to a simpler time. The game is really simple but it?s just got a fun relaxing vibe and it still draws me in and holds up, all these years later.

Overall, LocoRoco might be one of my favorite Sony first party titles of all time and I?m thrilled it?s seeing new life on the PS4 (which maybe means a new sequel someday). I still feel like it was perfectly built to be played on a handheld, the tilting just fits it more naturally, but since the Vita is all but dead, the PS4 is the only option we have, and that?s fine by me. Another PSP cult classic, Patapon, looks to be the next PSP remaster to come to the PS4 and based on the sales of these I?m hopeful Sony invests in more PSP titles that haven?t seen the light of day since the handheld died. I?m happy to recommend remasters of the PSP library if they’re done with this much care and effort.