LittleBigPlanet

The core mechanics of the series revolve around its tagline, "Play, Create, Share". Play In the first two installments of the series, gameplay consists primarily of 2.5D style platforming and avoiding obstacles to successfully navigate to the end of a level to win. Since LittleBigPlanet 2, the series has included mini-games, including ones that do not follow the platformer genre. Most LittleBigPlanet 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 customize Sackboy, the player character. There are also numerous co-operative parts of levels whereby certain prize bubbles can be earned. In LittleBigPlanet 3 and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, "Collectabells" are also present, being used in various shops to purchase more costumes. Create The Create component primarily refers to level creation in the game, along with other features like character customization. Players can create their own levels with the built-in level creator. Many items that are collected while playing through the story mode and from LittleBigPlanets community can be used to help with level creation. These levels can remain as the original LittleBigPlanet platforming gameplay, or they can include other game types, such as racing, fighting, shooting and sports. In LittleBigPlanet 2, Sackbots; Sackling-like robots were introduced to give players more control over non-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. After the release of LittleBigPlanet 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 via social networks. == Overview ==

The series takes place in a world known as LittleBigPlanet (or Craftworld, as occasionally games will take place on a completely different planet), a realm made by the thoughts and dreams of every living creature in the Omniverse. Each "Creator Curator" is in charge of a part of LittleBigPlanet and they govern them independently. LittleBigPlanet has geography inspired by the real-life Earth. All games in the series follow the main protagonist Sackboy, 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 as downloadable content from the PlayStation Store. The player can control Sackboy's four emotions; happiness, sadness, worry and anger, with the D-pad, each of which has three levels of intensity. The English language version of each game is narrated by Stephen Fry and Fry's scripts in all formats are written by Dean Wilkinson. == Games ==

Main series LittleBigPlanet 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 name The 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. The game received widespread acclaim for its soundtrack, design, gameplay, and customization afforded to the player, particularly the built-in level editor. After its release, it received numerous industry awards. LittleBigPlanet 2 The second game in the series is a direct sequel to the first LittleBigPlanet and was developed by Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3 for a release in January 2011, being advertised as a "platform for games" rather than just a platform game. 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. 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 the planet. The game also supported the PlayStation Move, with an update post-launch. The game received critical acclaim for being an overall improvement over its predecessor. LittleBigPlanet 3 LittleBigPlanet 3 is a game for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Announced at E3 2014, it was developed by Sumo Digital and was released on November 18, 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 three new characters and stop the evil Newton from stealing its creativity.The game was met with mostly positive reception, with praise towards its additions to Create Mode and polished graphics, but was criticized for its technical issues during launch, shorter story mode and perceived lack of charm compared to other installments. Handheld LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation Portable) A portable entry of the series was developed primarily by SCE Studio Cambridge in association with Media Molecule for the PlayStation 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, and a feature known as "Static Objects", in which the player can allow their creations to defy the in-game laws of physics. The game takes place after the events of the PlayStation 3 version of LittleBigPlanet, 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. LittleBigPlanet PS Vita The fourth game in the series was developed by Tarsier Studios, Double Eleven, and XDev for the PlayStation Vita handheld and had a 2012 release. The game features the same core mechanics from LittleBigPlanet 2, with the focus being on a "platform for games" rather than a platformer like previous entries in the series before LittleBigPlanet 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. The game supports cross-buy of DLC costume packs between LittleBigPlanet 2, as well as LittleBigPlanet 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. The game was met with positive reception. Spinoff games LittleBigPlanet Karting LittleBigPlanet Karting is a kart racing game developed by United Front and San Diego Studio in conjunction with series creator Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3. In its story mode, the player ventures through different planets, old and new to put an end to the Hoard racers, who snatch many pieces of the different planets to stash them at the end of the universe. This game is the first LittleBigPlanet game to feature a fully three-dimensional space, ditching the layer-based gameplay of the other games. The game was met with generally mixed reception. Sony Entertainment America shut down the North American LittleBigPlanet Karting online servers on 31 August 2016. ''Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves'' The game was developed by XDev as a spin-off from the LittleBigPlanet series utilizing the PlayStation Move on the PlayStation 3. It was released in December 2010, as a downloadable title from the PlayStation Store and was later bundled with LittleBigPlanet 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. This was due to the main mechanics of the spin-off, whereby one player would control Sackboy traditionally using the gamepad 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. Run Sackboy! Run! Run Sackboy! Run! is a free-to-play endless running game developed by Firesprite and published by PlayStation Mobile that was released on iOS on 30 October 2014, Android on 17 December 2014 and PlayStation Vita on 31 March 2015. The game has no real plot, except for Sackboy running through Craftworld from the Negativitron. The game awarded players with exclusive costumes for LittleBigPlanet 3 (which was released at a similar time) by reaching point goals and collecting stickers. LittleBigPlanet Hub LittleBigPlanet Hub is an unreleased free-to-play game for the PlayStation 3. 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 from LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2 as well as 16 levels from the games' story modes. LittleBigPlanet Hub would also have contained weekly challenges, not found in other LittleBigPlanet games. Downloadable content purchased in other games were to be compatible with LittleBigPlanet Hub, and users were rumored to be also able to access additional content from the PlayStation Store. Since its announcement in August 2013, no further details about LittleBigPlanet Hub were revealed. In February 2024, a beta tester posted a video showing gameplay from a beta build onto YouTube, and shortly afterwards, with assistance, dumped it online for download. This makes the build playable through unofficial means, such as emulations like RPCS3 or PlayStation 3 homebrew. Sackboy: A Big Adventure Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a 2020 platform game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 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 with 2.5D 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. The game received mostly positive reviews. Ultimate Sackboy Ultimate Sackboy is a free-to-play endless running game developed by Exient 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 to Run Sackboy! Run, it adopts the style from Sackboy: A Big Adventure and is played in 3D. Appearances in other games PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a fighting crossover game developed by SuperBot Entertainment released on PS3 and PlayStation Vita on November 20, 2012, and received mixed critical reception. PlayStation All-Stars Island PlayStation All-Stars Island is a free-to-play mobile game developed by Zoink 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. Astro Bot series Elements from LittleBigPlanet appear in the Astro Bot series of games developed by Team Asobi. Sackboy appears as a VIP bot that can be rescued in Astro Bot. == Reception ==

Most of the games in the series have been well received by critics with the LittleBigPlanet on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable gaining Metacritic scores of 95/100 and 87/100 respectively. LittleBigPlanet 2 garnered nearly as much acclaim as the first game, with an average score of 91/100. 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. However, the release of LittleBigPlanet 3 did not receive critical acclaim, garnering a mostly positive average of 79/100. 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. The worst-performing LittleBigPlanet game overall is Ultimate Sackboy, which holds a Metacritic rating of 57. In 2011, readers of ''Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition'' voted Sackboy as the 50th-top video game character of all time. == References ==