LocoRoco

Living peacefully on a faraway planet, the LocoRoco and their friends, the Mui Mui, help grow vegetation and look after nature, making the planet a pleasant place to be, playing and singing the days away. When the Moja Troop comes to the planet to take it over, the LocoRoco do not know how to fight against these invaders from outer space. As such, the player assumes the role of "the planet" that is capable of guiding the LocoRoco around to defeat the Moja Troop and rescue the remaining LocoRoco, returning the planet to its peaceful ways. ==Gameplay==

LocoRoco is divided into 5 worlds each consisting of 8 levels. In each level, the goal is to reach the end point of the level, with the player scored on the number of LocoRoco found, the time to complete the level, and other factors. There are six varieties of LocoRoco in the game, identified by their color, appearance, and musical voice, but outside of the first "Yellow" one, the rest are unlocked as the player completes the level. The player can then opt which LocoRoco they want to use for a level, however, this selection has no fundamental gameplay effects and only changes the songs used. LocoRoco act as blobs of gelatin, deforming from their normally round shape when demanded by the environment. Certain beings in the world can change the default shape of the LocoRoco into other forms, such as squares or triangles, which lasts until the end of the level or they encounter another similar being. The player starts with a single LocoRoco. When this LocoRoco eats a berry, it grows by one, up to a maximum size of twenty. The single large LocoRoco may be split into individual beings by tapping a face button or through specific points on the level, while individual LocoRoco can merge back into a single being by holding down a face button. Manipulation of the LocoRoco in this manner may be necessary to guide them to the finish; while the single large LocoRoco is easier to control, small passages can only be navigated by individual LocoRoco. The player can lose LocoRoco if they are touched by harmful objects or they run into the Moja, and the player will have to restart the level if they lose all their LocoRoco. The player does not otherwise directly control the LocoRoco, but instead controls the planet itself, tilting the planet using the shoulder buttons. This causes the LocoRoco to roll in the direction of tilt, as well as causing certain mechanical objects such as platforms to also tilt. The player can also cause the LocoRoco to jump by holding and releasing both shoulder buttons; this not only allows the LocoRoco a way to cross gaps, but to burst through walls as well as harm the Moja without taking damage. As the player collects more Loco Roco in a level, the music gains more voices, each Loco Roco singing a part in the overall song. Throughout the levels are areas that require a minimum number of LocoRoco in order to cause them to sing and wake up one of the planet's odd residents, who will then reward the player with an item for their "Loco House". There are also hidden Mui Mui throughout the levels to be found. Levels also contain "Pickories" which can be collected by the LocoRoco and are used as a form of currency to play two mini-games outside of the main game. The mini-games are "Mui Mui Crane", a variation of a crane game, and "Chuppa Chuppa" that use Chuppa, bird-like launchers for the LocoRoco, to navigate a long course. Both mini-games grant additional Loco House parts and Pickories as prizes. The player can use the accumulated Loco House parts to create a course that the Loco Roco will automatically navigate, with additional parts that can be collected by directing the course appropriately. A Loco Editor is also an unlockable feature in the game, creating an interactive course with a start and finish using the Loco House parts. ==Development==

, led to his idea of "rotating the landscape" as a key game mechanic. LocoRoco was envisioned by Tsutomu Kouno, who had previously worked on the development of Ico. While on a train during the second quarter of 2004, Kouno had used a PDA to sketch a game that would involve multiple similar characters that would not be in direct control of the player. He realized the planet-tilting aspect after seeing how rotating the phone with the sketch around would lead to a compelling game. At that time, the PlayStation Portable was nearing release, and Kouno felt the unit's shoulder buttons would be appropriate for the tilting controls. Kouno had attempted to present the idea at pitch meetings twice in the early part of 2005 but was turned away. While management was able to understand the mechanic of tilting the world, they could not understand Kouno's vision of applying artificial intelligence to the LocoRoco or other creatures in the game. Kouno spent one month with a four-person team to create a simple pre-prototype version of the game that demonstrated the rolling gameplay aspect. Australia on June 29, Japan on July 13, and North America on September 5. ==Soundtrack==

{{Listen The soundtrack for LocoRoco is based on a fictional language created by Kouno to avoid alienating foreign players by using Japanese music. ==Versions==

Demos Following the release of Firmware 2.7 on April 25, 2006, a downloadable demo of LocoRoco was released on the game's Japanese website and was the first Sony-sanctioned user-downloadable game for the PSP. A demo localized for western countries was released in June 2006, shortly before the game's full European release. It includes one level that will take the player around 5–15 minutes to complete, depending on the number of secret areas the player encounters. A special Halloween-themed demo was released for download on October 26, 2006, It featured some exclusive graphics and objects, like Jack-o-lanterns, spirits, and more. Few puzzles were implemented. A Christmas-themed demo was released for download on December 11, 2006. It featured some exclusive graphics like Santa's sleigh and more. A unique LocoRoco song is implemented. Mobile version A mobile version of LocoRoco, LocoRoco Mobile, was created for distribution via i-mode, a wireless service in Japan, and was made available as a pre-installed application for Sony Ericsson SO703i devices on February 16, 2007. The mobile game has since been released in western countries by developer Gamelion and publisher Glu Mobile as LocoRoco Hi on May 15, 2009. ==Reception==

LocoRoco has received mostly positive reviews from critics. The game was consistently praised for its bright and bold graphics. Charles Herold of the New York Times compared the graphics to Katamari Damacy, calling them "simple" and "pretty" This gameplay allows the game to be easily accessible to players, with IGNs Juan Castro noting that the controls are "not simplistic so much as it's refreshingly elegant", A common complaint from game reviewers was the repetitive nature of the game, as no new gameplay mechanics are introduced after the player learns to roll and jump, and that the levels are "far from challenging". LocoRoco also won two awards at the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards for "Children's Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition", in addition to being nominated for "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming" and "Handheld Game of the Year". The Associated Press named LocoRoco its handheld game of the year for 2006. Prior to its release in North America, 1UP blogger Alejandro Quan-Madrid equated the Moja characters in LocoRoco to blackface, and citing the game as an example of "institutionalized racism that needs calling out". Quan-Madrid and 1UP reporter Jemery Parish noted that the Japanese culture does not have the same racial population as western countries like the United States, and as such, blackface or other similar representations of black persons are taken for granted in that country, and localization usually handles such issues. Quan-Madrid called on Sony to make a simple color change to the Moja, similar to what Capcom had done for the character of Oil Man in Mega Man Powered Up. The accusation of racism came days before a similar charge against Sony for an advertisement for the white-colored PSP, portraying a white woman subjugating a black woman. The Yellow LocoRoco, as seen on the game's cover, has become a mascot for the PSP system. Sales of LocoRoco were not strong in Japan, with just more than 30,000 copies sold the first week, and about 170,000 in total sales for the year. The game was more successful in Europe and North America, prompting Sony to start development of additional titles. ==Sequels==

LocoRoco Cocoreccho is a LocoRoco program for the PlayStation 3, released in September 2007 as a downloadable title through the PlayStation Store. It is described by Sony as an "interactive screensaver," rather than a game. Instead of tilting the world, the game instead puts the player in control of a butterfly that will draw LocoRoco to it, guiding them to sleeping LocoRoco to wake them up and collect enough LocoRoco to progress to other parts of the single stage. LocoRoco 2, a sequel to the original LocoRoco, was officially announced at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show though Phil Harrison, Sony's worldwide studios chief, revealed the game to be in development during an interview at the 2007 D.I.C.E. Summit. The game was released worldwide between late 2008 and early 2009. A third PSP LocoRoco game, LocoRoco Midnight Carnival, is a Halloween-themed spin-off title which features an enhanced bounce skill called "Boing!" The game was digitally released on October 29, 2009, for North American and European areas, and on November 1, 2009, in Japan for the launch of the PSP Go. There are also LocoRoco costumes for LittleBigPlanet. LocoRocos appear in the 2024 PlayStation 5 game Astro Bot, having their own themed level called Going Loco in the game's fourth area and a remixed theme song that plays in it as well with the main bot who leads Astro to the level after the boss being the Yellow LocoRoco and the bots that can be rescued in the level being the other five LocoRocos from the first game. They also assist Astro in the game's finale with the rest of the PlayStation Armada against Nebulax. ==Notes==