LocoRoco 2 Detailed

Nobody can deny the cuter qualities of the LocoRoco. The simplistic yet uniquely addictive PSP game was a breath of fresh air when it was released in 2006 -- easy to come to grips with, fun to look at, and downright charming once you broke out the headphones and learned all the neat little songs the Locos sung for you. Two years on, and the music is still stuck in the heads of thousands worldwide.

Rumors about LocoRoco 2 have been buzzing around for over a year now (former Sony vice president Phil Harrison inadvertently confirmed it when he mentioned how he was playing "LocoRoco's next version" at the 2007 DICE event), but now we've got official confirmation: the Locos are heading back to the PSP, and it's going to be as cute as ever. As before, you use the L, R, and Circle buttons to help the strangely cute LocoRoco across a dangerous planetary landscape, with the merry blobs singing and generally having a good time along the way.

The Moja Troop, the vaguely rasta-ish aliens that got in the LocoRoco's way in the previous game, are back -- and as director Tsutomu Kouno tells Weekly Famitsu magazine this week, they've learned how to sing themselves. "The Moja Troop are back with some new bosses, but this time they've also learned some songs," he says. "They've been practicing as hard as they can, and they've learned how to use music to sap the energy out of everyone. Now nobody feels like doing anything, so the LocoRoco have to go around the world and pep everyone back up again." Does that mean you'll be hearing the Moja singing away if you approach one? It sure does. "They're pretty good, too!" Kouno claims. "You'll also run into other enemies as the game goes on -- not friends of the Moja, but there's a boss that has transformed these creatures and has them under his control, and he uses them to attack the LocoRoco."

The original LocoRoco was a hit among both hardcore PSP maniacs and the more casual audience, and Kouno is quick to point out that the sequel won't lose the first game's light, quick gameplay and simple charms. "We've tried our best not to change the core gameplay too much," he says. "We're being careful to keep it from getting too complex, and in addition to that, we're putting in lots of new features for people who played the first game to enjoy." Among those new features is a wealth of new abilities that the Locos learn as you go on: "In the first game you could only swim on the surface of bodies of water, but here you can dive underwater," Kouno says. "You could catch yourself on a rope by biting on it earlier, but you can bite down on more stuff this time -- you can even pull things out entirely with your teeth. We'd like to have more places where the player and the LocoRoco work together to do things, giving you a taste of what it's like playing with them."

No release date has been proffered for LocoRoco 2, which Sony Computer Entertainment says is about 75 percent complete.

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