Loco Roco 2 is the quintessential videogame sequel. IMO this is what game franchises should aspire to do: creating follow-up games which follow from the original, but really expand upon it. All too often sequel games are either just straight continuations on their predecessor (expansion pack anyone?) or worse, awkward re-imagining's of the original concept--because clearly there are no new ideas. LocoRoco 2  breaks this mold by taking what worked in the original, and truly adding to it. The mechanics are basically the same, the game feels familiar; but there are new enemies, environments and challenges to overcome, along with a new character and new resources at your disposal.

You needn't have played LocoRoco to enjoy LocoRoco 2. Once you get used to the game mechanics the sequel can be played as a stand-alone game. For the more driven gamer, there are many different objects to collect each level to build the LocoRoco house, and record 'bests' to achieve. But the game offers something to both those who want to collect everything and those who just want to have fun with the cute locorocos.

The collectible items and stats at the end of each level give the game a high level of replayability. Each level is fun the first time around, but once you've beat it, you know how much more you could have achieved, and that makes you want (need) to give it one more try. Your stats are saved, so each time you replay a level it lets you know if you've done the *best* so far.

As in the original, the game is played by rotating the environment around your locoroco with the PSP's R and L buttons. This takes a bit of getting used to, and even then I'm reminded of my little brother "jumping" his controller as Mario jumped a pit; I defy you to play LocoRoco without at the very least tilting your head back and forth constantly, this isn't a game you can play on the bus and still look sane.

Adding to the basically straight-forward gameplay of the original, the sequel includes several mini-games, and the Mui-Mui house is greatly expanded (and is actually fun this time around). In general this game is just more polished and complex than its predecessor. On the other hand, while I tried out the mini-games, I couldn't really get into any of them. I appreciate their existence and the way in which the developers were trying to make the LocoRoco experience more rich and dynamic, but compared to the rest of the game, these mini-games just weren't too interesting.

Although I found very little to criticize about this game, I have to voice an objection to the world map. In most games of this type, with several levels per world, the levels play sequentially. In this game the world map rotates after each level completed, and every newly unlocked level pops up in a different world. So you beat the second ice level and you have to scroll through the world map until you find whatever the next level is. It's a small complaint, but it proved odd, confusing and slightly annoying.

This game, which I'd been eagerly awaiting, does not disappoint. It carries with it all the magic of the original and still finds way to improve upon it.

Infinite Bits score: 9.25