Sackboy: A Big Adventure Review

I absolutely loved the LittleBigPlanet games, but I wasn’t a fan of seeing the main campaign mode get shorter as the series evolved. I have never been as creative as I would perhaps like and so my ability to create levels was limited. I did enjoy a lot of the levels other people created, but by the third game in the series, I didn’t feel like I was getting as much value out of the games any more. So with Sackboy: A Big Adventure focussing entirely on the platforming, I was very excited to see what this spinoff from Sumo Digital had in store.

Unlike the main games in the series, this spinoff is a fully 3D platformer with a more traditional explorative nature to the levels. It plays more in the style of collect-a-thon platformers such as Banjo Kazooie or Spyro the Dragon then the original LittleBigPlanet games, but this feels perfectly natural as an evolution of the series and I honestly didn’t miss the 2.5D levels of old. Besides, if Yooka and Laylee can be stars of both the 2D and 3D realm, then why can’t Sackboy and Sackgirl?

The defining aspect in this series has always been the charm and aesthetic of Craftworld, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure doesn’t break the mould here. That handcrafted look is back and it’s even more adorable than ever, with a particular amount of detail paid to Sackboy himself (or Sackgirl, you can pick either). He really does look knitted now, with up close shots looking particularly realistic, right down to the occasional loose strands of fibre. In addition, there are hundreds of ways to customise your character, with costumes, skins, and accessories being abundant throughout. It’s not necessary to collect all of these, but doing so is particularly addictive and with the game telling you what percentage of surprises have been collected in each level, I found myself compelled to return to previously completed levels to pick them all up.

All of the game’s levels can be played in co-op with up to three other sackpeople of your choice, either remotely or locally. There are also ten co-op dedicated levels, with puzzles that can only be solved by working together. The level design is generally excellent and works well both solo and as a team, but there are a few levels that are made a little more difficult when together. This is especially noticeable in levels that have a time limit. If your character collides with another’s head mid-air, then you bounce off. This can make precision movement a little difficult on occasion. These moments are few and far between however and I was able to play through the entirety of the game with my partner in local co-op. This is, in my opinion, the best way to play the game as the co-op was clearly considered carefully from the outset rather than added on as an extra. This is something you don’t always see in a platformer and a very welcome design decision.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure’s use of music is worth special praise for me, with some truly excellent scoring throughout. The original tracks are wonderfully crafted and fit the theme of the game perfectly, but in addition there’s some really clever use of licensed music as well. There are a number of licensed tracks that have been used, some of them are in an altered form, such as a rendition of Material Girl turned into an instrumental Vienese waltz. The stand-out levels for me though are the ones that are actually set to music. These levels are set in time to the rhythm of popular songs by artists including David Bowie, Foster the People, Bruno Mars, and Britney Spears. With platforms, jumps, and obstacles moving in time to the music, they play like a cross between platforming and rhythm action. It’s very novel and an excellent way of mixing things up. 

In addition to the regular platforming levels, there are also a number of “knitted knight trial” levels. These are bonus levels which see you trying to get through an obstacle course in a set time limit, often a particularly tight one. There are 16 in total, with the final course being a combination of the first 15 one after the other. This is a very cheap tactic that I had thought we’d left behind in the days of the 16-bits and is the only level in the game that I didn’t bother trying to complete. Other than the frustration of that final challenge, which is designed to be on the tricky side, this isn’t a super complicated game and there were very few levels that were difficult to get through. Mastering them to get all the collectibles is more of a challenge, but most players will be able to make it through the main story mode without too much trouble. 

Between this and Astro’s Playroom, there’s plenty to occupy PlayStation 5 platform fans while we wait for the now-delayed Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. In many ways, I’m glad that title didn’t get released at launch after all, as there’s every chance it would have overshadowed Sackboy’s new outing and that would be a shame. Sackboy: A Big Adventure is tremendous fun and I recommend it to any fans of the platform game genre.