Hands on with LocoRoco Hi on mobile

Who'd have thought Sony's hit PSP game LocoRoco would ever make it to mobile phone? It's certainly taken its time getting here - something which the makers of games such as SolaRola are probably very grateful about.

It's time for such games to step aside however, because the original is finally here. Well, the original redesigned for mobile phone by Polish porting experts Gamelion at least. And our initial impressions of their efforts are very positive.

Actually, scrap positive. LocoRoco on mobile is actually looking pretty awesome.

Describing LocoRoco to anyone who hasn't played it before is quite simple. The game is based around the cutest, most colourful and appealing world you could possibly imagine. It's bright and prominently pink with palm trees and curves as far as the eye can see.

It's like a playground designed for self harmers, in fact, in that there's very little to hurt you. Everything is as soft and squishy as a bouncy castle, and the joy to this is that you can explore and enjoy without watching your lives count down.

On mobile, LocoRoco controls exactly the same as on PSP. You begin each level with one little LocoRoco which you roll around by tilting the world. Pressing '4' tilts the world left and '6' rolls it right. Pressing both buttons together causes your LocoRoco to jump.

As you roll around, you can eat pink flowers to multiply your LocoRocos, making your little starter critter bulge and swell to the sort of size that would have Fern Britton reaching for the gastric band.

At this point, you can also choose to split up your LocoRoco into little individual ones - handy for when you're too fat to squeeze through a tiny gap. You do this by pressing '5', then binding them back together is done by holding '5'.

It's remarkably simple to play. So simple in fact that there's a chance you're now wondering exactly where the challenge lies in LocoRoco. Well, that would be in the collecting involved in every level.

Finding every fruit, flower and MuiMui (little LocoRoco friends) rewards you with the maximum achievement at the end of every level, but finding them all isn't simple.

Just like in the PSP version, collecting everything can only be done by finding hidden paths and special walls that melt away when you get close. This means relying on old-skool platformer methods of detection - going left at the start of a level instead of right or bouncing on a trampoline in the opposite direction to the most obvious platform, for instance.

Finding every secret is quite an achievement, and the mobile version of LocoRoco seems to call on just as much exploration as the PSP original.

Obviously the game's been scaled back for mobile a little. It seems like you'll only get to play as yellow LocoRocos for instance, and the music - while still brilliant for a Java game - isn't as core to the gameplay as it was on PSP, or could be on iPhone.

However, our impressions from LocoRoco's opening levels are still shiningly optimistic. All of the game's best bits - its cute characters, constant surprises and need for exploration and replayability are all in there.

We'll have the full review for you shortly.