I started last month’s review with “it was bound to happen”, talking about the success of a game leading to a follow-up (or in the case of last month’s title, Rock Band, two follow-ups).

Here we have another instance of huge popularity leading to a sequel – the PS3 exclusive LittleBigPlanet 2.

LittleBigPlanet is a very odd game to review. Reviews are all about the writer’s personal tastes no matter how objective one tries to be, and sometimes a huge hit will come along which leaves you scratching your head and trying to feel the same vibes as everybody else.

I’m a fan of platform games – which is the major gameplay element in LittleBigPlanet – but I’m really not a fan of this.

The original Mario games and the Nintendo DS/Wii sequels and re-releases (such as New Super Mario Bros) are, to my mind, as good as platformers can get. The gameplay element of LittleBigPlanet doesn’t compare in my opinion, and that makes it very hard to give the game a fair score.

The main pull of the game is the creativity on offer. On the disc you get a set story and a set amount of levels and mini-games, but you can download thousands upon thousands of user-created levels online – or make your own.

The customisation options are incredibly in-depth and if you’re more talented than myself, you can put together some stunning levels. But as entertaining as they are, they’re random, without plot, and I find it a very odd experience that’s neither here nor there.

However, if you liked the original then you’ll like the sequel.

There’s a lot more variety in the creative elements, which makes it a much more powerful tool than before. Fun for all the family? Yes. Fun for a hardcore gamer? It depends. 7/10