LittleBigPlanet (2008)

Genre: Platform | Players: 1 - 4 | Developer: Media Molecule

LBP is a cutesy platform game. Controls are basic; you run, jump, swing, fall, slide, get set on fire and die the same as all the others. A cursory look on YouTube for a gameplay vid may make you go “Meh!” Look under the bonnet of the level creator, however, and the real magic will jump out and hump your brain. LBP is the best virtual toy box you'll ever have. It’s Lego, Meccano and Stickle Bricks stitched together with an amazingly good physics engine. The only real limitation is your own imagination. When you create a level that doesn't self-destruct the first time you play it, you earn your smug.

My only real criticism is the floaty jumping mechanic; it never really feels like you’re making contact with some of the floors.

The entire One Player element included on the disc was built using the same basic tools that are given to the user, so you can view the One Player game as being essentially a tech demo of what can be achieved.

Once it got into the hands of the bedroom developers the game became something else, something remarkable. It heralded a new community attitude for console games, something the PC market had enjoyed for years. At time of writing there are over one million user-generated levels available, from the most basic empty lot created by a four-year-old to the decades experienced mechanical engineer astrophysicist levels that will leave your jaw on the floor. People did things with the tools that the devs at Media Molecule hadn't considered possible.

The best thing about the LBP toy box is that you can’t stand on a stray brick in the dark at 2 a.m and squeal like a bitch. I played the game for over two years, I only stopped because LBP 2 came out.

5 blank canvases and copyright infringements out of 5