Genre: 3d Platformer
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment

The trademark skeuomorphic "LittleBigPlanet" aesthetic is back, but this time with its frames delectably served up by Unreal Engine 4: which means an all-in hay-making tapestry of sublimely detailed textures, crazy particle effects, sophisticated lighting, and probably the best use of screen space reflections this writer has yet seen. The great part is that due to the fixed camera angles, the downsides of "SSR" are minimized-- may as well be ray-traced! The user interface and menu style deserves a mention all its own: great love was given to their sheer resolution, and the tactile way they pop and move. Even the character designs, somewhat tropey as they may be, are attractively presented. All-in-all, the sheer crispness and richness lends this game an unmistakably "next gen" veneer, all the more obvious when compared side-by-side with its PlayStation 4 port.

The vast bulk of video games over the past several years insist on the kind of utterly forgettable, totally throw-away, "here is a five dollar CD with two hundred such algorithmically-generated songs on it" Hollywood orchestra music one would hear in a movie trailer: but not Sackboy! Licensed songs galore, which dynamically change as the player moves throughout the stages. True, there is a whiff of the "Rayman Legends" effect, but the thin tightrope between "pretentious" and "authentically cute" is more expertly traversed here. Thankfully, no British tarts like Stephen Fry or the lady from "Dreams": just tasteful, old-fashioned English voice acting, not overdone.

From the minute the four colored tabs appear along the bottom of the screen asking how many people are playing, to the point where the jump-disabled world map and fixed camera perspective in the stages becomes apparent, it's obvious that this is "Super Mario 3D World", but in the "LittleBigPlanet" universe. Its water tight player movement and superbly crafted levels-- some of which are designed explicitly for co-op, and involve actions like playing catch to progress-- are still not quite able to propel it past the aforementioned Nintendo classic in terms of pure fun factor: which, to be fair, is one of the best titles in the genre, of all time. Still, Sony having a game of this style in their own stable is something of a coup.

Sackboy is a difficult game to evaluate: on one cloth hand it's expertly designed, with text book level design principles, razor-tight controls, and the best skeumorphic artistic contributions perhaps in the history of the medium. On the other burlap sack appendage though, it plays things so safe that it fails to genuinely weave its own identity, instead stitching up existing mechanics and conventions from every other platformer to ever come off the loom. But here is a third perspective: as a launch title for a system which comes packed with another 3d platformer in "Astro's Playroom", Sackboy is like the four course meal on offer for those not satiated by the aforementioned robotic hor d'oeuvre.