Genre: 2d platformer
Developer: Media Molecule
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

LittleBigPlanet's cardboard and field-of-depth laden aesthetic is back and it, and aside from a more elaborate lighting model, looks more or less the same as it did the first time around. Stage art direction is thankfully darker than the first title's, and perhaps even more abstract-- if such a thing is possible.

The original title had an eclectic soundtrack that contained a strange combination of licensed band material, and more conventional video game-like pieces. That trend continues in the sequel, although the darker direction that drove the visuals clearly influenced the music selection as well. Stephen Fry narration is a constant throughout play once again, for better or for worse.

The good and bad of the original title are still present here; the fantastic, imaginative level design is partially undone by rather terrible jumping physics. The true star is the level designer, which has undergone fairly drastic improvements in the ways of flexibility, transforming from a mere level editor to something more akin to game creation systems like Megazeux or Game Creator.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is exactly more of the original, but with some minor improvements around the edges. The robust editor is even more robust, the engine is backwards compatible with content from the original title-- a nice bonus-- and the sometimes obnoxiously "casual" style from the original has been mostly eradicated. The aesthetic still feels a bit flat and lifeless unfortunately, though this may be an unfortunate side effect of the title being more game development platform than game.