LittleBigPlanet GOTY

Overview

LittleBigPlanet is a 2008 platform game developed by Media Molecule and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The player controls Sackboy, a customizable ragdoll who explores the title realm. The game is built around content creation, with a level editor and the Popit, a portable menu that holds the creation tools. Before 12 March 2021 players could publish levels online and play other people's levels.

It is a physics-based platformer on a 2.5D plane with three layers. There are two modes, each shown as a celestial body: LittleBigPlanet, where you play levels, and MyMoon, where you build them, both reached from a cardboard spaceship hub called the Pod. The story mode has eight themed areas with three or four main levels each, and hidden keys unlock bonus levels for fifty in total. Up to four players can play together, and some prize bubble puzzles in story mode need more than one player.

In the story Sackboy helps the Creator Curators across the world of LittleBigPlanet before facing the Collector, who has been kidnapping and stealing creations. Each area draws on a real-world place, including the United Kingdom, Africa, South America, Mexico, the United States, Japan and India. Stephen Fry narrates.

Media Molecule was formed by four former Lionhead Studios employees after Rag Doll Kung Fu in 2005. They pitched a prototype called Craftworld to Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison, who agreed to fund it. The game was announced at the Game Developers Conference in March 2007. Kenneth C M Young, Mat Clark and Daniel Pemberton composed the music, which has 21 licensed tracks and 14 original ones.

The first release was set for 21 October 2008 in North America. On 17 October Sony recalled copies from retailers to remove lyrics that quoted the Qur'an from the licensed song Tapha Niang, and patch 1.02 removed them. The game then came out in North America on 27 October 2008, in Japan on 30 October, in Europe on 5 November and in Australia on 7 November. A Game of the Year Edition followed in North America on 8 September 2009 and in the United Kingdom on 16 April 2010. It adds exclusive levels made by 18 community members, the Metal Gear Solid, Monsters and History costume and level packs, and the Animals costume pack.

LittleBigPlanet got critical acclaim, with praise for its creative play and its community side, and it won several Game of the Year awards. Sales were slow at first, then picked up, and it reached 4.5 million copies by October 2018. All LittleBigPlanet servers were shut down on 12 March 2021, came back briefly in May 2021, and were closed for good on 13 September 2021.

Game details

Genres

Platformer, Sandbox

Developer

Media Molecule

Publisher

Sony Computer Entertainment

Series

LittleBigPlanet

Composers

Kenneth C M Young, Mat Clark, Daniel Pemberton

Designers

Mark Healey, David Smith

Directors

Mark Healey (creative director)

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

4

Online multiplayer

4

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Trophies

Trophies70

Platinum possibleYes

Platinum

1

Gold

3

Silver

12

Bronze

54

Total

70

Points

1740

• 100% Complete Earn all LittleBigPlanet™ trophies to unlock this platinum trophy Platinum 2.64% of players
• The Gardens Complete all levels in The Gardens Bronze 84.76% of players
• The Savannah Complete all levels in The Savannah Bronze 70.19% of players
• The Wedding Complete all levels in The Wedding Bronze 59.25% of players
• The Canyons Complete all levels in The Canyons Bronze 49.21% of players
• The Metropolis Complete all levels in The Metropolis Bronze 46.48% of players
• The Islands Complete all levels in The Islands Bronze 41.61% of players
• The Temples Complete all levels in The Temples Bronze 39.45% of players
• Expert Creator Complete all levels in the Tutorials Bronze 10.8% of players
• Artist Place a sticker Bronze 95.55% of players
• Homemaker Place 10 stickers or decorations in your pod Bronze 64.42% of players
• Fashion Sense Choose a costume for your sackperson with at least one item on your head, at least one item on your body, and a material Bronze 91.14% of players
• Trendsetter Place a sticker or a decoration on another player's sackperson Bronze 48.34% of players
• Forager Collect 25% of the prize bubbles on the story levels Bronze 56.43% of players
• Sticky Fingers Collect 50% of the prize bubbles on the story levels Bronze 41.1% of players
• Treasure Hunter Collect 75% of the prize bubbles on the story levels Bronze 23.41% of players
• 2X Multiplier! Get a 2X Multiplier Bronze 96.59% of players
• 8X Multiplier! Get an 8X Multiplier Bronze 67.99% of players
• Cranium Collector Kill 100 Creatures across all levels Bronze 44.51% of players
• Secret Stickerist Unlock the race in First Steps Bronze 38.58% of players
• Incredible Speed! Travel at incredible speed Bronze 43.88% of players
• Incredible Height! Travel to an incredible height Bronze 44.4% of players
• Sackbird Spend 8 seconds or more in the air Bronze 43.54% of players
• Friendly Complete a level with more than one player Bronze 74.51% of players
• Party Person Complete a level online with 3 other players who are on your friends list Bronze Needs online 10.53% of players
• Socialite Complete a level online with 3 other players who are not on your friends list Bronze Needs online 29.82% of players
• Top of the class Win a 4-player game Bronze 30.83% of players
• Traveller Complete a community level Bronze Needs online 60.07% of players
• FIRST! Be among the first 10 people to complete a community level Bronze Needs online 47.22% of players
• Opinionated Tag a community level Bronze Needs online 51.02% of players
• Neighbourhood Watch Heart 5 community levels Bronze Needs online 40.45% of players
• Networking Heart 3 authors Bronze Needs online 30.68% of players
• Talkative Post a comment on a community level Bronze Needs online 25.87% of players
• Creator Build and save a level with the thermometer more than 30% full Bronze 30.05% of players
• Team Creator Build and save a level with more than one player with the thermometer more than 30% full Bronze 21.19% of players
• Publisher Publish a level Bronze Needs online 22.08% of players
• Look what I made! A level you published was played by 5 or more people Bronze Needs online 18.48% of players
• Just Beginning Complete all the main path story levels Silver 31.74% of players
• 20X Multiplier! Get a 20X Multiplier Silver 51.3% of players
• Hi Score Collect 1,000,000 points over all levels you have played Silver 45.49% of players
• Booty Master Collect all the prize bubbles on the story levels Silver 5.35% of players
• Dr Frankenstein Create a living creature with at least 2 eyes, 2 legs or wheels, and a brain Silver 28.53% of players
• Crowd Pleaser A level you published was played by 50 or more people Silver Needs online 9.22% of players
• Feel the love A level you published was hearted by 10 or more people Silver Needs online 6.21% of players
• Celebrity You were hearted by 5 or more people as a player Silver Needs online 11.18% of players
• Play Complete all story levels without dying, with the exception of those levels that only end when you die Gold 5.16% of players
• Create The levels you have published were hearted by 50 or more people and you were hearted by 30 or more people Gold Needs online 3.74% of players
• Share Play 150 community levels, tag 50 community levels and heart 10 community levels Gold Needs online 7.98% of players
• QuickFire Artiste Fire 40 paintballs in under 5 seconds Bronze 19.51% of players
• Rexecutioner Destroy the Metal Gear REX boss Bronze 29.95% of players
• Ace Act 3 and Act 4 Ace Act 3: The Mission and Act 4: The Level Factory Bronze 12.28% of players
• Ace Act 5: The Boss Ace Act 5: The Boss Bronze 12.76% of players
• Paint Splurge Fire 5,000 paintballs Bronze 35.01% of players
• Virtual Survivor Achieve a score of 3,750 in the VR Survival Challenge Silver 10.77% of players
• Diamond Hunter Destroy the 5 hidden target diamonds in Act 4: The Level Factory Bronze 14.48% of players
• Speedy Rexecutioner Destroy the Metal Gear REX boss in under 2 mins 30 seconds Silver 8.67% of players
• Thrifty Painter Complete Act 3: The Mission firing less than 125 paintballs Bronze 8.43% of players
• METAL GEAR SOLID® Booty Master Collect all of the METAL GEAR SOLID® prize bubbles Bronze 11.67% of players
• Paint Sharer Publish a level containing the METAL GEAR SOLID® Paintinator Powerup Bronze Needs online 20.71% of players
• The Bends Achieve a score of 7000 in the Diving for Treasure Survival Challenge Silver 8.18% of players
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN Booty Master Collect all of the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN prize bubbles Bronze 7.23% of players
• Beast Slayer Destroy the KRAKEN boss Bronze 21.78% of players
• Ace Port Royal Ace Port Royal Bronze 16.9% of players
• Ace Pirate Town Ace Pirate Town Bronze 14.52% of players
• Ace The Frigate Ace The Frigate Bronze 13.72% of players
• Ace Cursed Bay Ace Cursed Bay Bronze 11.94% of players
• Ace The Kraken!!! Ace The Kraken!!! Bronze 10.73% of players
• Tributary Publish a level containing WATER Bronze Needs online 17.17% of players
• Salty Dog Complete 20 community levels that contain WATER. Bronze Needs online 23.76% of players
• HMS Interceptor Complete the race in Cursed Bay with at least 4000 points left on the clock Silver 7.34% of players

Space and patches

Update patch01.30

These are the patches Sony still hosts for this disc ID. The game's real history can be longer.

DLC

Most extra content was costume packs and level kits, many based on other properties. The Marvel pack left the PlayStation Store on 31 December 2015 and the Disney packs left it on 21 December 2017.

Items

Name	Date	Adds	Price	Obtainable today
Festive Level Pack	2008-12-18	Christmas objects and stickers, available until 2009-01-08.
Metal Gear Solid level kit and costume pack	2008-12-23	Five levels, objects and stickers, including the Paintinator. Included in the Game of the Year Edition.
Creator Pack 1	2009-04-23	A new checkpoint type with infinite lives, a tetherless jetpack and a power-up removal marker.	free
History Kit	2009-08-13	History themed objects and stickers with a sound object and a music track. Included in the Game of the Year Edition.
MM Music Pack 1	2009-10-08	Three songs by Mat Clark: Well Trained, Wise Owl and Tea By The Sea.
Pirates of the Caribbean level kit and costume pack	2009-12-22	Adds water to the game, with five levels, objects and stickers.		no
The Incredibles pack	2010-04-08	Costumes and a level kit with themed stickers and items.		no
Marvel pack	2010-07-07	A few costumes and a level kit with Marvel themed stickers, music and items.		no

Playable today

Online

Online servers runningNo

The LittleBigPlanet servers are closed. They went down on 12 March 2021, returned briefly in May 2021 and were closed for good on 13 September 2021, so published community levels can no longer be reached.

Services

Service	Status	Shutdown date
LittleBigPlanet servers (worldwide)	closed	2021-09-13

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	PS3	95	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
Computer and Video Games	9.6	10
Edge	10	10
Eurogamer	9	10
Game Informer	9.5	10
GamePro	5	5
GameSpot	9	10
Giant Bomb	5	5
IGN (UK)	9.7	10
PlayStation Official Magazine UK	10	10
X-Play	5	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Creative director	Mark Healey
Art director	Kareem Ettouney
Technical director	Alex Evans
Technical director	David Smith
Designer	Mark Healey
Designer	David Smith
Composer	Kenneth C M Young
Composer	Mat Clark
Composer	Daniel Pemberton
Audio programmer	Matt Willis

Cast

Character	Actor
Narrator	Stephen Fry

Notes for collectors

• Copies were recalled from shops on 17 October 2008 so a song with Qur'an lyrics could be cut, which delayed the release.
• Patches 1.01 and 1.02 came out before launch; 1.02 is the one that removed the lyrics.
• The Game of the Year Edition was not planned for Europe at first. A UK version was announced later for 16 April 2010.
• A limited number of Game of the Year copies carried a code for the ModNation Racers beta.
• North American pre-orders in 2008 came with costumes for Kratos and Nariko. Canada got only those two, while the United States also got a sticker book, a burlap pouch and a guide.
• The in-game store and online access to Create mode were added by patches after launch. They were not in the first release.
• The Pirates of the Caribbean, Incredibles and Marvel packs can no longer be bought from the PlayStation Store.
• Trophies that ask you to publish, tag or heart community levels rely on the online service, which is now closed.

Credits

Region

US

Time to beat

about 9 hours