This is an ongoing list where I attempt to do the following: Play, Complete, and Rank every video game in the known universe in order to finally answer the age old question "What is the greatest game of all time?" For previous entries find the links on the attached spreadsheet.

How did I do?

Portable systems are weird. Not weird in the sense as to how they work, or that they do "weird" things, but rather the desire to own a portable system. When you are growing up, a portable system has great appeal, and for many people it becomes their console of choice. It makes sense, you are going on car rides where you aren't looked at to do the driving or even the navigating, so you can sit in the back seat and play whatever your portable system of choice. If you grew up with siblings or video-game playing parents, the feeling of having to share the TV meant that you might not get to play games as often as you want, so having a system you could just lay in bed with was perfect. As you got older though a portable system never really made sense. Instead you wanted more powerful machines, surround sound, big TVs and Bigger graphics. When you were highschool or college aged, you might have used a portable system on the bus, but your main gaming was done on a TV. However, then you get even older, like having kids old, and you realize that a portable system is once again perfect for your life. You can sneak some gaming in while your kids play/watch TV.. you can lay in bed and play it under the cover of darkness, and taking trains or buses to work once again allow you time to game on the go.

I say all this, because the PSP was released during the phase in my life, where gaming on the go meant very little to me. I was in college with barely any money to my name, and if I was going to spend my precious few dollars on games and a gaming system then I wanted it to be the kind I could show off on my TV and command a room. When I downloaded Loco Roco to my PS4 a few years ago, I didn't even know it was a PSP game. It fit the aesthetics of other wacky indie games that were either out or coming out. It appeared to fit the mold of Katamari, Chuchel, Pikuniku, and other wacky games of the ilk. Now granted I am sure Loco Roco inspired those other games to some degree (well maybe not Katamari, that might have been the other way around), but for me if I am known for one thing, it is not looking into a game before I take the plunge, so it wasn't until I was playing it that I learned that it certainly wasn't a native PS4 game.

Loco Roco, for those that don't known is probably best described as... uhhhh.. actually I don't know. The internet tells me it is a "platforming" game, but that might simply because you have to jump in the game. Maybe if I describe it, we will come up with a genre together. In Loco Roco, you take a ball/face creature and attempt to roll him to the end of a level getting as fat as possible. However, you don't really have control over the character really that much. L1 and R1 (ps4 controls here) tilt the screen to the left and right, which cause your faceball to roll in that general direction. Hold both buttons together and then release it to perform a jump. Generally speaking the longer you hold the buttons down before releasing the higher the jump, but it does cap out. While you are rolling through levels, you are looking to collect bugs (pink balls), Fruit (orange balls), and Aliens (not balls), before reaching the end. Most of these are for score purposes as you are graded at the end of each level to see if you found everything, but the only piece that has much say in the actual playing of the game is the fruit. Every piece you eat, makes your faceball a little bigger. This means you can presumably take a hit from an enemy or spike that are very selectively added into the levels, or at some points you are forced to break into smaller balls to navigate a maze, and this allows you a couple of extra pieces that might fall and hit collectables. There are some parts in the level that might require you to be a certain size to get past, but these are almost always for bonuses and not for the requirement of beating levels. When you get to the end of the level whether you are the size of one faceball or 20, you perform a song and then beat the level.

There isn't a plot except for maybe finding a home for your faceballs. There aren't bosses or puzzles to figure you out, and you would be hard pressed to even die or get a game over in this game. Sure, its technically possible to repeatedly hit a spike, or let a creature slowly eat you, but you would have to be trying for that to happen, because otherwise this is a relatively easy game. So with that all said, have we found a genre for this game yet? I mean without just putting it in the bucket of "weird Japanese game," I guess I have to say this game is genre-less.

Where this game shines is in its charm. The whole vibe of this game is upbeat and charming. Every level has your faceball singing a song throughout the stage, and while its music doesn't rival Katamari, it is nonetheless worth bumping while you are playing the game. (Do kids still say "bumping"?). The game is bright and colorful, easy enough to control that you can hand the controller over to nearly anyone and they will be able to make progress in the game. I say, "just about anyone," because it does have it moments where you need to kind of understand how the weight of your character, the physics of the game, and the dynamics of tilting the screen all come into play in order to get past some obstacles. However, its very accessible and something that will charm kids when they see it. In fact I introduced my children to the game this past week, and while they can't quite figure out how to play it effectively, they sure do love the music and the colors on screen, and especially love certain parts of the game where the faceballs sing a melody that comes out of your controller speaker.

If I was to critique this game, and keep in mind I am critiquing it as a PS4 game not a PSP game, but the game is a little longer then it needs to be, and its side activities seem rather pointless to me. There are 40 levels in this game (5 worlds with 8 levels a piece)! While I enjoyed my time with the game on the whole, there just isn't enough to differentiate it across 40 levels. I was good when I hit 30, and simply knocked out the last 10 because I need to see things through to the end.

In addition to playing the game, there is a crane game activity, where you can get some house pieces and different color faceballs. The other color characters don't behave any differently, but do sing different songs at certain parts of the levels. The house pieces can be used in the other side activity where you can place these pieces in a level and navigate your faceball around them. Outside of getting a trophy or more unlockables, I really didn't see the point to the build a house section of the game, because it seemed like it was basically creating a screen saver to play endlessly on a loop, while you did something else in real life.

All that aside, I enjoyed most of my time with Loco Roco. Its a charming game that has a fun/relaxing atmosphere. It won't quite scratch the same itch Katamari does, but it fits in that bucket of charming and easy to play game with good music and low stakes. Having played it on the PS4, it makes more sense as a portable game. I could see it working with a tilt screen to move the characters instead of that being tied to a button, and playing something goofy in the back of a car just fits better, then playing on a 60inch BIG SCREEN. I am positive Loco Roco will get more love in my house, despite me having completed it. I am sure I will get a few more "yellow face game" requests from the kids when they just want to listen to some made up songs coming out of the controller.

Is this the greatest game of all time?: No

Where does it rank: Hear me out, but I have placed it as the 30thgreatest game of all time out of 75. It might seem low, but its charm can't boost it up higher. The way I think about it, I would recommend people TRY Loco Roco, because I think its really fun and cool, but if they played 5 levels they could probably stop. On the flip side everyone needs to COMPLETE Katamari Damacy, because its just that great. Surrounding Loco Roco is #29 Empire of Sin and #31 Heavy Rain

Up Next: Jade Empire (Xbox)

Anyone looking for it: here is the link to the list and more if you are interested in following along with me (this is not a self promotion). Here. I added links on the spreadsheet for quick navigation. Now if you missed a blog of a game you want to read about, you can get to it quickly, rather than having to scroll through my previous blogs wondering when it came up.

Thanks for Listening.

Vastly different opinions on Katamari Damacy aside (I think it has style for days but is a complete pain in the ass to actually play), good read. I think I only played a demo of Loco Roco. Kinda regret not playing more of it.

And yeah, with the number of entries on your list, it's going to seem like some games are dipping low when it's really just volume.

@sparky_buzzsaw: Thanks for the read and for the nice comment on the community spotlight. I can see where you are coming from with Katamari, the camera can be frustrating and the controls will certainly mess you up when starting that game.

Loco Roco is fun, I think its a great game to just play like once a week and knock out a world or a few levels here or there, but really when you finish the first world you might have seen everything the game has to show you.