Ultimate Sackboy

LittleBigPlanet's iconic Sackboy has made the (literal) jump from consoles to mobile, but the transition is a clunky one. Ultimate Sackboy takes Sony's adorable mascot, along with the handcrafted aesthetic and charm of the LittleBigPlant games, and inexplicably slaps it onto a generic arcade running game. From a style perspective, the game does a phenomenal job of recreating Sackboy and his setting. All the little seams, stitches, buttons, fabrics, etc., come together to give the appearance of an arts and crafts project breathed into life. Sackboy's bubbly charisma and upbeat attitude also shine through with an almost infectious sense of joy. Plus, the game lets players flex their own artistic muscles with Sackboy's near infinite number of accessories and other customization options.

If it was simply about creating cute Sackboy avatars, Ultimate Sackboy might be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the game's real focus is this mundane "been there, done that" running game that doesn't offer much in the way of fun. One issue is that, in each round, players run for a predetermined amount of time, after which the round simply ends. There's no finish line, no lap count, and nothing that gives any sense of accomplishment. On the upside, the controls are responsive and easy to pick up and play for gamers of any age. Then again, the design of the randomly generated courses can be almost as much an obstacle for the player as any object in Sackboy's path. There are plenty of times that the bubbles players are trying to collect wind up hidden behind a wall or blocked from view by some other environmental element, only to be seen after Sackboy has passed. This often can cause the player to come up short on points and out of the top three standing required to earn prizes. All of these drag down the overall experience, making it less on an Ultimate Sackboy and more of a Mediocre Sackboy.