Surprisingly for a racing game, Modnation Racers offers the player a story and a decent story at that, which unfolds in short cutscenes before and after races. The plot revolves around a character who is about to start his Modnation racing journey. With the help of an unsuccessful car paint woman and a crazy old man, he will have to make his way through the ranks to become a Modnation Racing Champion. The story is surprisingly entertaining and offers a different take on the racing genre with its great voice acting and quirky humor.

Players will inevitably make the comparison between Modnation and Mario Kart as these two titles do have something in common. In Modnation, players will choose among a series of different cars to compete for that first place position by collecting and shooting power-ups at your competitors. The power-ups include missiles, speed boosters, sonic waves and a range of other abilities. Once you’ve picked up a particular power up you will continue to increase its level as you drive through more power-up bubbles, which allow you to max out your power at level 3 and thereby creating the most dangerous form of that power-up. A word of caution to this tale: should you choose to build up a power and you are hit by an opponent, you will lose it all. There is also a boost bar, which will fill up with style points which can be achieved by drafting, drifting and especially by dropping some fancy tricks during mid-air jumps.

Modnation offers players a range of different race modes (Online Race, Quick Race, Split-Screen and Career) which will be present within the ‘ModSpot’: an arena which allows you to free roam about and choose what you would like to do. In addition to this players will also be able to enter the ‘Creation Station’ which will allow you to customize you character, your car, as well as build your very own racing circuit. The character and car customization is simply sublime and offer players even more room for craziness than LBP. The possibilities are in fact endless. Track customization is just as cool and user friendly to the point where you’ll be creating your own tracks in no time.

The visuals of Modnation are highly stylized from the characters bodies (which lack any true proportion), to the squashed and mishapen vehicles and many crazy tracks. Overall the visuals are very sharp and fit in perfectly with the feel of the game. The level design is very unique and this can be easily seen with some of the ridiculous looking track layouts which are nothing short of awesome.

When it comes to the moment of judgement, Modnation Racers is a great little racing title. It offers the players loads of crazy racing time as well as plenty more time to spend creating characters, cars, as well as tracks. If you own a PS3 and you’re tired of the run-of-the-mill racing games, this is a must have.

Minions (Overlord)

Well they may not be obviously cute for some; but we find these critters repulsively cute thanks to their cute comments which are made throughout your quests and adventures. They also have a goofy like smile and care for their master oh so much.

Ok so this isnt their best pic, but there is something cute about them.

Yoshi (Super Mario)

Is he a dinosaur? Is he lizard? We cannot be sure. We can say that this little partner of Mario is one snuggly character.  If he’s not being ridden by Mario or consuming bad guys, he likes to make strange noises and eat apples. We don’t care what colour he comes in, he’s definitely snuggly.

Now available in these colours...

Essentially, this snuggly character doesn’t have a name until you’ve given him one; so it’s eye-pet for now. Looking like a cross between a monkey and a cat, this snuggly cutie will win you over the minute it’s hatched out of its egg. You are able to stroke it (no bad thoughts), and play with it (stop it!). Perhaps it’s the way he follows your hand or falls asleep that has made us think he’s snuggly.

That's one cute cat/monkey.

Kirby (Super Smash Bro’s)

Essentially, Kirby is a big pink ball that fights off bad guys. Beside that obvious snuggly characteristic, it is Kirby’s ability to suck in a bad guy then spit him out, as well as his power of being able to jump continuously by sucking in air. To top it off, Kirby can magically transform himself into a heavy black object.  It is all of this and more that makes Kirby take the number two spot on our list.

Kirby oozes snuggly.

Sack Boy (Little Big Planet)

Who would have ever thought that a piece of material would have the power to melt our hearts and the hearts of thousands . Whether he is standing still and wiggling his arms or his torso, or if he’s running around grabbing on objects, he is one cute critter. He also has an array of different looks and styles which can add an even more snuggly factor to him. He makes us melt every time.

*Heart melts*

*’Snuggliest’ does not imply that we are romantically attracted to any of these fictional characters. We are merely stating how we find certain aspects of them cute to the point where it would be semi-cool to cuddle with them (in a harmless and non dirty manner), akin to a child with a teddy- bear.

Have yourselves a super snuggly weekend!

The underlying premise of LittleBigPlanet remains, to the point that there kind of is no premise. It enters the world of imagination as you control Sackboy, a walking hacky-sack of sorts, as he travels across this planet and in some of the wackiest and interesting levels you’ve ever seen. Each level has certain objectives which range from retrieving stolen eggs and chasing monkeys, to fighting dragons and flying magic carpets. The magic created by the PS3 version is definitely here, and it’s safe to say that some of the awe-inspiring levels and ideas here even top that of the original LBP and place some unrivaled variety on a simplistic design.

The way in which you navigate the levels, clear obstacles and solve puzzles remains the same. Jumping, pushing, grabbing and swinging your way through the levels is easy, and thanks to the layout of the PSP and simple in-game controls it’s a joy to play which leaves absolutely no frustration.  The mechanics work in the same way as well, and that’s due to the fantastic physics which fuel the gameplay and, more importantly, the platforming. All the cool features like the jet-packs and vehicles are there which just goes to show that everything has been included here.

The level creator, which has become a defining characteristic of the LittleBigPlanet IP, is incredibly deep and user-friendly which allows players to create their own adventures with ease. The content quantity has definitely not been toned down, and there are literally hundreds of pieces and prize bubbles to collect throughout story mode in order to build your levels with. These levels, once again, can be shared online with the LBP community, which in turn, results in an endless amount of game time with LittleBigPlanet PSP.

The original LittleBigPlanet was commended for its innovative multiplayer which allowed up to 4 players to simultaneously play the game together. The multiplayer was so tightly woven (another shameless cotton joke) and it required 4 players to complete certain objectives. However, in LittleBigPlanet PSP, you’re on your own. The lack of a multiplayer component came down to the size of the game and the limitations of the PSP itself, but don’t let that distract you as the story mode is phenomenal and the crazy cardboard characters you interact with have more personality than most of your real friends.

Visually, LBP PSP manages to do the same thing that its big brother did. It astonishes with beautiful graphics in the most charming and simplistic of ways. The animations of Sackboy, the surrounding environments and settings are incredibly fluid, and every detail has been put into this game to make it look as good as it plays.

LittleBigPlanet PSP is not just a landmark title for the PSP, but it’s one of the most important titles of 2009. Everything great about the LBP world has been brought to the PSP in stylish fashion. The PSP’s hardware and UMD space limitations do hurt it in the multiplayer department, however no one can deny the brilliant visuals, gameplay and attraction of such an ambitious title. Sackboy is finally home.

[starreviewmulti id=2 tpl=20]