What makes Little Big Planet so attractive it’s not just its loveable art-style, but its way of transmitting the message to the end consumer that the game never really has to end. It’s amazing how what looks like such a simple concept on the surface, is actually so deep in its nature that I’m not sure even Media Molecule themselves realized how deep the rabbit whole would really go. The best way I can describe it is that it’s like the Universe, constantly expanding. What tends to happen after a game releases is that you just stop hearing about it. Not because nobody is playing it, but because people have moved on to discussing and arguing about the next big game or trend in gaming. But now I’m going to try and change that. Being an early consumer of Little Big Planet I always knew it would be interesting to see what people have done with the level creator 6 months or a year down the line. And now here we are, a little more than 6 months later. Did I pop in Little Big Planet for an update on how the community was doing? I sure did. And I could have never prepared myself for what I would find.

Back during the games release, sure there were some solid user created levels worth checking out, but there was nothing really mind-blowing that would have you drop your jaw to the ground and say “I can’t believe somebody created this.” A lot of what we saw early on was an abundance of trophy levels, bad Super Mario replicas, and roller coaster levels that wouldn’t actually work half the time. Things have certainly changed during the release of Little Big Planet. Media Molecule has done a great job of the level search functionality to be able to find the best of the best. So it really wasn’t that hard to find what I was looking for.

At first I was just planning on writing about what I saw. But once I thought about it, these levels were so good that someone would have had to upload them on YouTube at some point. So here are my findings. Here are the levels that had my jaw drop to the floor and say “I can’t believe somebody created this.” I think to some degree, these levels are even better that the levels created by the development team, Media Molecule.

The following level is titled “Moving Parts” by user AAAlone. What is simply amazing about this level is how the creator effectively manipulated the level to actually move. Literally, with the click of the red button the level would turn on its side revealing new passages in order to get to the next area. I really can’t imagine the man hours that went into this in order to get everything in working order

The next level is Dark Coaster by pinkzep. What the user did here is not just masterful engineering, but an intelligent use of lighting, art, and colors to bring this world to life and make it look like a roller coaster you would actually want to ride.

The last one I want to show you is The Bunker by user Poms. This level is as of now the highest rated level in Little Big Planet. It demonstrates excellent ingenuity and creativity. And it’s really just a sight to see.

It doesn’t just end at these three levels. There are hundreds out there just as amazing. At the same time it’s a bit confusing to see Sony and MM already at work on Little Big Planet 2. LBP seems like a game that can stand the test of time. What we see with these levels is a core, deep understanding of the level creator in only 6 months. Imagine what users will be able to do in a year or two. Today’s gamers are tomorrow’s developers. Not to say that developers of today don’t share a passion for games just as much as any of us. But I think the real difference is gamers today know what they want. And with a game like LBP, they can find a way to get it.

I think the user generated content aspect of Little Big Planet has worked as intended. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel that the general public hasn’t given it much of a chance. I didn’t expect anyone to continue playing the game for 6 months just to get to the good stuff. But I would hope that there would still be a genuine appreciation for what LBP was. It makes me wonder if User Generated Consoles will ever work. With Little Big Planet it’s certainly worked with the creativity, though it hasn’t worked out well in creating the buzz necessary to bring people in.

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