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Media Molecule comes through with both a great platformer and an innovative platform for games.

There's no way you can seriously sit down and play LittleBigPlanet 2 and not have a smile on your face the entire time. As with the original, Media Molecule's groundbreaking "Play, Create, Share" sequel has depth, charm, community and cuteness to spare. It also is very much the definition of a proper sequel and is dramatically better than the first game in nearly every respect. Sure, it suffered a bit of an unfortunate delay into 2011, but with the end result being as polished and enjoyable as it is, the extra few weeks of development was certainly worth it.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is anything but little. It's a huge game, actually, and thanks to it being backwards compatible with all of the creations and content from LittleBigPlanet 1, it's positively enormous. Media Molecule has clearly put a lot of effort into every aspect of the sequel, and their attention to detail certainly shows.

Even with all of the creation and sharing going on, LittleBigPlanet 2 does have a nicely put together story mode with levels designed by Media Molecule using the game's actual creation tools. And as with LBP1, they are well designed and fun to play with 1 - 4 players, either locally, online or both. There are around 40 new story levels spread amongst 6 themed locations and the gameplay variation is way greater than the first. The core of the game is based on simple side-scrolling platforming gameplay and it's very easy to get into and play. If anyone does have trouble grasping the concepts in any way, LBP teaches you the basics as you play the game, so there's never an issue of not knowing how to do even the most simple of actions.

The story levels are noticeably more complex than those in the first games thanks to all of the new gameplay techniques that Sackboy has learned, or rather, can acquire. As a result, the game can go from simple platforming, to a side-scrolling shooter, to a strategic puzzler in the span of a single level. The game introduces these new abilities (of which Sackboy can usually use one at a time) all throughout the game. The grapple hook is one of the most notable in that it is probably used most often and requires the most technique. The spongy surfaces that Sackboy can cling to can also be grappled to, and there are many circumstances where Sackboy will have to whip around from structure to structure, Spider-Man/Bionic Commando style. Other abilities include a Creatinator gadget that shoots out various things such as sticky cupcakes, an explosive launching helmet, Power Gloves used to lift and throw larger objects, and a bizarre variety of controllable robotic animals. The other big additions are the cute SackBots, which are A.I. controlled little robots which are used in a number of situations. The gameplay ideas are often wacky and nonsensical and that's absolutely part of what makes the game so special.

Speaking of playing along with others online, LittleBigPlanet 2 makes this exceptionally easy by showing you literally how many players are currently playing into each level. This is true for story levels and community-made levels. You can set the game to allow other users/friends to automatically join you, or allow yourself to join their games. Media Molecule provided many options for players to turn certain online features on or off, so you can set it up just how you want it. Add in the ability to join users manually on a level by level basis, or party up with friends, and there should be no complaints. You really do always feel connected to what's going on in the LBP community and it's an experience that so many games still lack to an extent. You can even visit the official community hub at lbp.me and check out all of your activity and see what everyone else is up to.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Personally, I love the idea of Play, Create and Share, but level creation is just not my thing anymore. These days, I just don't have the patience or time to spend on tweaking my own creations when I can just enjoy playing what others have created. That being said, the Create tools in LittleBigPlanet 2 are fantastic and can be used to create damn near anything in capable hands. Users really pushed the limits of the original LittleBigPlanet's Create mode, and they have so much more power in the sequel. LittleBigPlanet 2 can be treated like a game development platform and the results, even from the beta, were nothing less than mindblowing. Other than the number of gadgets now at your disposal, the SackBots and logic tools are really the game changing additions. Instead of going crazy trying to rig up a Rube Goldberg-style logic machine with level creation items, advanced creators can program their own logic circuits for use within their shareable creations. There's even a cut-scene maker with voice recording capabilities for those who want to really go crazy.

Visually, LittleBigPlanet 2 is a gorgeous, polished game with tremendous production values. It's especially impressive taking into account how the levels within the games were actually made. The graphics engine has been enhanced in nearly every way, with much better lighting, effects and textures. The full-screen, CG-like motion blur has been toned down but the overall image quality has definitely improved. Playing levels created in LittleBigPlanet 1 within LittleBigPlanet 2 makes the jump in quality quite noticeable. The music once again features an incredible mix of diverse tunes from around the world and the audio in every level is a joy to listen to. The narration and voice-overs (there are a few here and there) are nicely written, acted and humorous.

It's difficult to find many things to dislike in LittleBigPlanet 2, but I'll make an effort to list a couple at least. The themed levels in the story mode aren't quite as unique as those in the first game, even though they are actually "better" in terms of design. They also do a good job in introducing new gameplay ideas and such, but those techniques are sometimes only used for that one level. Of course the rest of the community can use those levels as inspiration for their own ideas, so it's not a bad thing. If you were one of those people who had issues with the physics-driven jumping and controls, even though it has been fixed up, you may still have a slight problem adjusting. Building up momentum for a big swing using the grapple hook for example can be tricky when you're in a rush. Getting unexpectedly squished between objects or clipping through the environment can happen from time to time though it's nowhere near as much of an issue as it was in the first game. Lastly, using stickers to unlock hidden items or paths are used very infrequently in LBP2, even though there are still plenty to collect. In my eyes the good far, far, far outweighs the picky negatives.

So... there ya go. LittleBigPlanet 2 is the first must-own PlayStation 3 game of 2011. It's even more enjoyable than the first game (if that's even possible), has a tremendous built-in community behind it, and is just a really fun experience no matter what part of the "Play, Create, Share" concept you prefer. Prepare to smile.