LocoRoco Midnight Carnival

If you've felt that the series has started to get a little stale, on the other hand, then I think Midnight Carnival will be the game for you. The game is full of great level designs with a difficulty to match, and the challenge makes it a far more addictive experience than the previous two titles for me.

A new direction for LocoRoco that can't match the originals. [Jan 2010, p.94]

Midnight Carnival brings the series closer to adulthood. The difficulty has been raised quite a bit and the game offers much more of a challenge. The Boing!-move is also a very handy addition in the open levels. There’s not much new here, but it’s worth every penny for every fan of platformers.

By no means is Midnight Carnival a bad game. The problems with it lie in the fact that it is just too difficult to be enjoyed by a wide audience. The new challenge, interesting multiplayer and the incentives brought with a world-wide leader-board are perfect additions for long time fans. The extremely difficult challenge and frustration most people will have with nearly every level will only give newcomers the wrong impression on what this series is actually about.

While maintaining the sugary sweet style of its inventive forerunners, LocoRoco Midnight Carnival braves new gameplay that has sticky points preventing it from being as grand.

Newbies should check the originals, whilst veterans will find this frustrating. [Jan 2010, p.82]

At almost $16 on the PlayStation Store it's hard to justify this pack of frustrating challenge levels when you can get a far superior and more balanced game in LocoRoco 2 for just $20. This masochistic traipse through nightmarish levels will probably appeal to some hardcore gamers, but if you've enjoyed LocoRoco in the past, you'll want to hold on to your good memories and just wait for the next chapter.