LocoRoco (2006) — you tilt the ground, not the hero. The pitch was refused twice

September 5, 2006, in North America. What you move is the ground, not the hero

Hello, this is Toki. Episode 48 of “Today Is Release Day.” Today’s game is an action game in which you cannot move the hero at all.From the thumbnail of “LocoRoco Sony PSP Trailer - Japanese Trailer” (IGN, YouTube)

LocoRoco. Developed by Sony’s Japan Studio, published by Sony Computer Entertainment, for the PSP (PlayStation Portable).

The release dates are spread out. Europe on June 23, 2006, Australia on June 29, Japan on July 13. And North America on September 5, 2006.

The Japanese edition came out on July 13 from SCEJ at 5,040 yen. The North American edition reached shelves exactly twenty years ago today.

L and R tilt the planet. The rolling comes after that

What the player touches is not the round yellow creature. It is the ground.

Press L and the world tilts left. Press R and it tilts right. The LocoRoco simply roll down the slope. Hold both shoulder buttons and release to jump. That is the whole control scheme.

Eat a red berry and the LocoRoco multiply — up to twenty, merged into one big blob. Press the circle button and they split into single creatures small enough for narrow passages. Once through, they gather back into one.

The clever part is the music. The more LocoRoco you have, the more vocal parts stack up. One creature sings thinly; twenty make a chorus.

There are five worlds of eight levels each; the material of the day says “more than 40 stages.” Two mini-games and a course editor were included as well.From the thumbnail of “LocoRoco Remastered - Launch Trailer [PS4]” (PlayStation DACH, YouTube)

It began as a doodle on a train. The pitch was turned down twice

The idea came from director Tsutomu Kouno. After working on Ico, in mid-2004, he was sketching on a handheld device on a train when it occurred to him.

He turned the device around, and the shape of it appeared: tilt the ground, not the character. The PSP had shoulder buttons on the left and right. If something was going to tilt, those were the buttons.

The pitch did not go through, though. In early 2005 he proposed it twice and was refused twice. Management could not picture a crowd of creatures moving on their own.

So a team of four spent a month building a pre-prototype that did nothing but roll. That is what got the project approved. Eight people then spent three months nailing down splitting, merging and the layered music. Sixteen people finished the remaining eleven months.

The lyrics are in a language that does not exist — “LocoRoco language,” made by bending katakana. Kouno explained it in a 2017 interview: because he invented the language himself, nobody anywhere in the world understands it, which means it is equally fair to everyone. Around sixty songs were written.

An average of 83 from critics. Just over 30,000 in Japan in its first week

North American critics liked it. Its Metacritic average was 83, across 67 outlets.

IGN gave it a 9 out of 10 and called the controls “refreshingly elegant.” Eurogamer also gave it a 9, calling it “a truly brilliant realisation of how to take 2D gaming into uncharted territory.” GameSpy gave 3.5 out of 5 and noted “there’s a good chance that you’ll be humming some of the tunes all day.”

It was not all praise. GameSpot gave it 7.7. Nothing new arrives beyond rolling and jumping, the levels are far from challenging, the game is short — those complaints were there from the start.

In Japan, Famitsu’s review panel gave it 34 out of 40.

Sales were quiet, though. Just over 30,000 copies in Japan in the first week, and about 170,000 for the year. It sold better in Europe and North America.

The awards came in steadily. Two BAFTA Games Awards, for Best Children’s Game and Best Character. Two Interactive Achievement Awards in the United States, Children’s Game of the Year and the original music composition award. The Associated Press named it the handheld game of 2006.

The shortest and sharpest line written about it at the time came from the BBC: “LocoRoco is the best game Nintendo never made.”

Twenty years on, the same blobs are rolling on a PS4

In 2017 the game returned on PS4 as LocoRoco Remastered. The sequel followed as LocoRoco 2 Remastered.From the thumbnail of “LocoRoco 2 Remastered - Announce Trailer | PS4” (PlayStation, YouTube)

The video below is the official trailer for that remaster (“LocoRoco Remastered - Launch Trailer | PS4,” PlayStation, YouTube). It shows a twenty-year-old screen rolling along at today’s resolution.

From September 5, 2006, to today, September 5, 2026, is exactly twenty years.

What was the first game that made you think “this is controlled differently”?

Move the controllable thing from the hero to the ground, and you get a game that needs no d-pad at all.

The pitch was refused twice. What finally got it through was not a document but a prototype that only knew how to roll.

2006. Let me write the year down. From the North American release to today, September 5, 2026, is exactly twenty years.

What was the first game that made you think “this is controlled differently from everything before it”? If you remember the release date too, so much the better.