Oh, Jones, what have you done? Didn't you see the beta tag come off the site? I'm sure you read the press release this week; we're big-time now! But you had to go 'round the back of Media Molecule and slash their tires. (Sorry, UK folks, tyres.) LittleBigPlanet rates a "Fry It"? Jones and I usually agree (on the subjects of beer, whiskey and Far Cry 2, for example), but this time? Can't do it.

Sure, some of the content is insufferably cute.

Game writers generate hype, perpetuate and reinforce it, and then -- when it comes time to write the review -- the time comes to divorce it. In the case of LittleBigPlanet, some of the divorce proceedings were bound to turn ugly. Sony would love a killer app for the PlayStation 3, and a visually distinctive game like this one is almost destined to fill that role (on company spreadsheets, at least). They've pushed the game and we've joined in. But it doesn't have to be the Next Big Thing, and it isn't. Yet this is still a beautiful, striking and ingenious piece of work.

When I first fired up the demo and finally the retail version (that is, the pre-recall retail edition), none of the hype mattered. I didn't see LittleBigPlanet through the prism of game-changers or even as a Mario clone (despite the reference I'll make in the next paragraph -- that's review foreshadowing!), though I do dig fellow Game Truster Scott Alexander's "Pixar Mario" nickname. I saw only an idiosyncratic little platformer with a personality unlike anything else on the shelf.

At the end of every level you'll be judged on performance, but don't worry about it. Only a formality.

I don't want to do a point-by-point refutation of Jones' review, even though he and I disagree on most every aspect. I'll hit a couple of quick points and then move on to the big stuff. For instance, I can't agree with his estimation of the difficulty level. Certain levels are challenging, but not unjustly so. User-created content will eventually be cruel, certainly -- when you meld The Sims and Mario, designers are naturally going to lock other players into deathtraps. But the Media Molecule crew isn't guilty of doing so; frustration never entered into the equation for me.

Perhaps the difficulty seems high because Sackboy doesn't move with digital precision. The little stuffed kid has a tendency to conserve momentum, yes, and to bounce around a bit. But the Prince of Persia once liked to take a couple extra steps after I told him to stop, too. I got used to the way he moved, and once I understood Sackboy's mobile inclinations, the controls clicked. No problem; they even feel appropriate, given the handmade aesthetic.

But perhaps the chasm between Jones' opinion and my own was created by expectation of a different sort. There's no motivation for any of this, no overriding goal ? la "save the Princess," is the core of his argument against LittleBigPlanet. In response to which I have to wonder, why would anyone want one?

What the hell is this thing? I don't know. I love that I don't know.

I do love story in games. I like being taken for a ride that has a specific destination. But I thought about this a bit while reviewing the latest Golden Axe game. Why did I play the original? It wasn't for the story. I played just to play it; I played for the simple entertainment the experience offered. If you wanted to put a tag on it, you could say it was all about Seeing What Happens Next. What's the next monster, the next background, the next boss? Without any narrative overhead, those could have been anything. Golden Axe could have shot its three characters into space and I wouldn't have blinked -- I would have loved it, actually -- as long as I was entertained.

That's enough. It's not a drive that has dissipated, either. You think I've spent much effort on the core story in Fallout 3 so far? Just like Oblivion, which I played for 40 hours before closing a single Oblivion Gate, I'm playing Fallout 3 to See What Happens Next.

When is a platformer not a regular platformer? When it's all made out of cardboard.

So it goes for LittleBigPlanet. In fact, LBP is emblematic of that drive. The introductory level makes that very clear; you've never seen game credits like the ones scrolling through the background of your introduction to Sackboy. I kept running through that level not because I had no other choice, but because I wanted to see what else they'd come up with. That held true throughout the game. Level after level was packed with inventive new surprises: some cute and precious, others diabolical, and some of the sort that give budding engineers wet dreams, even if they're in their 30s.

I'll take a story if one is offered, but I really don't need a Princess to rescue. I don't need a narrative at all. I just want to See What Happens Next, and there are few games able to be as unpredictable and satisfying on that front as LittleBigPlanet.

Perhaps that's why I was never frustrated with the game. While every level has incentives for achievements -- cute little sticker and object awards -- I never felt the pressure to earn them on the first playthrough. My first exposure to each level was always a wide-eyed traipse through another bit of Sackboy headspace. The areas I really liked would be mined for hidden stuff, but that was a secondary concern.

Don't get distracted by the cute -- plenty of nefarious, dangerous contraptions and creatures lie in wait.

Several of us here at Crispy talked about the level creator during the most recent podcast, and like many of the other guys I don't expect to use it much. Right now I just don't have the time. But in February, when the industry is slow as a Romero zombie? Then it might be time to break out the graph paper once again. (I've already done that for the demo, when I first played with the editor. Graph paper was always essential when I made Lode Runner levels 20-plus years ago ? ouch. Age sucks.)

But even if 1 percent of the sales base uses the editor, and 1 percent of those people create levels worth playing, that's enough. Sell a hundred thousand copies and that's 10 playable extra levels, which is a lot more free DLC than most games ever get. I don't believe it's unreasonable to expect that the final tally will be a lot higher than that. Within six months, I'd be shocked if there isn't at least enough compelling content to rival what Media Molecule packed into the retail box. There is already evidence that people will use the content tools to build stuff that breaks the platformer mold, too -- just check out the calculator level that popped up within days of the demo's debut.

So I can appreciate the usability of LBP's functions. More to the point, I can see them catching on in a way that I don't expect from the music studio in Guitar Hero World Tour. It takes as much skill and effort to make a cracking level here as making a song to shred in Guitar Hero. But while no one wants to hear lame guitar noodling created by an untalented hack, there's entertainment value in a LittleBigPlanet level that is the in-game equivalent of an Internet meme. (If you were in the beta, try to tell me you didn't play the Red Ring of Death "level." I won't believe you.)

OK, Media Molecule probably won't race to include my "LittleBigPlanet = gaming's YTMND" pull quote on the box art. (It's better than "the 4chan of videogames," which is reserved for the new Animal Crossing.) But the idea is that LBP can stretch the idea of what a game level has to be. Plenty of us on this side of the industry talk about gaming as expression, or as a lifestyle (I go with "expression" and refute "lifestyle," for what it's worth) and this toolset has the potential to be part of that expressive voice's lexicon. It'll have to earn the position, but there aren't any console titles better positioned to do so out of the box.

The creation menus can look complicated -- there are many moving parts to choose from -- but they're cleverly laid out, easing any pain.

I also can't run with the "I don't dig the level design controls because they're too complicated for most users." Was X-COM too complicated for most users? What about the original Fallout? Many would say "yes," but that's no estimation of quality. With a level designer, there are a couple of options. One is to offer an easy set of templates, which ultimately limits creativity. The other is what you see in LittleBigPlanet: extensive, arguably sprawling -- but as a result, the output can be equally extensive and sprawling. You've still got to work for the good stuff, but these tools at least put it within reach.

All that stuff distracts from my basic conclusion: The only reason not to investigate this game is lack of a PS3. Here you have a rare collusion between physics and gameplay that is both charming and accomplished. It's a damn impressive achievement.

This Dissenting Opinion was based on a review copy of the game provided by the publisher.