The PlayStation Vita is struggling. You know it, I know it, and Sony must know it. Since its release in 2012 it’s struggled to gain traction amongst consumers, either due to its initial high price, the decision to use expensive proprietary memory cards, or the lack of standout games, the device is unfortunately languishing, but at least it has the Wii U for company.

Things may be looking up for Sony’s little black handheld. It’s compatibility and cross-platform functions with the PlayStation 4 are being touted left, right and centre, and finally we have the one thing that we’ve really need, the must buy game. A game that makes sure of the Vita’s functions without feeling gimmicky, a game that looks and plays beautifully, and a game experience that you can’t get on another platform. That game is here, that game is Tearaway.

Tearaway is from Media Molecule, the studio most famous for Little Big Planet and giving PlayStation its current mascot, Sackboy. Where the levels of Little Big Planet take place in a sort of ‘Micro machines happening all around us’ world, Tearaway takes place in a land based on paper, and origami. It’s a truly beautiful world and instantly feels at home on the hand-held.

The story starts with a message, a message that must be delivered to the face in the Sun. To be delivered the message needs a messenger, so you choose the messenger you look like either Iota or Atoi; another lovely aspect of Tearaway is its gender neutrality, neither Iota nor Atoi are referred to as male or female, just by their names. Once you’ve chosen your messenger then the game, and your story begins.

And this is your story, thanks to the Vita’s front and back cameras, plus the touch screen and rear touchpad, you are far more than a passive observer in this world. You are often called upon to help shape, open, create paths and parts of the world, and you’ll also have a hand, well fingers, in taking care of the cheeky scamps known as ‘Scraps’ that act as your enemies.

The Vita’s cameras also play a big part in the story. Every time the game pans out to show the sun, there you’ll be, usually as a live feed. Occasionally you’ll have to snap a picture of you or a scene and it will pop up in various places during the next level or so. You’ll also use an in-game camera to take snaps, you’ll come across items that have had their colour stolen by the Scraps and the only way to return it is to take pictures. As you take pictures of the white items you’ll unlock Tearaway paper crafts that can be downloaded and printed out in the real world.

It can take a little bit of time to get used to the touch controls and camera, but once you do they feel natural, and you get the distinct impression that Media Molecule have built a game around the Vita’s input methods rather than trying to shoehorn them into a game that doesn’t really suit it.

One thing that does stand out with this game is the audience that it is aimed at. More so than LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway is aimed at kids. The art style, the story, and the interaction is clearly focussed with a young audience in mind, death is inconsequential and the player never feels like they have failed when they do die. It’s all handled very well, the message is just to try again. Of course there’s nothing better as an adult than trying to relive our youth and Tearaway gives you that wonderful feeling of being a child, there’s innocence to the game that is often missed from games that are made by everyone except Nintendo.

Tearaway is a truly wonderful, enjoyable experience. It’s a truly uplifting game to play; one that is difficult to describe in words, one way to describe it is that it’s like a Saturday Morning cartoon show. But whatever way you want to look at Tearaway, the one thing it definitely is above all else – it’s a must buy game for the Vita.

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