A few minutes into my Puppeteer demo, I completely forgot I was at E3. The craziness of the booth around me, the crowd of people passing by, the music from the show floor - all of it melted away while I focused on my singular goal: not losing my head.

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As IGN told you last year , Puppeteer is a gorgeous Sony platformer that follows a boy named Kutaro as he makes his way through various “scenes” on a stage, fighting against the Moon Bear King in search of four fallen heroes. On his way, Kutaro picks up various heads that grant him special abilities, and these are the core of the game's brilliant platforming mechanics.Puppeteer comes from Sony’s Studio Japan and shows that the PS3 still has plenty of life left in it. In addition to beautiful, charming art, Puppeteer features a soundtrack by composer Patrick Doyle that highlights the action perfectly.As we started our demo, which took place roughly two-thirds through the game, we were immediately tossed into a fast-paced platforming section that saw us racing forward and attempting to avoid various obstacles. Yellow “sponge” platforms let us bounce upwards, and ducking down allowed us to avoid hanging spikes. This area gradually increased in speed and required both perfect timing and precise controls, offering some of the most fun I had during the entire show.In our demo, Kutaro had access to three heads - the Pirate, which allows him to hook on to enemies or objects and pull them toward him, the Ninja, which allows him to toss bombs, and the Wrestler, which allows him to “slam” into the ground. When Kutaro is hurt, his head pops off and he only has a few seconds to recover it; if he's successful, the battle continues on. If he fails, it's game over. Each head became an integral part of the demo’s next section, a boss battle against a Dragon, one of the Moon Bear King’s generals.The boss fight expertly combined each of the aforementioned abilities, and all once again had to be expertly timed. As the dragon attacked, Kutaro had to use a bomb to weaken it, hook on to a section of its body to pull it toward him, then climb on top and slam down to attack. These skills are combined with the use of Kutaro’s trademark scissors, which allow him to travel up certain “scenery” on-stage (such as a rope or decorative clouds) for a real sense of verticality.Beyond combat, each head also offers a unique traversal ability. While the Pirate head lets Kutaro latch on to enemies, for example, he can also use it to pull scenery toward him in order to progress through a level. Kutaro’s Knight head allows him to guard in battle, but can also let him reflect projectiles that open up new paths in the environment. The final game will feature 100 different heads, each with their own special attributes.In 2013, Sony will launch a new console with plenty of exciting new games. It will be all too easy for Studio Japan’s charming platformer to get lost, but Puppeteer is a title you should absolutely be looking out for. Sony is launching the game for $39.99 on September 10th, and it will be available both on disc and digitally.For more on Puppeteer, read our impressions from New York Comic Con

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.