We Love Katamari

"Namco rolls out a solid sequel to its unique game."

The original Katamari Damacy was a bizarre yet innovative game that has since been considered a modern cult classic. Were it not for strong press, heavy support by curious fans, and a "field test" at the E3 convention, Katamari Damacy may have never made it stateside because it was so out there. But with the sequel soon to develop, Namco was all for a US release to appease their American Katamari fans. "We Love Katamari" offers the same style of gameplay as the original, but features more stages to explore, more things to roll up, more objectives to complete...just more in general.

Those not in the know about the concept of the first Katamari Damacy, I will attempt to explain the game concept. You roll around a "katamari," an object which looks remotely similar to a "Bumble Ball," using the two analog sticks. With this katamari you roll up assorted objects to make it bigger. Your main objective is to create a ball of stuff as big as you can before time runs out. Normally you have a set size to reach, but usually you are encouraged to roll more. You can only pick up things that are within a certain size range; anything bigger only acts as a wall more or less. But as you grow bigger, those former boundaries are likely to be picked up as well. Starting with picking up thumbtacks and dice, you later advance to bigger things like fruit, shoes, small animals, then people, cars, trees...eventually you may roll up skyscrapers and whole islands!

The controls of the game are relatively simple. As mentioned, the analog sticks are used. Tilting them forward makes the katamari roll forward. Tilting them back makes it roll back. Pointing both sticks in a direction causes the ball to roll that way. Pressing them in opposite directions lets you rotate your position so you can look in another direction. The game makes sure to fill you in on all the controls with its tutorial.

Now, the story so far. You play as the Prince of All Cosmos. In the original game, your father the King had gone on a drunken spree and ended up destroying the stars and the moon, and placed it upon you to remedy the problem by making new ones...by rolling lots of stuff up with the katamari and sending them into space. In this game the King had gained many fans after the incident, and had proceeded to request different experiences in regards to katamari rolling. Once again, you are rolling things up for the King. Not only does this make the fans happy, but this also remedies what had apparently been ignored in the first game: rebuilding the rest of our solar system. So you will be making new planets to revolve around the Sun!

We Love Katamari offers a lot of different scenarios to play through. Some are the classic objective of getting to the target size within the time limit. But others are different in their methods. Some alter the physics a little; you may be rolling underwater or floating in clouds, and those scenarios affect how the katamari reacts. Others ask for more complicated goals, like getting a katamari at an exact size or getting the biggest of a certain object. And some ask for objectives that are very bizarre; you will find yourself rolling a light sumo wrestler and picking up food to make him bigger, or rolling a flaming katamari to help make a campfire. All of these katamari assist in making stellar forms in space...which help in filling out an amazing objective of rolling up our very Sun, using the Earth as a katamari!

As you do this, you will be treated to a series of cutscenes that tell the tale of a young King of All Cosmos when he was just a boy. The story is quite unusual, but interesting nonetheless.

And you don't have to do it all by yourself either! We Love Katamari offers a sort of two-player cooperative mode for each stage. In this mode, one player controls the left side, while the other controls the right. Both players have to cooperate to control the katamari, and this means telling each other when you'll want to go left or right or straight.. There are no indicators on the screen where each player's analog sticks are pointed to, which is one of the drawbacks to this mode. But it is nice to offer something that will let two people play at the same time.

There is also a versus mode, much like the first had to offer. Unlike the first, however, the objective is to collect the most of a certain designated object in the stage within the time limit. Sometimes there's many to be found of the object, and sometimes there's only one. But like the original, a players can attack the other by rolling towards their katamari at high speed, causing them to lose stuff and become a little smaller. It's still not the deepest that the mode could be, but they do offer choices of scale, from small to medium to large.

The game has a number of secrets hidden within. You'll be able to collect presents that your character can wear, and in this installment it's possible for two presents to be worn at once! Also, you will be searching for your cousins (who appeared from the last game and apparently "matured") and second cousins (new to this game) within the different stages. Once found and rolled up, they will become selectable as playable characters, single mode or two-player.

The graphics in this game aren't much different from the first game; the cubic, simplistic structures still remain, but part of its appeal does come from its unusual style. The selection area is different this time, where you talk to people to start an objective. In this same area you switch cousins, look in your collection of rolled-up objects, change presents, and other things. The King is wearing something more festive this time around, and the worlds seem much more unique from each other. Some objects you collect are the same as from the first game, but many others will be new. The game also attempts to provide a special see-through view when a wall is obstructing the view...each see-through view different by stage. It doesn't work evey time, but it's a nice touch when it does.

The sounds aren't too much different from the original game either. You'll still be hearing some odd noises from certain objects, people yelling, animals howling and the like. There are a few bizarre sounds in there too, but what do you expect from a game like this? As for its soundtrack, it had a lot to live up to with the original game's top-notch variety, and the style doesn't stray too far from the standard. However, some of the songs may not be as memorable and catchy. Luckily, you also get to choose what song will play during your chosen stage this time around, so that's rather convenient.

And before I forget...If you have the original Katamari Damacy, this game will take the data from your original adventures and transfer them to the Cosmos in this game! This way, you'll be able to roll up the moon, stars, and constellations that you so carefully created.

This game is a worthy successor to the original Katamari Damacy. With so much more to offer, it's definitely worth looking into. It's not mandatory to have played the original Katamari Damacy, but it can help complete your collection. This game is full of unusual and fun surprises, and you will be missing out on a fun and unique series if you don't take it for a spin.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06