We Love Katamari

"Small things amuse small minds. Make mine big!"

Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy ( We love Katamari )

All right first up I have to admit I didn't have high hopes for the Katamari Damacy series. Practically bullied into playing it by my peers I went kicking and screaming all the way to the register.

Shock….Horror…..Shame

I know, I know. All the reviews, my friends and fellow gamers raved about how insanely comical, and innovative it was. But come on how interesting can pushing a sticky ball around be. Is that worth my hard earned cash? All I can say is this. If you haven't played the first Katamari Damacy, then grab your wallet and get your hands on the latest version, and join the revolution.

Story: 8/10
The King of All Cosmos and his pocket-sized son the Prince are back. Their previous deed of restoring the stars orbiting the Earth has made them more popular then ever. This has created a flood of fan requests, which our Prince with a little help from a few relatives, is obliged to undertake and in the process repopulate the entire solar system with more Katamaris.

Game Play: 9/10
The basics are the same as the original. Roll your ever growing ball of madness around the different maps picking up the flotsam and jetsam that's been strewn about in order to get yours to a given size in a limited amount of time or with a limited amount of objects. In Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy there are also a few special task orientated stages such as building a giant snowman or defeating the reigning sumo champion. Start off small and work your way up until you engulf the entire room, building, town, city, and or country.

Size does Matter!

The Namco team has added a number of new areas to this edition. Some of these include The Classroom, Snacks, Race, Underwater, and Zoo. The objects in these new stages include collecting origami (Japanese paper craft), gather up candy in order to stuff the faces of a couple of greedy little kids, speeding around a race course causing as much destruction and mayhem as possible whilst taking out the competition, devastating one of the local aquatic environments being careful not to be snagged by the local fisherman, and last but not least bundling up a few of the cute and maybe not so cuddly creatures at the zoo. Basically you'll be having a ball. (Sorry about the pun).

Controls: 10/10
Again the designers have kept it pretty much the same. Good or bad you be the judge. It has been said that using the two analog sticks to move the Prince and his sticky ball of destruction is rather frustrating, akin to driving a battle tank. Others comment on how remarkably smooth the game handles allowing the player to sit back, zone in and enjoy the experience. Personally I have to agree on the company line that the mechanics are absurdly simple and hypnotically fluid.

Graphics/Sound: 10/10
Being a sequel you can expect to find the design practically the same as the first Katamari Damacy. All of the rich colors are back along with the simple 3-D polygon graphic giving it a real retro look. In a time when everyone is looking forward to the next generation of gaming consoles with their realistic graphics, it's nice to play something that's almost reminiscent of the older PS1 games.

The peculiar mix of Japanese music, which is a key part of the Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy experience, is a little bizarre at times for sure, but highly contagious, and unarguably unique. Enjoy it. Hum or sing along with it. But don't mute it. If the clothes make the man, then the music makes the game.

The OST includes Illreme, Karie Kahami, Dokaka, You, Nomiya Maki and a host of other Japanese Artist.

Longevity: 9/10
In addition to the two-player split screen mode where players try to out size each other in the allowed time, a battle of the balls if you please, Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy also features a new cooperative play system. Team up as the Prince or one of his many cousins and try to complete the challenges in this single ball, multi-midget chaos.
This without a doubt adds to the re-playability of the game as your hand coordination and communication skills are put to test. Failure can be quite hilarious, even sending your character into a royal fit.

Overall: 9/10
Zany, inventive, spellbinding, and infectiously funny, Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy (We love Katamari) and Namco can hold their heads up high for designing a sequel to such a high scoring game, keeping the reputation of the original in tack, and most important of all providing the me, a very tight fisted consumer, with the satisfaction that my money was well spent.

Enjoy!

System: PlayStation 2
Genre: Puzzle
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco
Players: 1-2 players
Version: Japan

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/05