Beautiful Katamari

"This feels more like an expansion than a sequel."

Beautiful Katamari is a wacky, possibly acid driven, game about a young prince that has to restore the cosmos after his father The King unintentionally reeks havoc upon the galaxy. How do you do so? Why, take a katamari and roll up everything in sight of course! Add a time frame and some laugh out loud moments and you have what is essentially the katamari franchise. The problem is though, after the third or fourth time things don't seem as beautiful as they used to.

Sound-9/10 Might as well start off on a postitive note right? The music in this game is amazing, everything from J-pop to unique blends of atmosphere, swing, and quirky, laid-back electronica is present, and it all fits. Not one song seems out of place, and indeed, it enriches the off-beat feel of the game. The Kings hilarious conversations are voiced by record scratches, and everything you roll up has its own scream, honk, roar, chime, and cha-ching. The only problem I have here is that the aforementioned sounds blurt out every time you pick up something, which can get quite annoying to those not playing. Maybe even you.

Gameplay-6/10 Now here's where the beauty starts to fade. After two previous installments (Three if you count the PSP title) nothings changed. In fact, this game is a big step back from I Heart Katamari. The level design is terribly bland compared to the last outing (in a sense there's only one level, you just start out in different places) and there aren't nearly as many "gimmick levels." The last game had you rolling up cows and bears, racing with a super speedy katamari, feeding a sumo, picking up flowers, rolling underwater, collecting fireflies for light, etc. This game has you collecting hot items, and finding rings. That's. About. It. Not to mention this game is short. Horribly short. If you play straight through without trying to improve your score, you'll probably finish it the first night you get it. Of course, you WILL play back through for better scores but even that won't add more than a few hours. The time restraints have been tightened a bit to bring a bigger challenge but all in all this is the same game you've been rolling with since the first installment.

Graphics-4/10 Now, the graphics in all Katamari games are intentional. The blocky, lego cutout people and objects bring a certian endearing charm that leans towards style rather than photorealistic graphics. Seeing how this is on the Xbox 360 however you'd think there'd be some kind of graphical improvement? Everything I've seen thus far, the PS2 is perfectly capable of, especially when your katamari becomes able to traverse the world. Everything becomes barren and undetailed. The water is a block of pastel blue, islands become legos, and there's an odd sense of loneliness, because everything that made the game feel vibrant and alive has already been rolled up. Really the only noticeable change is the resolution, but then that comes with some noticeable lag, something that even the PS2 didn't have.

Value-7/10 Really the only thing that saves this score is the can't-put-it-down addictiveness of this game. The game is short, the only originality left in this game is the actual concept, and considering the hardware behind it, it really fails to impress or bring anything new to the formula.
This is a great game for new comers, especially if you plan to play through the other two, but for veteran players, this really feels like something that should have been downloaded from the xbox marketplace.

Rent or Buy? Rent. If you beat it and can't get enough by the time you have to return it just get the other two.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/07

Game Release: Beautiful Katamari (US, 10/16/07)