Review: Katamari Damacy (PS2)

I love Japanese pop culture. The weirder and less comprehensible by rational human beings it is, the better. That’s why Katamari Damacy for the PS2 has such a special place in my heart. This game is closer to the absurdity of a real life “Mr. Sparkle” ad than anything I’ve ever seen. That, and it’s a lot of fun to play.

You’re the 2cm tall prince of all creation. Your father is the incredibly huge King of all creation. He got drunk, fell asleep, or something (he never admits exactly what happened), and accidentally destroyed every star in the sky. Now it’s your job to visit Earth and roll stuff up on your katamari – a ball that literally anything sticks to – and then return it to your father so that he can make stars or constellations out of all the stuff. The quality of the result is dependent on the size of your katamari and the time you took to make it.

The controls are simple: In army tank style, you use both analog sticks to steer your katamari around the world. You can roll up anything smaller than the ball’s circumference. In the beginning you roll around on a tabletop, picking up tacks, erasers, soy sauce packets, etc. Quickly you move to mice, cell phones, cassette tapes, and so on. Later you can venture outside picking up people, pets, signs, fences, you name it. By the end of the game you are rolling around the ocean picking up islands, ocean-liners, amusement parks, and basically anything else you bump into. The seamless way that the game scales down the environment as your katamari grows larger is quite impressive.

Back on the prince’s tiny planet you keep a log of every one of the hundreds of different types of items you have collected. They are sorted either by type or by size. Some are labeled rare, and others have proper names (certain people you were lucky enough to roll up, for example).

Most stages have a time limit to create a katamari of a certain size, but other stages have specific goals for creating a constellation. For example, to create the constellation Cancer you must roll up as many crabs as you can. To create Virgo you must roll up pretty girls. Cygnus requires swans. You get the picture.

The excellent Japanese soundtrack has remained completely intact in the American version, and is pretty diverse. Once you finish the game you can access a menu that allows you to hear all of the music and watch all of the cut scenes at your leisure, which is cool.

Interspersed between stages are short hand painted animations that unveil a nonsensical story featuring two Japanese kids traveling with their mother to watch their father take off in a rocket to the moon. Whether intentional or not, these are hilarious.

This game was released in the US at an amazingly low $19.95 price point. If you own a PS2 and are even slightly intrigued by what you’ve read here, I highly recommend you pick it up.

Comments

[choppi]

I can't believe that he forgot to mention that this is just about Sid's favorite game of all time. He calls it "the ball-rolling game." He also goes around singing the title screen song all the time. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah...nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, naaaaaah!

[Jay]

I do feel that this would be a fun game to play. It seems simple enough, but has that crazy Japanese feel to it, where you just know that 'wacky hijinks' are going to ensue. I might have to check this out next time I'm over.

[Bailey Smith]

I enjoy this site. I find some very interesting things here. Most I agree with some I don't. But such is life. I bought this game and must say "Sweet!" I collect games and this falls under the "unique" category and is very fun. So far I have only made a 4 Meter Katamari but I still got to roll up Kitties! I am so into Knights of the Old Repiblic One that I can't put it down for too long yet. That game is like a perfect fusion of a book a movie and an dungeons and dragons rpg game.