Katamari Damacy

THE BAD:
Multiplayer sucks

SUMMARY:
Katamari Damashi

First of All...: This is probably the strangest, most non-sensical game to ever be released. But god-damn, it’s so freakin` fun. Japan needs to release more quirky games like this in the US. This is one of those games that developers thought of while smoking weed, snorting coke, drinking about a gallon of Jack and inhaling laughing gas. It’s that great. Not that I’m promoting drug and alcohol abuse...

Visuals: 9.5 I had to sit around and think for a good while on what to score the visuals of this game. I mean, it’s definitely not the prettiest game on the Playstation line-up so Graphics hounds will not want to pick this up. BUT, on the other side of the same coin, if the developement team took this too seriously visually, the game would not be as visually satisfying as it is right now as it is. I decided to go with the latter of the two because I’m content with the visual aspect of this game. The cities in this game are greatly detailed. Namco displayed they’re weirdness with this. You’ll find anything you’ll find on a Japanese street in this game. You’ll find street signs, cars, skateboarders, and regular old pedestrians. you’ll also find things in this game that you won’t find anywhere on this planet, like drill-cars, men in bear costumes, girls floating of balloons, and giant men fighting giant Godzilla wannabes. Everything in this game is totally cubicle, yes, even the people and animals. XD Most people will be turned off but this is kind of a cool contradiction, since everything is supposed to be circular, I guess.

Audio: 9.0 One of the best video game soundtracks ever and it doesn’t even need an upbeat techno soundtrack. The soundtrack basically consists of a Shintani Sanae wannabe, a Frank Sinatra wannabe, a chorus of little children, and a bunch of other stuff. XD Don’t worry. The songs are really good. “You’re a loooooone loooooneleeeeee roooolling STAAAAAH!”. Greatness. the sound effects in this game are quite funny although some of them sound like they were recorded with a bad quality tape. It’s especially funny when you roll people up. “Mom! It’s happeniiiing!!!” XD Funny. The voice acting is nothing spectacular but it’s entertaining to hear the people talking.

Controls: 10.0 The controls are really simple. You really only need to use the two analog sticks. The controls in this game are similiar to those tank games that I’ve played in the arcade. No attacks. You just roll. It works so well.

Enjoyability: 10.0 This is quite possibly the most addictive, strange, and fun games ever. The story is so strange. The King-of-All-the-Cosmos got REALLY drunk one night and somehow decided to destroy all of the stars in a drunken rage. Well, he left the job up to you to fix all of the stars by giving you a Katamari(which means ‘clump’ in Nihongo) to roll stuff up into. You can roll anything up into the katamari as long as it’s large enough. Tacks? Sure. Pencils? Go for it. Pedestrians? Go ahead, as long as your katamari is large enough. Namco’s total disregard to realism is funny. You’ve got bearrmen hanging on balloons, a tower of people, giant squids and rocket propelled bears. Also in some levels there are “Royal Presents” that if you pick up with your katamari and keep it until the end of the level, you can equip the prince with the item. There are guitars, scarfs, and other periphernalia. You can only equip one though, which really kinda sucks. The multiplayer mode is satisfying but not as fun as the single-player game because you’re confined to a small arena, thus removing from the grand scale of the environments. All in all, this is a very satisfying game and should be a welcome edition to any smart gamer’s library.

Final Thought: It was 20 bucks when it was first released. I’m sure it’s cheaper now. Buy or DIE!!

THE BAD:
Sometimes awkward to handle the katamari, but nothing that isn't meant to be overcome.

SUMMARY:
Quite possibly the funnest game you'llfind for under the usual $50 USD price, and possibly above it. If the idea of rolling a ball around a house, city, or island doesn't sound appealing then give it a rent and prepared to have your mind changed and blown in one fell swoop. The sheer scale of the game is an awe-inspiring sight. The first time you roll up a building, having started 12 minutes earlier at 10 cm wide, you'll get just how expansive the game can be. Unlocks are fairly minimal, and range from clothing options to being able to play certain stages without a time limit, effectively making your only limit the fact that you'll have collected everything. Given that it's rather short, and the obscure but laughable 'plot' and 'story progression', you may still want to buy this game rather than renting it, if for little more than nolvelty's sake.