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PRE-GAME

You’re the Prince of All Cosmos, a pint-sized guy who has been put in charge of putting the stars back into the sky after Dad – the King of All Cosmos – got drunk and knocked the stars out of the night sky.  You’ll do this with your Katamari, a giant ball that anything and everything from bananas to skyscrapers will stick to.  Dad will then put the sparkle back into the sky with whatever you’ve collected.

EYE-SPY

THE HOOK: As screwy as it sounds it’s actually an addictive game that’s hard to put down.  While it sounds easy it can actually be a challenge to get the ball big enough in the time allotted or you’ll have to do the whole level again.

HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: It looks like a PSOne title.  Honest.  The entire game is as blocky as they could make it. This is definitely not a game to buy if you’re looking for groundbreaking graphics.  You’ll be playing the game with only the two analog sticks to control the Katamari itself, so no confusing button mashing combos to remember here.

HOW IT SOUNDS: While it may look boring the music is anything but, you get everything from dance music to a soothing poppy guitar and a ballad that sounds like a Frank Sinatra reject. Good stuff.

EXTRAS: You can unlock “presents” from the King (if you can find them) in each stage. These include everything from an apron, to a nice princely crown.  At the end of the game you’ll unlock 3 Eternal Modes, which allow you infinite time to pick up anything you want with the Katamari.

CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE: This game definitely has weirdness down, the cutscenes in the game consist of a mother, her son, and daughter going to visit dad the astronaut.  The little girl can “feel the cosmos” every time you make a new constellation.  It’s fun to beat a level just to see what mom and the kids will say next.

BEST PLAYER: You only get one player and that’s the Prince.

CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: Getting all the goofy presents without having to search high and low for them would be nice.

CHEAT CODE YOU WANT: A bigger Katamari.

OH MAN! MOMENT: The whole frickin’ game.

GLITCH ITCH: None that I could tell, until I was reminded of the fact that the Katamari does indeed go under things it shouldn’t.  Take for instance a table that an oversize Katamari has no right to be able to go under, much less easily be maneuvered under.

FAN SERVICE: The Prince may not be the biggest guy but he has cool duds, some of the presents such as a white guitar are fun to unlock and see him wear as he runs around the levels.  The 2-player versus of the game is fun as well, trying to beat your competition can be a challenge.  The game is endlessly replayable and just fun to even watch others play.

END GAME:

I certainly wasn’t expecting to like Katamari Damacy (it’s said “Damashi!”) as much as I do, but the game is fun and just endlessly innovative in its weird approach to what a videogame should be.  Why don’t they make stuff like this available over here more often?  Sure it’s screwy, but it’s a lot of fun.  Yeah, so the King of All Cosmos is a deadbeat dad and you’re a little guy with a weird head, but that’s what makes it fun.  After you find the camera (the Prince’s goofy dad just loves his presents!) you can even take pictures of your intrepid ball rolling trips. 

For just $20 Katamari Damacy is well worth the money and is a lot of fun to play, finding and collecting all of the objects, presents and whatnot makes it a challenge, but not one that gets frustrating.  It’s also fun to play against an opponent – you can even roll them up in your Katamari! 

A game this fun should be well worth a rental at the very least, it may sound weird but once you get into it it’s a very hard game to put down.  The Japanese make weird games like this all the time and the good thing is is that there is a sequel in the pipeline for this one.  I had better get to play as the King.  That would make my day. As a bonus, the Prince should be the one giving the orders the next time around.  “DAD, GET YOUR BALL ROLLING!  WE ONLY HAVE 5 MINUTES WORTH OF PATIENCE!”

Sigh.  Greatest. Game. Ever.

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