I’m sure everyone knows that in Japan videogames go way beyond our imagination. All kinds of fun, crazy games are created based on the strangest ideas, and most of them never even reach this side of the world, which is a shame.
Katamari Damacy (pronounced “dah-mah-shee”) is one of these fun, crazy games, which we have the luck to get our hands on. Imagine a dung beetle, happily rolling around a big ball of… well, crap. That’s what this game is based on.
Anyway, the story of the game is very simple: the King of All Cosmos has destroyed all the stars and constellations in a freak accident and it’s up to you (the Prince) to place all the stars and constellations back in the sky. How do you do it? By using the dung beetle technique. You start with a little katamari (the clingy ball you being to roll with) and gradually increase its size by rolling over things. You can only pick up something that’s smaller than your katamari, but when you get really big you will notice the little things disappearing (which means you can’t pick those up anymore) and the perspective changing as you grow. So try and pick up all the little things first, then gradually move on to larger objects.
In case you’re wondering what it is that you pick up with your katamari, the answer is simple: everything! Literally. You have really small items such as thumbtacks, coins, candies, flowers, erasers and batteries. Then there are medium-sized items like flower pots, buckets, street signs, balls, watermelons, cats, dogs and other small animals. Large items can include people (yes, stars are also made of people), larger animals (like cows and elephants), cars, trees and even houses. Extra-large items range from buildings to small islands, ocean liners and giant squids. After that, you can even pick up the clouds, rainbows, hurricanes and land masses.
Even though it may not sound interesting, the game is a lot of fun and very addictive once you get used to the controls. You roll your katamari within a time limit with the a goal size. The graphics aren’t that good, and the objects don’t have many polygons and look very linear, but it’s hilarious to go around rolling up animals and people, hearing them scream or giggle and squirm all over the place.
The music is also very catchy, and I found myself singing along with it. And then there’s the “Engrish”, which coming from the King of All Cosmos is pretty damn funny.
A few annoying facts are the alarm when something moving is coming towards you (it’s probably one of the most annoying sounds ever) and the King who keeps blocking your view with silly comments (like spelling “banana” dozens of times in a row!). The camera angles sometimes get really bad when you’re tiny, especially in corners where you’re forced to guess which way to go because there’s no visibility at all.
A big plus is the 2- player mode. Side by side, two players can compete to see who rolls the biggest katamari. And if one gets much bigger than the other, beware, the bigger katamari can roll up the smaller one. Unfortunately, the arena is kinda small.
What would make this game perfect would be an online multiplayer option, with large arenas, lots of stuff to pick up and eventually a single player rolling up everyone else in his/her katamari. Who knows, maybe an idea for a Katamari Damacy sequel? I bet it would be great!
If you haven’t tried it yet, make sure you rent a copy and experience the wackyness that is Katamari Damacy.
TIP: Here are some unlockable goodies for you to test your katamari rolling ability.
Eternal stage 1 – In Make a Star 4, build your katamari over 1m 30cm.
Eternal stage 2 – In Make a Star 8, build your katamari over 25m.
Eternal stage 3 – In Make the Moon, build your katamari over 800m.
Moon Memorial – Complete the Make the Moon stage to have access to the movies, sounds, endings and more.