Katamari Damacy (PlayStation 2)
Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360)
Katamari Damacy is one of those things that could never have come from anywhere than Japan, like squid flavored potato chips or tentacle rape porn comics. The basic concept is that the King of All Cosmos, who is a giant man with a hammerhead and a large codpiece, manages to royally (no pun intended) fuck things up. In Katamari Damacy, he gets drunk and destroys all the stars. In Beautiful Katamari, he manages to rip a hole in the fabric of space-time, causing a black hole which sucks most of the universe through it. So, rather than owning up to it, he sends you, the Prince, to Earth to roll stuff up into balls called katamari to replace the celestial objects he’s destroyed. I don’t think he’s getting a tie for Father’s Day this year.
Therein lies the gameplay: you roll a sticky ball to pick up stuff and make a bigger ball before time runs out. That’s pretty much it, but there is fun in that simplicity. There is a large variety of items, from yen coins and fruit, to boxy humans and animals, to skyscrapers and sea monsters, that you pick up over the course of the game. Both games have simple, colorful graphics. Beautiful Katamari benefits a little from the superior processing ability of the 360 over the PS2, but there can be so many objects on screen at once, they have to be kept pretty simple. Also, the music is one of the series’ high points – both games’ soundtracks are filled with a collection of weird, catchy, utterly Japanese songs. You control the Prince using the two thumbsticks, which can be hard to get used to at first, and after a while, your thumbs start to get sore. The controls were tightened up on Beautiful Katamari; in Katamari Damacy, there was no lack of opportunities to get stuck between two objects and spend precious seconds trying to dislodge yourself.
The difficulty is pretty easy – I only failed one mission in Katamari Damacy the first time through, and the missions that require you to pick up a certain kind of item don’t seem to have any requirements for success. Beautiful Katamari can be a little tougher, as the time limits are often just barely enough time to achieve the right size katamari. There are also one or two ridiculously-difficult missions, such as the one where you have to collect hot items to increase the katamari’s temperature, which I couldn’t manage to finish. Run over one fire extinguisher and you’re screwed. Beautiful Katamari has four extra levels that must be purchased on Xbox Live Arcade – at 200 points, or $2.50 apiece; suffice it to say I did not purchase them
Aside from the occasionally frustrating controls of Katamari Damacy, the worst part of these games is their length. Both Katamari Damacy and Beautiful Katamari can be completed in a weekend of playing, and there are some extras that you can mess around with, but I for one don’t have any interest in online play, or time attacks, or any of that silliness. They’re fun, silly games that are certainly worth a rental if not a purchase.
3 out of 5 (Katamari Damacy)
3 out of 5 (Beautiful Katamari)
Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360)
Katamari Damacy is one of those things that could never have come from anywhere than Japan, like squid flavored potato chips or tentacle rape porn comics. The basic concept is that the King of All Cosmos, who is a giant man with a hammerhead and a large codpiece, manages to royally (no pun intended) fuck things up. In Katamari Damacy, he gets drunk and destroys all the stars. In Beautiful Katamari, he manages to rip a hole in the fabric of space-time, causing a black hole which sucks most of the universe through it. So, rather than owning up to it, he sends you, the Prince, to Earth to roll stuff up into balls called katamari to replace the celestial objects he’s destroyed. I don’t think he’s getting a tie for Father’s Day this year.
Therein lies the gameplay: you roll a sticky ball to pick up stuff and make a bigger ball before time runs out. That’s pretty much it, but there is fun in that simplicity. There is a large variety of items, from yen coins and fruit, to boxy humans and animals, to skyscrapers and sea monsters, that you pick up over the course of the game. Both games have simple, colorful graphics. Beautiful Katamari benefits a little from the superior processing ability of the 360 over the PS2, but there can be so many objects on screen at once, they have to be kept pretty simple. Also, the music is one of the series’ high points – both games’ soundtracks are filled with a collection of weird, catchy, utterly Japanese songs. You control the Prince using the two thumbsticks, which can be hard to get used to at first, and after a while, your thumbs start to get sore. The controls were tightened up on Beautiful Katamari; in Katamari Damacy, there was no lack of opportunities to get stuck between two objects and spend precious seconds trying to dislodge yourself.
The difficulty is pretty easy – I only failed one mission in Katamari Damacy the first time through, and the missions that require you to pick up a certain kind of item don’t seem to have any requirements for success. Beautiful Katamari can be a little tougher, as the time limits are often just barely enough time to achieve the right size katamari. There are also one or two ridiculously-difficult missions, such as the one where you have to collect hot items to increase the katamari’s temperature, which I couldn’t manage to finish. Run over one fire extinguisher and you’re screwed. Beautiful Katamari has four extra levels that must be purchased on Xbox Live Arcade – at 200 points, or $2.50 apiece; suffice it to say I did not purchase them
Aside from the occasionally frustrating controls of Katamari Damacy, the worst part of these games is their length. Both Katamari Damacy and Beautiful Katamari can be completed in a weekend of playing, and there are some extras that you can mess around with, but I for one don’t have any interest in online play, or time attacks, or any of that silliness. They’re fun, silly games that are certainly worth a rental if not a purchase.
3 out of 5 (Katamari Damacy)
3 out of 5 (Beautiful Katamari)
posted by Cole at
11:36 AM
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