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Will probably be considered a classic one day!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: November 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Katamari Damacy is a good example of what's called a "Japanese niche game," a game that's designed very specifically with the unique Japanese sensibility in mind; but to create such a game that doesn't lose anything in translation to English takes an extraordinary amount of talent. It won't appeal to everyone, of course; gamers who hate this game usually cite its goofy plot, or its simplistic control scheme. But to me, those things only add to the charm of this game.

The idea is pretty simple. The King of All Cosmos destroyed all the stars in the sky--the original Japanese dialogue specifically says that he was drunk at the time, but the English translation just says he "passed out"--and you, the prince, have to rebuild them. You do this by rolling around an object called a Katamari, with which you gather items lying around, until your Katamari has met a pre-set size requirement, after which the King converts it into a star. The levels are timed, and if you meet the requirement with time left over, you can try to make your Katamari even bigger. At first, you're confined to the house, only picking up things like thumbtacks and loose change; as you progress, your locale grows bigger, as do the items you can pick up, until you're picking up mountains, clouds, and even dreams. You'll also be required to build constellations, by picking up specific items--bears for Ursa Major, pairs of twins for Gemini, et cetera--and, if you get far enough, the Moon itself. Obviously, the designers weren't aiming for a realistic plot here; in fact, I suspect that the only reason this game has a plot at all is because the publisher insisted the game wouldn't sell without one. But silly or not, the idea works; what's more, it works beautifully.

For one thing, Katamari Damacy is a great opportunity to get a glimpse at contemporary (at least as of 2004, when the game was released) Japanese life; the loose change is counted in yen, not dollars and cents, and many of the items you can pick up are distinctly Japanese, such as darumas and shuriken. Even milk carton labels are left in the original Japanese. (The spoken dialogue--what little there is--was redubbed, although the voice acting is pretty bad; but it doesn't detract much from the game, at least not for me.) For another, the control scheme is so simple--using the thumb sticks almost exclusively, although you can use the shoulder buttons to do things like alter the camera view--that just about anyone can get the hang of it after just a few minutes. The music is also incredibly infectious, and surprisingly, most of it includes actual lyrics, which thankfully were NOT redubbed for the English version; even if you don't speak a word of Japanese, you'll still find yourself singing along, or at least humming.

If I have a complaint at all, it's that the game's physics occasionally work against you. More than once, I've failed a level simply because I got myself wedged between two objects and had to watch helplessly as my Katamari gradually shed all of the items I'd picked up. It's rare that this happens, but when it does, it's unbelievably frustrating. Also, momentum is your enemy in this game; occasionally your Katamari will go sailing off a cliff or into the path of a car, while you gradually grind your controller into fine powder with your bare hands trying to get yourself back on track. But with a little practice, you'll learn how the game's physics work, so these situations are usually pretty easy to anticipate and avoid. (It's also pretty annoying when you pick up something unwieldy, like a guardrail, and your Katamari becomes unbalanced and starts limping like a lame horse; but to be fair, the manual DOES warn you about that.)

I will warn you that this is NOT a game for the obsessive-compulsive gamer; the trick is, if you try to pick something up and accidentally roll past it, just let it go and move along, because you'll lose a lot of time if you try to go back and get it. If you can't do that, you'll probably get frustrated and give up. But for any gamer who doesn't mind *ga-ga-gasp!* learning something while they play and isn't put off by a storyline as purposefully daffy as this one, all I can say is, I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed.

I Want to Wad You Up into my Life

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: February 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Bring the love back into your gaming. Absurdly charming, wholesomely irreverent, and utterly addicting, Katamari Damacy very much reminds me of console gaming about twenty-five years ago. Remember when the 2600 (then called VCS) was still new and Activision had just split from Atari? For the next few years, these two competed to get the most titles out on the market, and no subject was taboo. Before games were pigeonholed into RPGs, shooters, platforms, sports, etc., we held our collective breath waiting for the next Atari game about fishing or food-fights or basket-weaving or "barnstorming". My guess is the designers of Katamari were influenced by a combination of this pioneering spirit and about five tabs each of Liquid Sunshine. The result is the most fun and innovation I've yet witnessed on any PS2 game. They also manage to make fun of the "anime-speak" super-number-one-happy-terrific style of Japanamerican translation better than anyone from this hemisphere ever could. The game is short, it's silly as heck, and you will eventually tire of it. Regardless, any old-school gamer (or new one, for that matter) simply needs to roll with this one for a bit. Bring back the LOVE!

Humorous, infectuos and weird

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

So, you are pint sized prince who rolls katamari, a ball that everything sticks to. As things stick to katamari, ball grows and larger are the objects that you can merge with katamari. Almost all levels are time trial (I dislike time trials) and you have a size ball must reach, so you roll around and learn what levels look like in order to make katamari grow faster. All levels are medium or easy, except Poland.

Game is logical, which we haven't seen in a long time, and it is really attractive: imagine rolling 5 cm big katamari to pick up nuts and batteries in the beginning of the level and , after some time, rolling katamari big enough to pick up people, cars, buildings, and , finally, clouds and rainbows.

There should be a sequel soon, and I'd like to see levels that are different visually (Saudi Arabia looks like Russia). Some levels could have special restrictions, like it is forbidden to roll people, some levels should have interesting geometry, let's say sliding down the street or possibility to roll down the roller coaster. It would also be nice to have more levels with large katamari, and more levels in general.

The main reason game got 4 stars is camera...but, BUY! Game is weird but also really fun to play!!!

YESSSSSSS!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: May 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is the best, most fun, most weird game on earth! If you don't buy it I WILL KILL YOU. You have lived in a land of evil and shame if you don't have this game!!! If you're depressed, bipolar, or a person, you'll LOVE THIS GAME!!!

Really fun!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: November 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is really fun! I don't know if it gets old yet but it is a nice way to relax and play a game. My only problem with it is that when releasing it in the US they couldn't spell it's name right...

Katamari Damashi

That isn't too hard for the average American is it? There is no 'c' in Japanese. Come on Sony...you are a Japanese company for crying out loud...

And for those who are interested...

Katamari - a lump/a cluster/a mass
Damashi - a spirit/a soul/a ghost

Stroke of Genius

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I recently stumbled across this sadly unknown stroke of genius called "Katamari Damacy" (or "clump of souls" in Japanese) for the PS2. If you want to experience a game that's incredibly creative, addictive, and insane, buy "Katamari Damacy"--you won't be disappointed!

unexpectedly refreshing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: January 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

With a name like Katamari Damacy, it can only be from one place. Japan. Now i had heard a lot about this game, mostly on its...odd to say the least nature. Few games can produce a genuine what the F@!* from your average gamers mouth after just seeing the intro. Suffice to say dancing pandas and singing ducks are some of the most ordinary elements.

While there isn't much to the storyline, the basic idea is that your father, "the king of all cosmos" goes out one night, and in what can only be described as a drunken stooper, smashes all the stars, not to mention the moon out of the night sky. It is your job as "the prince of all cosmos" or the son of the king, to put all the stars and the moon back in the sky. This includes all the constellations, and about 10 misc. stars to construct, in addition to the moon. Of course the only logical way to put all the stars, constellations, not mention the moon back in the sky is to go down to earth and collect as much junk as you can, then your dad will turn it into a star! makes sense right?

As for the gameplay, it is one of the simplest, yet best executed games in years.taking the roll of the prince who is a tee-ninesy little green dude, you push around a ball varying in size called a Katamari. As you push your Katamari over various objects, they stick and as time goes on you work your way up from rolling up thumbtacks and coins to rolling up skyscrapers, cruise liners, and even a volcano! The game ups the diffaculty at a nice pace which makes it very enjoyable from beginning to end, and you never get the feeling that your overwhelmed.

Yet another thing that is, yes you guessed it, wierd about this game, is the soundtrack. This is in no way a bad thing, but it definately isn't something you've heard in any other game. With a sort of lounge/techno mixture, its quite the unexpected treat. Certain song will be stuck in your head for weeks, which shows the music coordinators did their job.

The controls, as well as the rest of the game, are a bit abnormal at first. Using the analog sticks, you push both simultaneously in the direction you wish to roll your katamari. In addition to the analog sticks, there are shoulder button functions, one that allows you to get an overhead view of your immeadiate surroundings, and one that give you a first person point of view. Even though these shoulder controls were at my disposal, i found no real reason to utilize them throughout the entire game.

My favorite aspect of this game is that there is an unbelieve amount of things that you can pick up. With over a thousand different objects, you have your variety in every shape and form. All of the things you pick up in the world are recorded in an easy to navigate archive, where you can look at all the objects you've picked up, as well as see if any of your collected objects are rare. as for the objects themselves, they are just about anything. You start your journey picking up thumbtacks, batteries, and erasers. After that you slowly build to picking up people, yes people, then trees, then houses, and finally on to entire pieces of land that you pull straight off of the earth. Some of the more unique objects include a football and baseball field, a ferris wheel, and even the thunder god sitting up high on a cloud. Through all of the picking, the camera always finds its way to a good position, so while it isn't perfect, you very rarely find yourself cursing the camera angles.

the game does feature a multiplayer mode, but in a whole, it could use some improvements. You get your choice of many colorful characters that resemble the prince, but instead have clever costumes, such as a strawberry, army camo, and even disco lights! After me and a friend of mine picked characters, we expected to end up at a menu that allowed us to set all the specifics of the round, such as time, size, level, etc. but instead we were dissapointed to find that there are only a select few levels, the time is always three minutes, and your Katamari never gets past picking up hats. Had this particular element had more customization to it, this would have definately been a five star game, since once you play for about an hour, you realize how great a multiplayer expieience this game could be.

In conclusion, this is definately something that anyone who has ever appreciated genuine wierdness, videogames, Japan culture, or any combination of the three should check out. With a level design that is easy to complete, but next to impossible to fully master, this game will have even the best gamers repeating levels.

Very original game, if I do say so myself!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

At first glance, this game doesn't seem great, but after 5 minutes, you'll find your eyes glued to the screen as you play KD. The object of this game is to build a huge ball of everyday objects to advance through levels. Sounds boring, but you'll find yourself saying otherwise. This is one of the few games that fully require analog controllers. The gameplay itself is original, and the sounds are quite nice to listen to. If you like odd-yet-original games, this one is worth buying.

Entertaining Marvel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game seems very confusing, and has a very poor story at first, but as you begin the game these two ideas are both proven false. The controls in this game are extremely easy to get into and get used to. The basic concept is very simple; you have to roll over random objects to increase the size of your "katamari". Along the way there are many objects to increase variety, and adding them all to your collection requires hours of extra gameplay. This game has incredible value, as it's price is very low considering the value of this game. The major highlights of the game is the incredible gameplay, unique, but catchy music, and basically the raw fun of seeing something being pushed around by a mouse eventually picking up entire buildings. Fun to watch, even better to play, this game is one of the best!

Weird.....but totally awsome!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Katamari Damaci is probably the weirdest, zaniest game that I have for my PS2 (and I have a lot of games!) I first heard about this game on the Cartoon Network channel. On Toonami, they do this little thing where they review the wierdest games ever, and this game was qualified. I thought it looked really fun, but since I didn't see or hear anything more about it, I forgot. But, a few weeks ago, I was chatting with my Art teacher at school, and she told me the only reason she had a PS2 was so she could play a game called Katamari Damaci. And all of a sudden, It all came rushing back! So I went online and researched a bit, and soon I was a huge fan! So when I bought it, I was thrilled. It is SSOOOOO much fun! At first, me and my brother were the only ones that played it, but soon my parents, who thought it was the weirdest thing ever, started playing it! The only downside is that it's pretty short, but thats OK, because you can play it again,and again, and again..... During the first time around, you may only role up a third of the objects, so if you go back to the levels, you can role up totally new things! Plus, you can do this time attack thing where you see how fast you can make your katamari a certain size, and then that becomes the record. Me and my brother spent hours trying to beat eachother's score. Sure, it's totally wacky, but who cares when it's so much fun?! There are special levels on it where you roll up certain things to creat a specific katamari for a constalation or whatever, and that makes it even greater. I mean, how many games have YOU played in which you're a pint-sized green dude who uses a big bumpy ball to roll up crabs that have infested a house? None? I thought so. Plus, during the credits you can roll up all of the countries in the world! The 2 player mode is cool too, where you and a friend see how big you can make your katamari before time runs out. And the area that you do it in is filled with totally random, crazy things. So if I were you, I would go out there and GET THIS GAME!!!!!!!!! And don't listen to those idiots who think this games "stupid," because they can't appreciate these kinds of wacky games. Besides, if I met them, I would have to roll them up into my katamari.

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