Since I've not played the Katamari series before and this would be the last and only version for the PSP unit, I quickly placed an order, thinking that the game would be easy. Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be but it sure was fun.
The opening music was very catchy and it took me awhile to remember where I heard it before. If you have the Ridge Racer game for PSP, you can actually hear the Katamari songs during the race. Anyway, the opening movie was pretty eye-catching and colorful, being very attractive and all. Although saying that the King was kind and gracious when he was actually the one that displaced the animals from the islands was a bit too much. As the movie winds down, I found myself playing the role of the shorty Prince of Cosmos, stuck on Remembrance Island. Exploring the island, I found myself with being able to do many things but we'll get to that part later. First, the gameplay.
From the island, it's a quick talk to a nearby mouse who speaks about regaining his memory. He's north of the island and basically, all animals start here. Anyway, being the helpful Prince (sorry, no Princesses I'm afraid but a few female cousins were around), I decided to help wee mousy out by rolling a Katamari i.e. huge ball with all sorts of stuff that is stuck on it. It's all about rolling over stuff to get the Katamari bigger and then roll that bigger Katamari to get other big stuff. There's a time limit as well as a size limit. Plus, you're a really small character too. Pushing the ball isn't as easy as it looks because the floor will sloop up and down and the katamari will drift because of that. There are steps to overcome and bigger objects in your path. At the end of your time if you miss the target size the King of Cosmos will be administrating some discipline to you.
The aim is usually to make the Katamari ball to as large as possible. You start by running over teeny weeny stuff like paper clips, erasers, sweets, but move up to collecting the bigger objects like cats, dogs, humans, buildings, and monsters. The camera will adjust itself as the Katamari ball gets bigger so you'll be able to see how big you get too. Also, in each scene, there is a relative standing around somewhere whom you can roll over. Once you do that, you can play that character as you push the Katamari around everywhere. The only thing about the character change is the looks and nothing else. As the ball gets better, you'll definitely get smaller as the scenery expands out.
Once you've achieved the tasks, the King of Cosmos will convert the Katamari into an island or a rock. Size does matter in this game so the bigger the Katamari ball, the larger the island and the more pleased the animals will be. Depending on the size of the ball, there are different names for the islands. You can take a balloon ride and visit all the islands and replay them.
In between rolling the ball, you can view your scores and objects that you've picked up. The scoreboard will tell you what were the sizes of the Katamaris you've rolled as well as the items that you rolled over. This is done on Remembrance Island, the first one that you create. You can actually change the name of the island to whatever you want it to be. There is a photo album for pictures where you can look at pictures taken ingame. You can also connect up to 4 players and visit each other islands. If you want to listen to the music, it's also available for play.
This is a game which is simple enough that you do not have to do much thinking or planning but difficult enough to make you play a scene repeatedly until you get used to the controls. Plus, you get to change the character if you happened to roll up the various cousins found in-game. There are also presents with different accessories that you can add on. I'm currently sporting a dragon head peering over my head and my favourite character is disco-theme Dipps. She's a flashy thing with a gorgeous bright dress. However, the scenes for the game were limited so after awhile, it was repeated scenes over and over again. Still, there's nothing like hearing a monster cry out in shock as you roll a gangutuan ball over them over and over again.
Now, excuse me while I go back to the game. I'm still hunting presents for headgear, masks and cool clothes!
