My God that sounds like a cute game... ! It sounds very fun and simple to play for anyone (including someone very bad at games like me) - I'll keep this one in mind :)
Katamari Damacy game Review
The King of All Cosmos has accidentally destroyed all of the stars in the sky and now it is up to you, the pint-sized Prince, to set the cosmos to rights by rolling up stuff on Earth to toss back to fill the once-starry heavens.
Credits: shinsengumi
Story & Playability
The King of All Cosmos has a problem. In a moment of madness, he had too much fun and destroyed all the stars in the universe. That's right, all the stars. And the moon. This is where you (the player) comes in. You are The Prince, the dashing King's son. He has charged you with restoring the sky (and the moon) to its original shining glory. Too bad you're tiny.
Thus, the King grants you a tool to help you on your quest. Behold! The Katamari, a sticky ball of doom! Your mission, that you're forced to accept, is to go to Earth and pick up all sorts of objects with the Katamari and fling them into space to replace the stars.
The concept is very simple. King destroys stars, Prince cleans up after father's mess. Roll a ball around and pick up all sorts of objects, including (but not limited to) insects, candy, flowers, office buildings, and rainbows. This is probably one of the simplest games I've played in a very long time. It's extremely straight forward and very easy to learn. Katamari gets extra points for being so outlandishly simple.
Rating:
Graphics
Following on the theme of simplicity, Katamari Damacy has very "down to Earth" (har har) designs. All the objects look like their real (albeit cartoonish) counterparts. The onigiri look like stereotypical rice balls, Tony Hawto is on a skateboard, and the King of All Cosmos is extremely dashing.
Everything is brightly colored and very distinct. It gets bonus points for good use of simple graphics. Too many games these days concentrate too much on shiny graphics rather than gameplay, and Katamari most definitely does not try to dazzle the consumer with a high shinyness count. The designer was obviously on some pretty good stuff when the game was made. I want some too.
Rating:
Sound
"na naaa... na na na na na na na, na na na na na naaaaa........"
The music of Katamari is extremely catchy, from the main theme "Katamari on the Rock", to the super cute "Cherry Blossom Color Season". Almost all of the songs are themed towards the basic concept of the game. Most talk about the katamari, rolling around, or picking things up. Lots of different music styles are used, so everyone should be able to find something they like!
Other than that, the game has semi-decent voice acting (for the cutscenes with the children and mother) and non-intrusive sound effects. The English voices are somewhat flat and sound forced. Another thing to note is that each object has it's own "collision" sound, many of which I've yet to figure out...
Rating:
Fun
Katamari Damacy is hands-down one of the most addicting games I've ever played. It has very high replay value in that it is a game that I can play for 10 minutes or 10 hours at a time. It doesn't have much of a learning curve and can be learned in a matter of minutes. Mastering it, on the other hand, is a different story. The other thing I enjoy about this game is the guilty pleasure it gives. I find it strangely satisfying to pick up a large building and hearing people scream.
Overall, Katamari Dmacy is extremely simple, something I applaud in today's market of extremely complex games. There really are only two controls (left analog, right analog), the story is very basic, and the graphics aren't too shiny. Simplicity, however, doesn't detract from fun or challenge. The game may be easy to learn and play, but the insane requirements to fully "complete" it make it extremely hard to master. Best of all, it's only $20. :D
But in the eternal words of the King, "we don't know what you're talking about."
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.3333 (above average)
Reviewed by kawaiiguy, Nov 16, 2005
Comments
-
kuroimisa Retired Moderator Nov 16, 2005
-
perlox Nov 16, 2005
i have it. its really quirky. i luv the gameplay, and its really funny. me and my friends had some good laughs. the only bad thing i can say is that it was really easy, which made it short. so that was kind of disappointing.
-
ScribbleKitty Nov 16, 2005
I love this game! The sequal is great too. I would have given it a bit of a higher rating, but you mentioned all the great aspects of the game, so I guess I cant be too upset at the low overall score. I wish I had the sound track and I was very pleased when I beat the game that you can listen to all the songs on the moon.
This is a great game and I think you did a good job reviewing it!
-
bah Nov 16, 2005
this game deserves at least an 8.
for those who say its too short.. it is but that largely depends on whether you just get to the end or if you do the side missions and go for the extras. normally im not one who bothers but the crazy cool presents he can wear (i like the guitar and the chef's hat) or going for the ultimate katamari on different maps makes it even more fun.
-
flyindreams Nov 16, 2005
Haha... great review :3 I loved this game, and I liked how it's very easy to replay multiple times... :) The only thing I'd prolly add is that the controls take a little getting used to, and sometimes it's easy to get stuck in dead corners with funky perspectives where you can't see anything... which they fixed in Katamaray 2 XD (you can now see through walls and other large objects when you run up against them in Katamari XD) Which looks totally awesome, actually, when I watched my friend play it. :3
I gotta say that for the English dubbing I always thought the flatness was done on purposes :3 It's not like those scenes were meant to be realistic in any way :3 Definitely looks like the designer was on something when he did this doesn't it? Hehe. Actually a gaming friend informed me that the designer hates doing video games... he only did it for the art... which says something about the game, I suppose :3
Again, excellent review for a ver addictive game X3 Very stress-relieving too... and indeed, always fun to hear the little people scream XD
-
tareren Nov 16, 2005
Haha, love the review :D you did nice job, very easy to read and it flows well :D
Hmmm, is this a PS2 game? -
gekiganger Nov 17, 2005
nice review :D hehe helped me well in some descriptions in kamatari :D very very addictive game :D
-
juppu-kun Nov 17, 2005
nice review... i know a friend who has this game and the first time i ever saw it i was rolling on the floor so much i laugh about the weirdness and happy stupidity of this game! XD
-
ansonchuenlim Nov 21, 2005
Haha, love the review you did nice job, thank you!
-
edyim Nov 22, 2005
Ridicuously funny and nice game. I wont give it 8/10 cause the idea is very fresh and simple yet fun to play.
-
cygupi Nov 22, 2005
It's so addictiving once you pick up the controller. It's one of those games where you can pick it up fast by just playing a few minutes.
Not to mention the music is awesome <3
-
anarchy-soup Mar 03, 2006
THE...BEST...GAME
-
Countess-D May 29, 2006
INCREDIBLY CRAZZY, MESSED UP, F-UP, AND HILARIOUS!
I just fell on my back with the intro and the whole concept...priceless xD
I thought it would be hard to surpass that but recently I played the sequel and OMG xDDDD!
page 1 of 1 13 total items
Only members can post replies, please register.