Game - Katamari Damacy
 Scraps  rates it:    Community rates it:
   196 of 408 readers found this review helpful.

"We were half way to Barstow when the Katamari Damacy kicked in"

So my dad is this huge god like king of all the cosmos, and he get wasted and destroys the stars in the sky. So being the son of such a powerful yet hungover type of guy, it's my responsibility to gather up some matter and replace the heavenly bodies.

No no, Scraps isn't smoking his socks again, this is the premise of Katamari Damacy, a fun and cute little game for the PS2.

Your character, a teeny little fella, needs to build balls of 'stuff' to replace the stars. Each level you start with a Katamari ball (which apparently is VERY sticky and VERY magnetic) and you roll it around using the thumb sticks to gather anything in your path. The items start out small, flowers, birds, shoes, and as your ball grows, you grab bigger and bigger items moving up to buildings and trees.

The physics of the ball changes as you pick up each item, making it a little more challenging when you accidentally pick up a baseball bat that sticks out. Levels are timed, and you're required to reach a certain diameter before the time expires, making some frantic runs in the crazy looking cityscapes. But of course, I've always got to slow down to grab the random cat to listen to the sound they make when they get stuck to a rolling bundle of crap.

Scraps loves $19.99 games. That alone usually wins a can or two in and of itself, but Katamari Damacy plays like a full priced game. The graphics are cutsie, but it adds to the bizarre feel of the game. The music is somewhat repetative, but catchy. The controls are spot-on and the camera only got stuck once in a great while (which was quickly rectified by using both the L and R button simultaneously to do an instant 180).

Kids, drugs are bad, but, as an added warning, do NOT mix this game with ANYTHING! Playing this on NyQuil sent me into some alternate reality for a few hours, discussing religion with Ben Franklin and Jimi Hendrix while riding unicycles in bathrobes. Yeah, it's that potent.

With all the games on the market today that blur the line between 'real' and 'realism' it's refreshing to find something that doesn't take itself too seriously, and it actually FUN to play. I've got to hand it to Japanese game developers, they have cornered the market on orginality. This is a supurb game to show to your non-gamer friends when they're over for cards and adult beverages. Have you ever had someone try to pick up a controller and play some Splinter Cell? Not happening.

Do yourself a favor, part ways with a couple of 10 spots and have yourself a ball, the legal and healthy way.

Easily a strong 4 1/2 out of 5 cans

Added:  Saturday, April 09, 2005

Language: eng[ Did you find this review helpful?  Yes  No ]
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