login sign up feeds about

Import: Katamari Damashii

Ben educates us with this imported beauty...

Being a games reviewer can you make you cynical. No, actually it can make you very cynical. For every gem you get to play from start to finish there’s several bland, uninspiring affairs that also require your attention. So when every now and again you get the chance to play an absolute gem, something very special, all professionalism seems to escape you and pure, unadulterated fanboyism consumes you like airborne mutaba. The gaming industry may be obscure, it may be a commercially driven big-budget license machine, but it can still sometimes produce a title that amazes, entertains and enriches. Just like Katamari Damashii.

• video

  

• images (8)

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • all 8 images

• game info

  • 

  • Publisher:

    Developer:

    Release Date:

  • more

• related stories

• ps2

  • Rock Band prices slashed in UK
  • Guitar Hero World Tour
  • NBA 2K9
  • NBA LIVE 09
  • Yakuza 2
  • more

With one of our founding members recently uprooting and relocating to the spiritual home of gaming, Japan, it seems only appropriate that we here at Ferrago also broaden our gaming horizons and what better way to start than with possibly the greatest import game currently available. First person shooters, football titles and racing sims may be more the vogue nowadays, but if you're the sort that refuses to branch out and try something new then I sincerely hope that Katamari Damashii is enough to tempt you to try something different, and if there’s an adjective to describe Katamari Damashii, it’s "different".

Plot is often superfluous in the greatest titles and Katamari Damashii is no exception. Seeing as all of the text is in Japanese the story is somewhat tricky to fathom, but for the record it seems to run as follows. A cosmic King of some description accidentally destroyed the starry sky, when drunk of course, and you, his son the Prince, are tasked with replacing it. How can such a feat be achieved? By rolling around and collecting inanimate (and sometimes animate) objects of course. Like you even had to ask!

Obscure? Terrifyingly so. In fact, it's this kind of plot that reinforces the wacky stereotype of the Japanese, but if such a warped psyche is prerequisite for the production of such an almighty title, then it can only be applauded. Originally designed as a game to encourage Japanese school children to pick up litter, Katamari Damashii is a game in which you roll some sort of sticky otherworldy ball around assorted terrestrial locations gathering objects. You think it sounds dull? Don't believe it. Whilst initially you'll only be large enough to gather drawing pins, coins, batteries and erasers, by the end of the game your ball will be of such gargantuan proportions that you’ll actually be picking up the level itself.

The control scheme is wonderfully simple yet perfectly adequate. Your ball is manoeuvred using the two analogue sticks in a manner not dissimilar to controlling the two caterpillar tracks on a tank (or so I understand). Both sticks forward will move you forward, both back will send you into reverse and both to one side will roll you sideways in that direction. By the same logic, forward on the left and back on the right will turn you right and so on. It takes a little getting used to for sure but soon becomes second nature and you'll be wondering what that large leather-bound wheel in the front of your car is all about. There are a couple of extra moves, such as a quick 180 reverse and sprint, and whilst none of them are vital they add an additional depth that is welcome.

The objects that you can pick up are relative to the size of your ball. For instance, when you start a level you may only be able to pick up staplers, pens, Lego bricks and mice, but once you've grown a bit you'll be picking up plant pots, TV's, dogs and melons. It's immensely satisfying to progress from collecting fist size objects to larger stuff like people, cars, elephants and vending machines all within the space of one level. The closing level of the game is perhaps the most enjoyable level I've ever played in any game. Ever. I'm not joking. You begin collecting sunflowers, shoes, cats and the like. Then you get a little bigger and start picking up fences, swordfish, and bushes. Before you know it you're onto sumo wrestlers, baseball teams, lorries, huts, totem poles, cement mixers... I really could go on. By the end of the 30-minute level you’re collecting oil tankers, giant squid, skyscrapers, bridges – even the islands that constitute the levels themselves! This all happens within a space of a single level and at such a subtle pace that you barely notice that you're growing. The move from shovels to windmills is so brilliantly balanced that the feeling of subtly accumulating power in invigorating, intoxicating and very exciting.

Next

1. :-)

   bilbo Monday, 20 September 2004, 23:04:7

2. 96%??

   ice_freezer Thursday, 28 October 2004, 10:48:22