Katamari Damacy Reroll: Gameplay
Katamari Damacy Reroll opens up just as you remember, the King of all Cosmos goes on a drunken stupor and destroys stars, the moon, other celestial bodies, yet leaves Earth untouched. The King then booms into the screen, and with his signature record scratching voice, commands his son -- the Prince -- to rebuild everything.
Prince is given a katamari, a small sticky ball that rolls up anything smaller than it until it becomes bigger. Players start off small by rolling up paper clips, thumbtacks, pieces of food, but eventually, you move up to animals, people, and eventually entire cities. By the end of the game, the entirety of Earth has been rolled up into one large katamari.
Much like the original PlayStation 2 game, the Xbox port utilizes the Xbox controller in the same fashion. Both analog sticks are used to move Prince, and various button and stick combos can help him speed up, jump, turn around, and more. While the controls do have a familiar feel, I did have some issues with the game overreacting. It could be because my controller is brand new; the lack of control at times does make the gameplay harder.
Much like its original release, this game can be completed in its entirety in less than a day. I took a recent snow day to complete the game in its entirety, which was roughly 8 hours. Katamari Damacy is also repetitive in the early puzzle stages. It's not until you get the larger katamari that you see new stages and new items to roll up.
Music & Graphics?
The music is absolutely enchanting. With an eclectic collection of jazz, traditional video game-inspired music as well as samba-inspired beats, this soundtrack won players over hard. The soundtrack was so well received that it won GameSpot and IGN's Soundtrack of the Year awards in 2004. Japanese pop singer Yui Asaka performed on the soundtrack, as well as Charlie Kosei (who contributed to many of the outstanding Lupin III soundtracks), and Masayuki Tanaka (who contributed to some of the Ultraman soundtracks in the late '90s) among others.
The graphics for this game are lively, colorful, and at times oddly haunting. While in the pint-size world of Prince everything seems staggeringly large yet comfortably adorable, but in the cut scenes featuring the only humans we really have any emotional ties to -- the Hoshino (which more or less translates to starfield) family -- are almost creepy. But because of this odd creep factor, the player doesn't feel too bad about rolling living creatures up in a giant ball that's about to be sent into space!
The best scenes, and graphics, involve the King, who is outstandingly eccentric and just plain fun. His character design is arguably one of my favorites in video games.
A Great Feel-Good Game
In this world you don't need to think too hard -- the only barriers you face are from larger objects trying to kick you, as well as the timer the King puts on each round. The gameplay is remarkably easy, and this is a game for players of all ages. If you have young ones in your home or need a feel-good game, you can't go wrong with Katamari Damacy Reroll.
This game did spawn an entire franchise, and players can even play a version on their smartphones. So what are you waiting for? Time to get rolling! Check out more details on this game, including sales data.
Have you played? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!
