CmdrTaco's Journal: Katamari Damacy

Only once in a great while does a game come along that really tickles me the way that Katamari Damacy does. Now I must admit that I was skeptical, but when Kathleen asked for it for christmas, I was happy to oblige... I've long felt that video games make great xmas presents, because I can also play them. Of course, I think I've done a disservice to her because I've spent as much time playing this thing as she has.

The game is loaded with ludicrous engrish translations... sorta like Parappa. The music is cute and fun. The game play is unbelievably addictive. You roll your "Katamari" around and stuff sticks to it. Your "Score" is essentially the diameter of your katamari. When you start out you'll be rolling up thumb tacks and crayons and eventually pop cans, plants, and eventually cats, dogs, people, cows, cars, houses, and eventually (I assume) battleships.

The game play is so easy, and so simple. But what makes it fun is the constantly shifting perspective. The game doesn't change, you just get bigger... so the box that was a wall 5 minutes ago is now food for your katamari. And you come back later and grab the entire table that the box was sitting on. Later you can return and take the whole house!

It's a PS2 game, and you owe it to yourself to take a look. It's just "One of those games" that has the right mix of cute, fun and colorful, combined with a unique concept that just makes it absolutely shine. It made me pause Knights of the Old Republic 2, and that's saying something.