We Love Katamari Review

Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 2

What the Katamari?

Another game in the vein of wacky Japan-antics, We Love Katamari is a game that actually surpassed the original (that’s right, this is a sequel) in sheer lunacy and fruit-tastic debauchery. If you played the first one you understand what I’m talking about. In case you didn’t, there really isn’t a way for me to properly explain this game to you.

The story goes something like this, from what I could tell: You start as a prince in a land of acid-trip-inspired characters, colored with pastels and brightness that would make the sunshine blink. There’s this guy who appears to be the King of your Universe, and he desperately wants you to roll things up into giant balls. You, the prince, look like this little alien fellow with a football shaped head, and you oblige the king despite the fact that until you get the hang of the game, the king will sass talk and put you down for not getting your “Katamari” large enough (or fast enough, based on the missions goals).

In-Between Missions

Between missions you’ll have the opportunity to run around the world that you’re filling in and converse with the people you’ve snagged while rolling Katamari balls. Sometimes you’ll get a small cinematic scene that makes less sense than Queen Latifah getting nominated for an Oscar. In all honesty, I was supposed to write this review several days ago and I just couldn’t figure out what to say about it, so I’ll say this: It is a game like no other.

Is it Enjoyable?

By all means, it shouldn’t be fun. I shouldn’t want to play this game, and even knowing that it’s the kind of lame nonsensical title that I would normally poke fun of for hours, abusing my title as a Game Reviewer the way I love to most (by bashing the ever loving crap out of sub-par games), this game is infectious. The fact that it has gotten to me the way it has (and my paranoid nature) leads me to believe that the Japanese are in the final stages of subliminal experimentations.

Sign number one was the soundtrack for the game, which consisted of several different versions of the same song. However, the song was so subtle that it took me several levels to realize it was the same lyrical arrangement being played in pop, lounge, and dance beat styles. After three hours with the game, I found myself humming the various versions of the same song without even realizing that it had come from We Love Katamari, until I came back hours later for another round with the game. We Love Katamari will envelope even the most skeptical gamer to depths that will no doubt lead to years of therapeutic mental recovery.

Doctor’s Orders

This is without a doubt the hardest recommendation I’ve ever had to make. On one hand, I can tell you that while we are currently awaiting the hype of the next generation of consoles, it’s refreshing to see an entertaining game be made with the actual gameplay as the main course, not smoke and mirror graphics.

On the other hand, this game can only end with the enslavement of mankind. There is no doubt in my mind that the Katamari franchise will somehow be linked to the fall of civilization as we know it. Whatever you do *synapse pops in Gonzo’s brain and the Katamari theme song can be heard echoing between his ears*

Go buy We Love Katamari for hours of fun filled enjoyment. Play it with your entire family, and invite all of your neighbors over as well. Katamari is great and can do no harm. It is totally NOT subliminal, no matter what the ESRB label says.