I have never played the Katamari Damacy games. My only experience with them has been through one of the books from Boss Fight Books. It got me interested in trying the game out. It took me a while to actually sit down and play it, though.
From the book, I know a little about the strange premise of the game and a little about the gameplay. Video game publishers are always a little wary of new IPs because there isn’t a track record of sales. They don’t know if something will be successful. Sometimes, they do take a chance and are pleasantly surprised by the results.
Katamari Damacy was released during one of the times that the video game industry became stale. Too many games from one genre were being released because that genre was popular. Namco decided to release a simple game with rewarding gameplay.
There also weren’t “indie games” being released for home consoles at the time. At least not in the same way that we see today. There were budget titles, but they were normally released near the end of a console’s life. The PS2 was still new in 2003. Let’s get into the game before I end up writing an essay on the state of video games in the early 2000s.
TLDR: A very simple and fun action-puzzle game.
Narrative
The game’s story is simple. The manual gives you the basics, and then you’ll get more information during the game. I made the mistake of listening to something in the background while writing this out. It was one of the MST3K episodes on the Prince of Space. It made me chuckle a bit as I was writing this out.
The manual gives the player a brief story. It says that the King of All Cosmos inadvertently annihilated all the stars. Because stuff rolls downhill, the job of fixing his mistake falls on the Prince. Our “hero” then rolls up random things and unsuspecting animals to create new stars. This actually sounds more horrific than it was intended to be, I think.
The dialogue in this game is odd. Everyone talks like they’ve gotten a severe concussion. Things don’t always make sense, and they sort of get their point across. The King sounds like an aloof jackass at times, and like he hits himself in the head with a brick in between each sentence.
There is a subplot of a family. This plays out between some of the levels. It matches the strangeness that is in the rest of the story. These are short, and they make as much sense as the rest of the game.
Overall, the story is what it is. I don’t dislike it, but I wish there were more. Much of the dialogue had to have been a style choice by the development team at NAMCO. It would’ve been nice if things made more sense, even if it adds some comedy value to the game.
Gameplay
The gameplay is very simple. All you have to do is roll your Katamari over things and make it bigger. Each stage has you build a larger and larger Katamari. There is also a time limit that you have to contend with.
The controls are simple and very responsive. Only a few of the buttons on the controller are used, but everything is very responsive. It is easy to change directions, turn around, and roll in any direction you might want to.
Each level has you assemble a Katamari. The size increases as the game goes on, and you’re given more time. You can’t die in any of the levels, but you can lose some of the things that you’ve collected. This can be a little disheartening at times.
With each level, you have to fight against a time limit. This is the only thing that I don’t like in the game, because I just don’t like time limits. It would be more fun for me to just roll around and collect stuff. If you run out of time, then the King talks down to you, and you have to start over.
On some levels, you have a loftier goal. Instead of doing one star, you’ll have to work on a constellation. These add a little variety to the gameplay, but at the end of the day, you’re still doing the same thing.
Overall, I like the gameplay quite a bit. It can get old as you’re doing the same thing. I’m not a fan of having a time limit, and some of them seem to go by much faster than they should. Katamari Damacy is a game that I like, but it has some flaws. It is a very happy game, but it can be frustrating.
Visuals
Katamari Damacy isn’t the prettiest game on the PS2. It looks more like a PS1 game, which isn’t necessarily bad; it simply isn’t on par with other games from 2004 or 2005. I like how goofy everything looks, but it isn’t going to be for most people.
You can tell what objects can be picked up and what things are. It is also easy to tell what the animals are supposed to be. Everything in this game feels a little like a fever dream where objects look normal, but the layout of the world doesn’t make much sense. It is like a random assortment of stuff.
In between some of the scenes, you get these truly bizarre cutscenes of a family. It is part of a subplot, but it looks so much stranger than the rest of the game. The more that I look at everything, the more I think things look like Legos. This is especially true with the family that randomly shows up.
The Prince and King look weird, but not out of place. Everything in this game looks strange, and the two main characters fit right in. The cutscenes with them look good enough for what they are.
Overall, I like the graphics. They aren’t the greatest, but you can tell what everything is, and if it can be picked up. There are a few spots where the graphics get in the way, but this is a good indicator that you need to turn around. I will say that the graphics are a little behind the times for a mid 2000s game.
It reminds me of something
There are a lot of nonsensical games that were released in the 1990s. Many of these were on the PS1, but there were games on other systems as well. These were creative games that took chances. The video game industry has a habit of pumping out the same handful of games ad nauseam. When something different comes out, it leaves an impression.
Playing this game reminded me of Tail of the Sun. Both games are bizarre, which is part of the reason why I like them. They have nonsensical stories, odd gameplay, and a strange premise.
Tail of the Sun has the player leading a group of cavemen. Your goal is to build a tower of Mammoth bones so you can grab the Sun’s tail. There are a lot of little easter eggs to be found in the game, and the ending feels like a bit of a drug trip.
The biggest difference between these games is that Katamari Damacy is a much better game. I love Tail of the Sun, but I can’t say that it is for everyone. It is way too cryptic, and much of it is nonsensical. Still, playing Katamari Damacy reminds me of Tail of the Sun because of how odd it is.
Reviews at the Time
Karamari Damacy received great review scores back in the mid-2000s. The scores were between an 8 and a 9.2/10. There were also a few “A” and “-A” scores, and I wish publications would all just use a 1-10 scale instead.
1Up.com gave the game an A. The reviewer called the game “quirky, addictive, original, (and) excellent.” This was written by Jermy Parish, and he mentions that you shouldn’t be “put off” by just about everything in the game. It is fun to see where some of the best video game journalists and writers got their start.
Game Informer gave the game an 8/10, and had a second opinion of a 7.5/10. This would be the lowest score that this game received. The first opinion called the graphics “horrifically awful” and said the gameplay was repetitive. Despite the lower second opinion score, the reviewer said it was “charming.”
GameStop gave the game an 8.7/10. The reviewer mentions that this was a “budget release,” which normally meant it was between 20 and 30 dollars. They went on to say that the mechanics were “simple and enjoyable.”
IGN gave the game a 9/10. The reviewer gushed about the game in his review. They described it as “happiness in a box.”
Most reviewers were able to overlook the faults of the game. It isn’t the most graphically impressive game, but it is a fun game. It is rare that even the “bad reviews” of the game bring up how much fun they had with the game. I’m glad that the reviewers didn’t lock in on the graphics like has happened with other games released in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
8.5/10. I like just about everything about this game. The controls and gameplay are very good, but some things annoy me. It can be repetitive, and I don’t like having a time limit. This game has decent graphics when I compare them to other PS2 games from this era.
Pros
- Great Controls
- Fun Gameplay
- Funny Story and Moments
Cons
- The story is a little nonsensical
- Might be too simple for some
Conclusion
Katamari Damacy is a great game that has some rough things in it. I do like the core gameplay, but some of the other things in the game aren’t as good as they could be. The story isn’t all that great, and the subplot is rather nonsensical.
Looking at when this game was released, it really stood out from the other games on the PS2. Namco took a chance and released this simple but challenging game. They’ve done this a number of times over the course of their history. They have a lot of games that are like Katamari Damacy.
There are a few things that hold this game back a bit. The more I play it, the more I’ll probably get over those little things that bug me about this game. It is one of the wonderful and unique games on the PS2, and it spawned quite a few sequels.
If you liked this post, please check out my other posts on PS2 and PS1 games. Such as Rumble Roses or Tail of the Sun.