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Katamari is an interesting series. A friend introduced me to it years ago and when he told me about the concept of rolling shit up, I admit I wasn’t immediately intrigued. I thought to myself, “that’s weird”. Then I played one of the games and I actually really enjoyed it. I didn’t jump on the series right away after that but when the remaster of the first game released, I was on it immediately. Developed and published by Namco, Katamari Damacy was released for PlayStation 2 in North America in September, 2004. A remaster titled Katamari Damacy REROLL was released for PC and Switch in December, 2018, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November, 2020, and Stadia in September, 2021. For this review, I played REROLL for PC. I played through this game once before on Switch and when the remaster of the sequel released, I decided to jump back in with the intention to review the games. Katamari does come with a two-player mode but I didn’t get the chance to check it out so this review will primarily focus on the single player.
The story goes that a drunk King of all Cosmos destroys all the stars and celestial bodies in the universe except for Earth. Afterward, he tasks his son, the Prince, to travel to Earth with a katamari – a magic ball that will attract objects – and use it to collect enough material to recreate the stars and moon. There’s also a little side-story that follows a family affected by the events. The plot is silly and a fine setup for the gameplay. I found the game as a whole to be humorous, somewhat surreal, and bizarre. From the King’s dialogue to the actual gameplay, Katamari is a funny and fun time with a light tone and the gameplay is easy to jump into and understand.
I don’t know how to properly describe Katamari but I can tell you it’s fun and addictive. The game’s Steam page describes it as a “roll-em-up” and I think that’s pretty on point. The concept is simple, roll shit up. You control the Prince who pushes the katamari around various environments. The katamari will attract objects smaller than it. They stick to the katamari and as it grows in size, it will be able to attract bigger things and you’ll be able to access new areas. Most levels or stages require you to grow the katamari to a certain size or diameter within the time limit. Once completed, you can make it a star. Other stages require you to collect specific objects to create constellations. The game does come with a good amount of replay value. Completing the final stage unlocks cousins that will spawn in the stages and can be collected. You can replay any already completed stages to try and make bigger katamaris. You can try to find all the items to fill your collection and find the present in each stage to unlock accessories for the Prince. Furthermore, reaching certain sizes in certain stages will unlock Eternal mode where you can roll around without a time limit or objective.
Katamari is a very original game thanks to its unique concept. I would also say it should appeal to those that enjoy collect-a-thons because I would argue Katamari is very much a collect-a-thon. Every stage has a ton of objects to collect ranging from small items like fruits and pencils to large items like vehicles and buildings. Bumping into things can result in items flying off the katamari and you need to watch out for moving objects including animals and people. But once the katamari is big enough, you can roll them up. Basically, you can roll up almost everything you see in a stage. The objective is to grow the katamari as big as possible as fast as possible. At the start of each stage, the katamari is pretty small and there’s a lot of stuff that you can easily bump and crash into but the bigger it gets, the easier it becomes to get around and roll things up. It is an easy game to jump into and getting a grasp of the controls isn’t all that difficult. The camera can be problematic at times and getting stuck on things in the environments can be annoying but for the most part, the game controls and plays well. I should mention I played with an Xbox Series controller.
There are numerous stages in the game, all of which reflect Earth-like locations and areas including a house, multiple outdoor areas, and cities. To select a stage, you must first fly the Prince over it on the Earth. The portrayals of life and things in the environments are far from realistic often resulting in humorous displays. You’ll see people and animals doing bizarre things, various items simply littered about, and even giant monsters roaming around. My only real gripe with the environments is that you’ll navigate around some of the same or similar looking areas across multiple stages. I think a little more variety would have been nice. Once you enter a stage, you’re free to navigate around anywhere you have access to. One might say the environments appear messy and cluttered with plenty of stuff to roll up and that includes the people, animals, and vehicles among other things moving about the stages. Things are literally everywhere. Moving objects typically act as hazards until the katamari is big enough to roll them up in which case you’ll often see people and animals run away in fear.
I think Katamari showcases a unique presentation and it’s heavily stylized. I like the cut scene art style in particular. It fits with the game’s surreal quality. Katamari is a colorful game and while certain aspects of the presentation do show their age, even in the remaster, the look and feel is still unique and the presentation holds up really well. From the blocky character models to the stiff animations, it looks the way it does by design and it is pleasing on the eyes. One of the best things about the game is the music. The soundtrack is phenomenal with a lot of jazzy and upbeat and catchy tunes. On the technical side, according to what I’ve researched, the gameplay is capped at thirty frames. In my experience, the game ran fine and I encountered no major bugs or issues. But REROLL does something I don’t like and that’s force you into the gameplay before letting you mess around with settings. You must complete the tutorial before you can access menus to change options like graphics settings. It’s not a major problem but I just hate when games do that.
I consider Katamari to be a classic. It’s not only a unique concept but also very fun and addictive. It may not sound like something that would be fun but believe me, it is. And trying to grow the katamari bigger and bigger is the addictive part. It’s just fun rolling up everything, almost like you’re cleaning up the environments. I also find it to be a very enjoyable collect-a-thon. There’s just so many things. I would say Katamari is one of my favorite games in the genre but I don’t know of any others quite like this or its sequels. The Katamari series is the only roll-em-ups I know of. As it relates to this game in particular, the light tone and audiovisual presentation combined with its easy to pick up and play nature make it a somewhat relaxing experience. At least I think so. I find it easy to just sit back and enjoy what’s on offer no matter what I’m trying to do. Whether I’m just rolling the katamari around to collect everything or find specific items or to grow it as big as possible, it’s just a very pleasing, addictive, and somewhat euphoric experience.
I absolutely recommend Katamari Damacy REROLL. It’s a fine remaster that’s available on multiple systems as opposed to the original game which is a PlayStation 2 exclusive. Katamari is an original game, a very welcoming game, and one that will keep you occupied for a while. It may have a quirk or two but nothing that really holds it back in any way. The concept is unique and the gameplay is fun and addictive. Definitely check it out.