Review: We Love Katamari – PS2 - PS2 - HEXUS.net

Conclusion

Righty then, time to do a bit of summing up. That the Katamari games are original is beyond doubt, and originality in a time of endless sequels and re-hashes is to be applauded. The concept of the game is simple enough for even a five year old to grasp (my youngest is playing it as I write this) and the relaxing gameplay makes a nice break from the hectic platformers, racers and shooters we’re usually playing. That isn’t to say that We Love Katamari doesn’t have tense, sweaty palm moments as many of the time limits are quite tight, offering up quite a challenge. So all in all it’s a refreshingly different game to get your hands on.

The problem with We Love Katamari is also in the simplicity of the game… so it’s a bit of a double edged sword. The variation in the missions go a little way to relieving the samey-ness of the game, but it’s still just rolling stuff up, be it against a time limit or with a limited number of objects. And, once you’ve unlocked all the levels, the game continues by having you repeat various levels over again, which becomes repetitive quite quickly… and we’re not even going to mention the massive amount of totally unnecessary dialogue.

So where does that leave us over all? Well I’m going to have to fall on the side of recommending We Love Katamari, and if that sounds reluctant, it is, in a way. You see, I honestly think that many people will buy this and wonder just what the hell they’ve gone and done but give the game a chance and you’ll find yourself being drawn in. The fun of rolling up a bigger and bigger ball is immense and in the two player co-op or battle modes the game will see a serious amount of extra life. I keep finding myself flicking the PS2 on for ‘just a quick go’ and even though I’m playing the same level over and over, I can’t help but have another try… damn those pesky Japanese and their addictive games!

Pros Totally original gameplay
Very easy to learn
Tough to master
Great music
Satisfying in a strange way

Cons Can get repetitive
Too much dialogue
A bit too ‘weird’ in places

We Love Katamari

We Love Katamari is like a good hooker… you keep going back even though you know you shouldn’t.

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