We Love Katamari

Katamari Damacy was one of the most original games never released on our shores. Fortunately - and against the developer’s wishes – a sequel has been released. This time the katamari has ‘rolled our way’ - and at a budget price!

We Love Katamari’s story is amusing because it shows the developer’s reaction to the popularity of the first game. Citing the popularity of playing Katamari Damacy in the first game, the King of all Cosmos sends the prince to fill requests for the people. You only control the prince to begin with; however, as you progress you will unlock new characters.

The premise of WLK is simple - you roll the katamari around the level, collecting objects until it meets the required size. However, the katamari is small to start with, so you can only pick up smaller objects until it's big enough to pick up the larger ones.

As simple as it sounds, the controls are hard to get used to - Katamari uses both sticks to move. Using both sticks to turn and move forward or backwards is quite complicated compared with games like Sonic Team’s Billy Hatcher and The Giant Egg, that have basic platformer controls. Not only do these controls take a while to get used to, but the camera can also be problematic, with walls occasionally blocking your line of sight.

However, once used to the controls and camera, you will see why this series has a large following. The levels are colourful and there is a wide variety of objects to pick up with the katamari. The quirky visuals also help distract from the repetitious item collection gameplay, although that, combined with the G rating, may cause older gamers to overlook it.

Although a half-hearted approach in today’s world of online multiplayer, Namco has added two-player options for co-op or head-to-head play to expand on the original’s gameplay.

We Love Katamari is one of the most original titles to come along in a while, and it has expanded on Katamari Damacy by adding the multiplayer element, which is a nice, if minor touch. However, it will go largely overlooked in favour of PS2 network-enabled games.

"It has a cult following, but does We Love Katamari live up to the hype?"

8.0 Great