PSP Garden

TheDragon · Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:54 pm Post subject: Me and my Katamari

Me and my Katamari rating: 8/10

The king and prince are back to roll up all the crap on earth in Me and my Katamari. If you've played either of the titles for PS2, you kind of know what to expect from this game. You roll around a ball called a Katamari, rolling over items to stick them to the ball to reach the pre-determined size within a certain time limit. Sometimes there are more specific instructions such as "Roll up the biggest bear you can find" meaning, avoid all smaller bears while you make your Katamari big enough to take on that giant bear. You don't want to accidentally roll up a small bear, because the round will end and the king will belittle you.

Unlike in previous titles in this series, you're not making stars in this game. Once again, the King has messed up, but this time the royal family was on vacation in the ocean on earth. The King got a little too crazy and managed to destroy a bunch of islands. Your goal? To adhere to the now homeless animals' requests and make them islands of their liking. As far as the gameplay is concerned, there really can't be any huge revolutionary change to the gameplay, as it would change the whole idea of the game. The controls take a bit of getting used to considering the PSP does not have dual analog which its ps2 brethren took full advantage of, but once you get used to it, it works well. The major complaint in gameplay I have is the loading. Instead of playing one fluid level where you go from 10 meters to 700 meters without interruption like you can on the ps2 games, it will stop you at certain sizes so it can load more objects for that size level. This puts an unneccessary burp in the gameplay. Another downfall is the lack of environments. You find yourself basically going through all the same levels over and over again with little changing other than weather.

This game, like the two preceeding it, have wonderful soundtracks. The music is actually a combination of the songs from the first and second games for the ps2. The audio is great. I actually have the soundtracks on my MP3 player and listen to them all the time in the car. These really are just super catchy songs. As far as the sound effects are concerned, well, there really isn't anything more satisfying than hearing a child scream as you roll him helplessly into your katamari to become part of the collective.

There is multiplayer available, though nothing spectacular. You can visit a friend's island to duel them in a treasure hunt where you roll your Katamari through a sandy area trying to pick up things of value. Think metal detector on the beach, but with a katamari. While it's fun to play with friends, the multiplayer isn't well-balanced. If someone manages to roll up the super secret treasure (which is bound to happen considering how small the stage is) they get so many points that it's nearly impossible for the opponent to win. The only real way to make this a bloody match is to charge your opponent to knock things off their katamari. There's only the one multiplayer game mode, and is fun for the occasional yucks but it's not going to be something you'll want to spend all your time doing.

The graphics in the game are the same old Katamari graphics. I would even go so far as to say that the graphics are identical to the previous titles in the screen. Nothing too spectacular, but very suitable for the game.

Considering how many presents there are hiding in the levels, and how addicting rolling around with your Katamari can be, the replay value is fairly high in this game. Especially if you want to go back and re-make an island to beat your previous high score.

In closing, if you're a fan of the series, you'll love it. If you haven't played Katamari before, start with one of the ps2 titles before tackling it on the PSP. Let the better games suck you in to the quirky world of the royal family of the cosmos before getting into this handheld time-killer.

Toucan42 · Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject:

I absolutely LOVE the Katamari games on the PS2 - I can't believe I was unaware that the PSP now had a version of the game ... Lik-Sang here I come!

Toucan42 · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject:

I ended up picking up my PSP last night at Best Buy along with Katamari and I have to say one thing upsets me about this - the lack of a second analog stick makes rolling mych less of a natural action.

Slashmire · Posted: Sun May 07, 2006 5:00 am Post subject:

I have played both Katamari games for PS2, but not the one for the PSP. My main concern was indeed the fact that the PSP only had one analog. Can you explain what you do not like about the controls scheme?

TheDragon · Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:06 am Post subject:

Slashmire · Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 7:18 pm Post subject:

So does this end up being a show-stopper? As in, is it annoying enough to make you stop playing the game? Sad

TheDragon · Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 10:58 pm Post subject:

No, not at all. I love katamari.