February 23, 2005
Katamari of Love
Hello. My name is Zip, and I'm a Katamari-holic. I've been playing Katamari Damacy for about three weeks now, and I can't stop thinking about this game. It haunts my thoughts, my dreams...my everything! So, I have decided to unleash it upon everyone else.
Suckers!!!
The story is simple enough. You play as The Prince. 
Your father is The King of All Cosmos. 
So, Dad goes whizzin' though space one night on a drunken bender (like he does) and destroyed a bunch of stars, a few constellations, and the moon. Now, you have to clean up his mess. He can rebuild the stars and moon, but he needs an item the same size as the star he's replacing in order to do it. He sends you to Earth with a little ball called a katamari. The katamari acts like a magnet in that anything it touches will stick to it. The more items that stick to it, the bigger the ball gets until (eventually) it is the size you need. Once that occurs, the King tosses the ball up into the sky and *POOF*...it turns into a star.
(Oh, in case you were wondering, "katamari damacy" roughly translates to "clump of souls".)
That's it. Pure and simple. So, you're probably wondering, "Zip," you wonder (like you do), "what makes it so addictive?"
Two things: Originality and Music.
There is no game like this, and never will be (until the sequel later this year). It's simple, clever and fun as hell. There's no strategy, no violence, no complicated controls, no boss levels, no health packs...nothing that you would find in any other game. The characters are extremely likable. The design is oustanding. It's pure originality.
The music is not only the best of any game I've played in the past year, it might well be the best of any game I've ever played. EVER. Hell, it's better than most movie soundtracks! And that's really saying something, considering how varied the music style for each track is. Gamespot.com captures it best:
"The soundtrack is consistent only in how different one piece is from the next. The menus are at first accompanied by the filtered pluckings of an acoustic guitar, and then by what can best be described as a marching band composed of very small robots. The pipe-organ-laced synthesized vocal chorus that plays as you're briefed by the King of All Cosmos helps set such a surreal tone that it doesn't seem inappropriate that his voice sounds like DJ scratches. During the actual gameplay, you'll hear big swing-music sounds, an achingly sweet J-pop song, and some intensely bizarre electronic compositions that work hard to defy description. The quality of the soundtrack is high enough that it stands on its own as a catchy, quirky collection of music, though within the context of the game, it is an integral part of the experience."
As proof that I'm not alone in my addiction, here are three different LiveJournal communities dedicated to the game:
Katamari Damacy Fans
The Cult of Katamari
Katamari Damacy worship!
There's even a growing base of Katamari cosplay:
Pics from Katsucon 2005
It's even inspired an original song by some band called "Boxes".
But it's not just the gamers who are fans! The International Game Developers Association listed its nominations for the fifth annual Game Developers Choice Awards. Katamari Damacy earned four nominations, including Best Audio, Best Character Design, Best Game Design, and Best Game Overall. The nominees are chosen by game industry professionals, so you know it's gotta be good!
In GameSpy's 2004 Top 10 Games of the Year, it came in at number 10.
Gamespot.com awarded it Best Original Music, as well as Most Innovative Game of 2004.
Voodoo Extreme on IGN lists Katamari Damacy as the Number 1 PS2 game of 2004.
Time Magazine ranked the game at #4 in their list of Top 10 video games for 2004. That's one spot above GTA: San Andreas! TIME MAGAZINE!!!
The list goes on, but I'm sure you get the idea. If you play this game, you will fall in love with it. And it costs less than $20. I got it for $15! The only excuse you have for not playing it is if you don't own a PS2...but with the recent price drop and stores carrying used consoles readily available, that's starting to become a less viable excuse. >:)
I might upload a song or two from the soundtrack soon so you can get a taste of the goodness. Until then, enjoy the soundtrack cover art...
