Whichever way you slice it, the premise behind these Katamari titles is a bit on the ‘out there’ side of things.
You can't help but envisage a few puffs of the old wacky backy were enjoyed before settling down and dreaming up a game where you’re a tiny prince being instructed by your huge camp dad to roll up loads of inanimate objects in a big ball that’ll double as a island for homeless animals!
After the relative and much deserved success of the two previous iterations of this colourful series on the PS2, (only the second of which managed to make its way to our shores, in the guise of We Love Katamari) those old gaming luminaries Namco have seen fit to create a brand new original title for our miniscule PSPs.
Plus they’ve even managed to cram in a 2-4 player wireless battle mode for good measure.
They say:
GameSpot: “This is pretty much a must have for fans of the series, and though it's not an ideal initiation for those new to the series, the game's refreshing aesthetic, fun and simple gameplay, and its unhinged sense of humor is unlike anything else on the PSP.”
1UP: “It is, after all, Katamari on the go. While it may be the most lackluster chapter to date, it's still pretty entertaining - but only in small doses.”
IGN: “Me and My Katamari definitely has its flaws. Its small stage design, propensity for backtracking, and obvious slowdown and camera issues certainly keep it from being one of the premier PSP titles - but that doesn't mean it isn't fun.”
We say:
The Katamari series of games is an incredibly bright and colourful beacon of brilliant light shining through the plethora of licensed tripe that’s been arriving on the shelves of local gaming emporiums in recent years.
For the uninitiated, Me & My Katamari rolls along on a simple premise. You start each level with the prince pushing along a Katamari, basically a huge sticky ball.
You get a time limit within which you need to build up your Katamari by rolling over as much of the game world as possible, picking things up until you hit a target size.
It’d not quite as easy as it sounds of course. Starting with a pitifully small Katamari there’s no chance in hell you’re going to pick up Godzilla straight from the off!
No, you need to start small. Say the odd mouse, ketchup bottle, or even a pair of misplaced sunglasses. Everything you can see you can eventually attach to your monstrous Katamari. Even people.
There's one problem though. The control system. The PSP was never going to offer anything like as much flexibility as the PS2's dual analogue sticks, and fighting against the d-pad can’t help but spoil things.
It’s not game destroying by any means, but it’s far too easy to blame this convoluted control method on your failure to progress. All too often you’ll find yourself making a quick turn you never wanted to make, or drifting slightly off to the right as you try and plough full speed into that nasty traffic warden.
Katamari as gorgeous as you’d expect. The colourful game world remains fully intact and incredibly densely populated with items to pick up. Though there are a few more rough edges and slightly muddier textures when compared with the PS2, it’s nothing to get too worked up about.
Thankfully the enchanting music remains, much to the delight of fans of the series. It’s all very cutesy and child-like so taking it down the pub is a bit of a no-no.
Though the control system tries it’s damndest to throw Me & My Katamari off course, there’s little doubt that this is a title that needs to be in all PSP collections.
If you can look past the cutesy, twee aesthetics, there’s an incredibly fun game to be discovered.
Like this? Try these:
We Love Katamari – PS2
LocoRoco – PSP
Electroplankton – Nintendo DS
FORMAT REVIEWED
PSP
POSTED...
Tue 30 May 2006 at 12:12am
