katamari damashii

[dc-arena]

I can't see ANY reason not to buy it - it just gets better and better, and the levels become more enjoyable and much larger as you progress. I love it, and its certanly a strong contender for game of the year..

[dc-arena]

I can't see ANY reason not to buy it - it just gets better and better, and the levels become more enjoyable and much larger as you progress. I love it, and its certanly a strong contender for game of the year..

[JammyD]

Anyone played the two player mode? That's what I'm most excited about, it sounds like it could be a great pick-up-and-play multiplayer game.

[Treble]

Here's a scan I did of the instructions:




And the boxart in full, wraparound glory:

[Treble]

It also comes with a separate instructions sheet that's in Japanese on the back and superb Engrish/Japrish on the other side

[PeteJ]

Thanks Treb, I can't wait to get my hands on this Only a few days more hopefully!

By the way, you usually get the Engrish instruction sheet when getting the Asian release. If you bought from Play-Asia you will probably have that (I did for Siren and Bujingai).

[Geoff D]

There are some lush wallpapers at the website - http://katamaridamacy.jp/frame1.htm

I've used the front cover one

[lordcookie]

Im getting the game for the instruction manual alone. It looks very cool.

[Treble]

Thanks Pete
I can't go into it too much as I'm doing the review, but this game is ace. The Fonz says:

[Tom Salter]

Reason I haven't ordered this is because I thought it sounded like a Star Trek themed game.

That instruction manual just convinced me otherwise

[Treble]

.cratches head



Ahhhh!!!

[Max M]

This game has convinced me to finally mod my PS2.

[razu]

This game is sooo good!!

I love the way the hunter becomes the hunted once you've rolled a big enough lump. Picking up cats and dogs is the very shiznit indeed.

My brain has been in OMFG mode several times while playing this, mainly when the levels open up and you start picking up even huger things.

I can safely say I'll be whistling the music to KD when I'm 80 years old. It just doesn't let up.

If only I knew what the dude with the sizeable groin bulge was scratching at...

Daaa-da-da-da-da-da-da-daaaaaa...

[randombs]

absolutely agree with razu

i just got hold of this two days ago. it was evening and i started playing.

it puts me in that euphoric state that few games can - for me, it's NiGHTS for the current generation, in that you sort of melt away and get sucked into this sweet dream world with relatively crap graphics (like nights , or rather, nights looked sweet but the saturn just wasn't having any of it) - the kind that would have your average casual running for the XNA demos

keep it next to Rez, NiGHTS and any other games that really calm you down...

in the words of the Magnum (ice cream, not the dude) ads, "I wouldn't share it"

[PeteJ]

Mixed feelings so far. Part of me loves this game like no other, but I also dislike it at the same time.

I think my expectations of "better presentation than Drill Land" put me into some sort of crazied expectations that no game could live up to. For those you don't know, Mr Driller: Drill Land features probably the greatest presentation of any game, the music in particular is incredible. Katamari is presented in a very weird way, which is very likeable, but it isn't up to Drill Land's brilliance.

The music, also, is a little disappointing so far. The title music is great, but the stuff ingame isn't as memorable as say, the Haunted Mansion from Drill Land, or even the totally odd World Tour mode from the same game.

That said, the utter strangeness of the game is so captivating that it is difficult not to love the game. It's bonkers, right up there with Bangai-o for random-crazyness. The option screen is just awesome, however, as is the music that goes with it.

The gameplay is different to expected, the controls in particular are quite difficult to get the hang of (a tank, effectively). It's funny picking up a mouse in your ball, but also annoying not knowing what you can pick up and what you cannot (due to the size of the ball). At the moment, just half an hour or so into the game, I am thinking "is that it?", but at the same time I want to play it again and again.

There seems to be a heck of a lot of stuff to unlock in the game, most of which appears to be picking up all of the different items within the game. Everything item has a percentage next to it, which I assume is how much of that type you've picked up. Also at the end of each level you get a percentage, which is most likely the percentage of items you picked up. There is also a 3-place score table for each level.

I did a strange level with loads of crabs about which I didn't quite get. It played just like the other levels, but on the World map it is displayed differently to the others - any idea why?

Back to playin'