I can guarantee 100% that anyone who plays Beautiful Katamari will be swept up in a delightful rapture. Strangely, something about this game made me too happy to care that I’d been hit in the face with “Game Over” 10 times already. Why’s that then?

Maybe encountering the vibrant world had brought me back to being a kid watching my favourite cartoons. Or was it the influential music forcing me to tap my toes and bop side to side. Perhaps it’s purely falling to the addiction despite knowing the game‘s simplicity. Whatever it is, I’ve now come to understand the fans who have followed the Katamari series since the PS2 & PSP.

Now the basis of Beautiful Katamari is essentially like trying to roll up the biggest snowball in a limited time. Only we’re using a magical, adhesive ball known as a “Katamari” and replacing all that snow with sweets, crayons, robots, burgers, dogs, people, stairs, ships, gods, continents, star constellations, literally anything you can imagine!

Okay, so now I probably sound loopy but like I’ve said before the Japanese just know how to make brilliant quirky games. And what is the point in this roll around business?
Cutting the story short, a giant black hole in space has sucked away the planets, satellites, comets and even the sun! As I serve the King of the Cosmos it’s my duty to help him out and rebuild everything as it once was. I roll up large sums of material, he transforms it, restoring order to the universe.

While going about my role the key thing to remember is “bigger is better”. However it’s not as simple as it sounds. It took a few attempts before I began to better my judgment of size order in the Katamari world. Too often I got carried away dashing about with my Katamari and anticipating too early, diving head first into the 12 ft sumo wrestler only to bounce off in shame. Though it wouldn’t take too long before I returned for revenge, my boulder armed with a fresh lining of tables, eight marathon runners and a couple of trees, and finally swooped up that wrestler while laughing like a maniac. Work sure is fun!

The game also offers multiplayer modes however it suffers from a lack of interest in it. Although the idea of having two players jump into the weird and wonderful action sounds good it just doesn’t really work out. The control system isn’t really made for battling. A bulky Katamari isn’t really easy to push around, let alone to line up and dash into your opponent with to dislodge their collection.
Co-op mode is awkward unless both players are truly on the same wavelength. The Katamari will only move as long as the two game pads are symmetrical in direction. A lazy piece of work from the developers in my opinion. Multiplayer just feels awfully restricted and shouldn‘t have been included at all.

Once you’ve completed all the levels that the disc has to offer, replaying it straight off won’t really give the same buzz as when you first started. Overseas of the UK you can download four extra levels for two hundred Microsoft points each. Although rumours are that you’re just basically unlocking the rest of the content that should already be on your disc. Feel cheated? It’s bad business practice. After forking out £40 for the game having the option to pay an extra £1.70 for a downloadable level is off-putting.

Never the less I’m proud to own a copy of something different to the rest of the common genres. Many messages have come my way to ask, “What the hell is that game you’re playing?!” I’m always more than happy to point people in a new direction of gaming. It’s not always about role playing games and first person shooters.

Beautiful Katamari is a winner. A breath of fresh air to gaming and suitable for the family too. I couldn’t forgive anyone who hasn’t lived out this weird and wonderful caper. What are you waiting for? Get rolling now!