Beautiful Katamari Review

Platform: Xbox 360
ERSB:E Everyone
Genre: Puzzle
Number of Players: 1-2 and 2-4 (Co-op/Multiplayer)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Release Date: 10-16-2007
Official Website
Writer: Cherith

Rating 9.0

The King of All Cosmos is at it again. While out on a nice vacation, the King, Queen and Prince are enjoying a nice game of tennis when the King forgets his own power. And with a very powerful serve, he knocks a hole in the sky, which creates a black hole. This hole begins sucking in everything around them, but the King is quick enough to stop it before it destroys the entire universe. However, planets are missing again. Now it’s up to the Prince to go back down to Earth to begin shaping them once more. I don’t think the King of all Cosmos has heard about child labor laws.

Graphics:
This game is beautiful. Everything is richly colored and very crisp, which makes rolling up even the tiniest of items visually entertaining. The loading scenes are the same as before, with the King’s head bobbing up and down as he spurts out random information. But even this is fun to watch as the colors seem brighter than ever before. Seriously, how can such a simple game look so pretty?

Controls:
If you’re familiar with the PS2 Versions of the Katamari games, the controls are very similar, almost identical in just about every way. The only difference is the space between the sticks on the 360 controller. Because of the angle of the analog sticks, it takes a little bit of getting used to before moving that Katamari around gets easy again. Then, just as you get the hang of things, you start rolling up humongous 500 meter Katamaris, and your control over the giant ball gets harder and harder.

Sounds:
Back again are the fun Katamari songs that accompany you as you roll around Earth. Some of them are going to make you want to mute the game, and others you’ll be able to listen to again and again. Lucky for us, this time we can actually switch songs before entering the level to avoid those that might take us to the edge of murderous.

Flow:
Like We Love Katamari, the Prince now moves from place to place on a different screen to find his next mission. These are in no particular order other than you have to complete some missions to unlock the next ones. There really isn’t as much story here as there has been in other Katamari games. It’s all about making stars and planets and plugging that black hole.

Fun Factor:
Is it fun? What could be more fun that taking a giant sticky ball and rolling it around Earth picking up people and islands and clouds and gods? Nothing.

Female Aspect:
Is there a female playable character? Despite what the King might say about him, the Prince isn’t female. However, many of the cousins that you rescue along the way are available to take the Prince’s place at any time, and some of them look female.

Replay Value:
Achievements, Achievements, Achievements. If the Katamari franchise wasn’t already entertaining, moving it to the 360 has unlocked whole new reasons to play. Now, you can work your way through the quests trying to collect as much stuff as possible, making the Katamari as large as possible to please the King, rescuing all the available cousins or presents on the stage, or trying the Time Attack mode to get it as big as possible as fast as possible. Achievements and multiplayer modes should give anyone enough reason to keep coming back to Beautiful Katamari long after you’ve plugged the black hole and saved the day. And then, when you’re ready, you can hit XBL and grab the DLC for the game once it’s released, or challenge a whole world of opponents to roll bigger and faster against you.