I’ve become completely addicted to playing the game Katamari Damacy for the PS2. If you’ve never played it before, go out and get it right now.

You control this miniscule little galactic prince with an oddly shaped head, whose task is to roll a ball around various places on Earth, collecting items via a kind of “stickiness” property of the ball. As the ball gets larger by virtue of the things sticking to it, you are able to attach bigger and bigger items. From sushi and cookies to cattle, police officers and buildings, your goal is to create as big a ball or “katamari” as possible. Finished katamari are lifted to the heavens and made into stars by your enormous, gold chain macking father. It’s a pretty simple premise.

The game has a surreality reminiscent of the Teletubbies and some of the more intense drug-abusing moments of my adolescence. All the weird shapes, styles, colors and constant references to “rolling” have me making a few guesses about the lfestyle of the creator, a guy who claims to dislike video games. Regardless as to whether anyone at Namco did any inhaling when making this game, the fact is that I cannot stop playing it. Katamari Damacy is wildly addictive. There’s a very strong satisfaction you get when your katamari starts getting big. Once you hit the size where you are big enough that people run screaming from you, there’s a certain Godzilla-like thrill that I can’t recall feeling in a video game before. Rolling a massive ball of buildings, cars, people and everything in between down the street, glomming everything you touch is a joy you should experience rather than trust my word for.

The graphics are basic, silly and cartoonish in a likeable and iconic way. The soundtrack is by far the most original I have ever heard—from Japanese hip-hop to a capella beat-boxing and ambient electronica, I don’t think there’s a stranger sounding game out there.

At twenty bucks from most large retailers, there’s really no excuse not to drop everything and pick up a copy. You’ll be a Katamari maniac in no time, dressing up as the prince and making all kinds of katamari-like food and other assorted homecrafts. Just check the photos tagged on Flickr and you’ll get the idea.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2006 at 3:21 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.