Me and My Katamari
Score: 90% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Games America, Inc. Developer: Namco Media: UMD/1 Players: 1 - 4 (Ad Hoc) Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: A portable Katamari game... that's right, now you can roll random objects into large balls no matter where you are. Me and My Katamari lets you control the Prince as he travels across all new locations picking up objects both old and novel, all in the palm of your hands. It never ceases to amaze me how the PSP can come so close to the graphical prowes of its console counterpart. Me and My Katamari follows the cel-shaded style set by We Love Katamari (as opposed to the look of the original game). Levels are highly detailed and everything from bugs to buildings looks great. Musically, there is more of that happy-go-lucky, upbeat and very Katamari-like music to fill your ears and get you into the rhythm of the game. Other sound effects, like the brief sounds of shock as you try to roll up animals and people, also make their way to the portable system, making the entire audio experience the same thing you would expect to hear on the TV.
Gameplay: The King, Queen and Prince of All the Cosmos have taken a vacation to Earth. To fit this vacation theme, the Prince's hub world is a small island, and instead of completed Katamaris becoming stars or planets, a completed ball will be made into an island to help appease the demands of some animal that is asking for help. Basically, it is all just an excuse to help determine how big the Katamari ball has to be and how much time you have to complete the task. The Prince's Island is not only the place you will go to take on each of your missions, but you can also meet up with other gamers, view the islands you created, look through your presents and collections. Me and My Katamari also supports several ad-hoc multiplayer modes. Not only can you exchange gifts and collected objects with your friends, but you can also compete in versus battles. In this mode, each of the players will play through a typical level, and the player that earned the most points wins the battle.
Difficulty: Me and My Katamari has the same basic difficulty level of the other games in the series. In general, you should be able to make it to each level's goal in the given amount of time. There are occasions where it might take you two or three attempts, but you never really get frustrated. The game gets to be a bit of a challenge, though, if you are trying to unlock the level's Eternal Mode (a level without a time limit) by having a Katamari ball sufficiently larger than the target.
Game Mechanics: When I first heard about a Katamari game for the PSP, I couldn't help but wonder how the traditionally dual-analog stick dependent game would handle on a system with only one analog controller. Well, surprisingly, Me and My Katamari gets around the issue pretty well. Previously, you would control the Katamari ball by directing the two analog sticks, to go forward, you push the two sticks forward, to turn left you push the right stick forward and the left stick back and so on. Instead of using two sticks, you have the D-Pad and face buttons. You might think that this change would be difficult to get used to and that trying to guide a giant ball around with a pair of directional buttons is counter-intuitive, but I found myself completely used to the scheme by the end of the tutorial level. Of course, I don't know how someone unfamiliar with the game would react to the control scheme. The setup of a regular Katamari game isn't the most standard, but for those players who are familiar with the scheme, you shouldn't have any problem porting over to the new system. My and My Katamari is a great addition to any Katamari lover's collection. It has the same addictive gameplay mechanics of the console games and is well worth the investment. If you haven't jumped into the ball-rolling games yet, then this could very well be a good place to start.
-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications AKA Chris Meyer
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