If there’s one thing I love, it’s the Katamari series.  It flew over my radar when it first came out, but lately I’ve gotten into the series and now I’m absolutely hooked.  So when I had the opportunity to review Katamari Forever, I leapt.  Let’s take a look at how the series’ first entry onto the PlayStation 3 holds up.

Developer: Namco Bandai
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Genre: Action puzzle
Console(s): PlayStation 3

The verdict: Katamari returns like an old friend, brings its trademark quirkiness and fun to the PlayStation 3.  Gameplay carries with it some troublesome issues that have been in Katamari for a while and there’s an awful lot of recycled content, but it won’t stop players from having a lot of fun.

The Katamari series has always had an irresistible charm to it despite (or possibly because of) the overwhelming eccentricity it showcases.  This quintessential Japanese franchise has become famous for the quirky stories, humorous dialogue and extremely innovative gameplay.  Katamari Forever is the first incarnation of the series to hit Sony’s seventh generation console, bringing with it all the charm and humor fans of the series are well accustomed to.  Anyone who missed the Katamari train on the PlayStation 2 has a chance to hitch a ride as well, as long as they can overlook the same issues fans have been overlooking.

All hail, King of the Destroyed Cosmos!

The story of Katamari Forever deals with a mishap the King of All Cosmos, who decides to outdo the Prince of All Cosmos by performing a massive jump.  Unfortunately, the King hits himself on the head and causes amnesia, resulting in the Prince building a robotic King of All Cosmos (aptly named RoboKing) to handle the King’s work.  This turns out to backfire when RoboKing winds up going crazy and destroying the stars.   Once again, the hapless Prince must set out and restore the galaxy to working condition.

If the plot is any indicator, the story of Katamari Forever isn’t one to take too seriously.  Ironically, it’s the lack of a real story that makes the entire Katamari series so cathartic.  Dialogue is kept minimal but you’ll want to listen for the laughs as RoboKing neurotically ponders the value of a spa retreat to get away from his “stresses” or the King of All Cosmos proclaims a particularly tricky maneuver you pulled to be “blogworthy”.  The game is full of pop culture references, in-jokes, and enough humorous jokes to make every conversation worth listening to even though the story isn’t an integral part of the game.

Getting rolling on gameplay

The Katamari Forever gameplay keeps the staples of the series intact.  You start off in one of many cluttered settings with a katamari, a spherical ball that you then roll around the area.  As you roll your katamari, various objects will stick to it, and gradually it will get better.  You start off fairly small as you roll up objects like plates or ice cream cones, but soon you’ll start rolling over animals, bushes, and larger objects.  Eventually people or large things that once towered over your miniature katamari will only be rolled over as you continue gaining size.  Usually you’ll be scored out of 100 based on how well you do.

It’s a deceptively simple objective made complicated by finding enough small pieces to make your katamari bigger in a setting populated mostly by people.  Certain elements such as moving set pieces can also send your katamari bouncing all over the map, or you might have to navigate a very thin bridge without tumbling off.  The basic objective is to get as big as possible, but some levels have different and surprisingly diverse goals.  One particular level, for example, will have you rolling over fireflies in a nighttime environment in order to raise a brightness level attached to your katamari.  In another setting, you aren’t judged by the pure size of your katamari but by the monetary value of the objects you absorb; so a large umbrella won’t be nearly as worthwhile as a smaller but more valuable ring.  Every level feels fun, too; simply watching your katamari grow bigger is as entertaining as ever, but there’s satisfaction in using your katamari to literally water a desert planet and transform it into a lush garden.  You’ll likely find yourself going back and repeating levels either for the fun value or to try and get a higher score.

The squeaky katamari

Conversely, some problems from previous Katamari games have found their way onto Forever.  The camera control can get very wonky and can be very disruptive considering the time limit.  It has a tendency to zoom behind objects or behind walls, and you’ll need to use an agonizing five seconds you can’t spare to wrestle the camera back into the correct position.  Usually when you go behind a wall the camera makes it see-through to follow you, but sometimes the game just seems to forget this feature.  The game also occasionally has trouble registering objects that are very clearly smaller than your katamari but might not get absorbed on the first go; I rolled directly over an umbrella half my size to no avail, but I rolled over it immediately again a second time and the katamari picked it up.

It’s also very easy to get stuck between two objects that aren’t quite large enough for you to absorb but sizeable enough for you to spend time wrestling your katamari out of them using precious time.  Fortunately, you can use the new Prince-Hop move – a standard jump – to get out of most situations like this, but the jumping mechanics are a little awkward.  You can jump with R2 but you can never be quite sure where you’re going to go or how high you’re going to be.  You can also jump by snapping the controller upwards, but it’s extremely unresponsive and you’re better off using the button. It’s still a nice feature to have, but it could have used some tweaking.

Rolling up gameplay modes

In terms of gameplay modes, you start off with the standard “Forever” mode consisting of 34 levels between the King and the RoboKing.  The King’s missions are designed to help him piece together his memory while the RoboKing’s missions consist of restoring the galaxy after he knocked out all of the stars.  The majority of these are levels from older games, making them great for newcomers but also running the risk of getting repetitive for longtime fans of the franchise.  The levels themselves are still a lot of fun between the creative set pieces and the endearing formula of the series, so all but the truly hardcore Katamari fan will be able to enjoy the stage selection.

One of the great things about Katamari Forever is that it essentially rewards you no matter what you do.  One of my favorite instances of this is actually being able to play a fun little minigame f you actually do particularly poorly, where you see how long you can avoid erupting molten rocks caused by the anger of either the King or the RoboKing.  Conversely, doing extremely well on stages opens up Eternal and Classic modes.  Eternal lets you play without a time limit while Classic gets rid of the few additional gameplay changes made for Katamari Forever, such as the Prince-Jump.  Eternal is a lot of fun for perfectionists, but Classic is really just the same level without the ability to jump.

The replay deal

Forever mode will run most players around five hours, which feels like a good length given the nature of the puzzles themselves.  There’s still a fair amount of content to fiddle around with even when you’ve finished the game proper and experienced the entertaining finale.  Drive mode is unlocked after you beat the game, which speeds up the speed at which your katamari travels but also lowers your time limit.  It’s a great challenge, but this is the point where the stages start to get repetitive.  Playing them the first time (and additional times) is enough – was there no reason to offer us some new environments?

Co-op and versus are also back as the game’s multiplayer components, offering some fun diversions.  Co-op features two players rolling one katamari, while versus features two players rolling separate katamaris for competition.  Between this and leader board rankings there’s a very workable multiplayer component, but it’s nothing to get too excited over.

One thing most players will be happy to see is consistent is the wonderful charm of the graphics and design.  Everything is still as creative as ever and brightly colored to boot.  The graphics run beautifully in high definition, although there’s some slowdown when the screen gets busy.  If you’re familiar with J-pop music, you’ll have some idea of what to expect here: The quirky music fits in well with the overall theme of the game, and most of the tunes are incredibly catchy.

Conclusion

Katamari Forever is definitely a solid entry into the series, although it feels like a missed opportunity on some level.  It would have been nice to finally smooth out some wrinkles that have persisted in the series through previous entries and it would have been more rewarding with some more original set pieces.  Saying the Katamari series needs more originality feels like saying Ninja Gaiden needs more gore, but it does seem like a lot of levels were unnecessarily recycled.  That said, if you’re a fan of the series this is good comfort food and if you’re a newbie to Katamari this is definitely a good place to start.  Just make sure you use R2 for the Prince-Hop rather than the Sixaxis function.