08 March 2024
Katamari Damacy is a game that I often return to. It's so fun, no matter how many times I play it. Pretty much every year I play through both Katamari Damacy as well as its sequel, We ♥ Katamari. They are both really good.
So basically the whole idea is that you're this little guy and you've got to roll this big ball around to "roll up" various items and add them to your mass. You can only roll things up if they are smaller than your katamari. The mass is measured in centimeters and meters which helped me learn that system of measurement when I was a young child. Anyways each level will either give you a size goal to reach or a more unique goal. All to reach within a time limit. The unique goals are each based on a different constellation in the night sky. Most of them have you rolling up as many of a certain item as you can. Crabs for Cancer, pairs of twins for Gemini, fair maidens for Virgo, etc. Although there are two constellation levels that are particularly bothersome. Ursa Major and Taurus. In those levels you need to roll up the largest bear (for Ursa Major) or cow (for Taurus) and if you roll up any of the desired animal you need to start all over. What usually happens is that I'll get such a big katamari, I'll be so close to getting the big one and then I'll accidentally bump a really small one and fail the level. Except you don't really fail in those ones you just win with a worse score.
I think that the reason Katamari Damacy appeals to me so much is that I don't need to be in a real specific mood to enjoy it. I could just want something fun to do for like 30 minutes, or I could spend several hours trying to get a really high score on a certain level. It's that as well as something else. I think the fact that the levels are individual little things and the fact that they are all pretty unique to themselves adds to it. It's just a really replayable game. At least from my standpoint. I like it.
Oh yeah, and it's got a really good soundtrack.