Katamari Damacy
| Katamari Damacy | |
 | |
| Developer: | Namco |
| Publisher: | Namco |
| Release date: | March 18, 2004 |
| Genre: | Third-person action |
| Game modes: | Single player, multiplayer |
| ESRB rating: | Everyone (E) |
| Platform: | PlayStation 2 |
Katamari Damacy is a video game by Namco for the PlayStation 2, released in Japan on March 18, 2004 and the United States on September 22, 2004. The sequel, みんな大好き塊魂 (Minna daisuki Katamari Damacy, Everyone Loves Katamari Damacy), is due out in 2005.
Name
The Kanji for the name is 塊魂, which is "Katamari Tamashii". Katamari means "clump". Tamashii means "soul", and Dama means "ball". Therefore, Damashii is a word pun combining soul and ball, and the whole phrase means something close to "Clump of soul". The name is officially transliterated as Katamari Damacy in all releases.
Story
Template:Spoilers In the game, your character is a tiny little guy, the Prince. His father is the King of All Cosmos, who gets drunk one night and accidentally destroys all the stars in the sky, along with the Moon. As a result, the King of All Cosmos sends you to Earth in an attempt to gather material with which to reconstruct the constellations of stars in the sky.
To gather material, the Prince pushes around his katamari, a magical, highly adhesive ball around, capable of grabbing anything and everything — to a point. Initially, the katamari can only pick up low-mass items like loose change and discarded pencils. As the levels progress, the Prince's katamari grows in size, eventually increasing its power, allowing it to pick up small animals, children, cars, houses, stadiums, sperm whales, and office buildings. There are also slightly hidden Royal Presents for the Prince to pick up, including a camera for taking photos with.
The story is told mainly through cutscenes following each level. The scenes follow a mother and two children intent on watching the father, an astronaut, begin his trip to the Moon. During the game, the son seems to be the only one noticing the changes in the sky and the appearances of the King and the Prince; the daughter senses the changes in the constellations, reacting with joy when a new constellation is remade.
The game's graphical style is not one that shows off the capabilities of the system; instead the graphics follow a cartoon-like, chunky style. The cutscenes are similarly styled, with everything composed of simple shapes, far from any kind of realism.
Gameplay
Katamari Damacy represents a radical departure in gaming concepts from what most gamers are used to; there is no attack button, there are no "special moves" that are learned as the game progesses, there are no bosses, yet it also doesn't fall into the familiar mold of a "puzzle game" like Tetris. The contol is operated entirely through the analog joysticks, not unlike a remote control tank. The Prince pushes his katamari around smaller objects, picking them up and increasing the size of his katamari, which in turn allows him to grab larger objects. It appears that the power of the katamari is based on the loose item's mass, rather than size; the katamari can grab onto a long, thin, light item and be unable to grab a much smaller, but heavier, item. This can cause problems for the player if the long item protrudes from the mass in a way that makes rolling awkward.
There are two types of levels in the single player mode: Make a Star, and Constellation.
Make a Star
In Make a Star, the player is given a time limit (in minutes) and a goal (in centimeters or meters). The player must grow the katamari to the indicated size before time runs out. If the player is successful, he or she may continue to grow the katamari. At the end of the limit, the katamari, along with the objects attached to it, become a new star. The final level, Make the Moon, is played the same way. Unlockable rewards are given if the player can reach the goal size within a certain time or grow the katamari to a particular size.
Constellation
In the Constellation levels, the goal is quite different, and themed to match the constellation given. Most levels are centered around collecting as many themed items as possible. For example, to recreate Cancer, the katamari must have enough crabs. To recreate Virgo, the required item is "maidens"; anything female, from young girls to old women to festival dolls, counts toward the count.
Certain other levels are given a more intricate goal. For example, to recreate Ursa Major, the player must find and grab the largest bear (real or fake) he or she can find. Rather than give the player the full alloted time, the level ends the second the katamari grabs a compatible item. This can be quite frustrating, as the player must ensure that the katamari stays away from any tiny bear before it is big enough to grab a more substantial bear.
American release
Katamari Damacy is very esoteric, and it was originally presumed that this eccentricity would prevent a release outside of Japan. However, due to its popularity at trade shows, and a write-in campaign, Namco decided to release it in the United States, though a European release is unlikely. Furthermore, to spur sales of the game, it was priced at only around US$20.00, less than half of what most new games are priced. Most retailers underestimated the demand for such a quirky game, and only purchased a few copies. It rapidly sold out nationwide.
Awards
Katamari Damacy won the gold prize at the 2004 Japanese Industrial Design Promotion Awards, the first time a video game has won that award. BIG BALLS
External links
- Official English site on Namco.com
- Official Japanese site at katamaridamacy.jp
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