You'll be asking yourself "why am I playing this?" And then find yourself playing non-stop. A worthy addition for anyone
And one also has to ask themselves... "with what this game looks and plays like... how did this game get the green light to be released?" given Sony's obsession with the technology aspects of the PlayStation, a PS2 game with decidedly PS1-quality visuals wouldn't have sold very well in terms of looks to the Sony board when it came up to approval. But how did it even make it past the initial guys at Namco to be finished into a playable game?
I'll tell you why... for being so far out there from anything else on the map, Katamari Damacy - and, in turn, We Love Katamari! - are unbelievably fun and easy to play.
First, the negative. This is one game that won't impress graphically. Only in very rare instances do the games show anything on screen that couldn't have been done on the original PlayStation. None of the objects you roll up, and certainly the various backgrounds and scenery in the select meadow, or when you finish a level could have really been that much of a stretch on the hardware. However, the big difference that justified this being a PS2 title is clearly in how much there is. Any one given level can have hundreds of thousands of rollable objects onscreen at a time. And in certain levels, just one section of world could have plenty of stuff to roll up into your katamari, with even more potentials to have later. There's no progressive-scan support either, giving the graphics a rather Mega Man Legends-like appearance (any players of this would know what I mean).
However, you'll find yourself caring very little about the graphics once you start playing along.
The sounds, however, are above average. music in the game is rather symphonic in the cutscenes, while the in-game background music will keep you entertained with your rolling. a confirming 'blip' is heard upon successfully picking up a given item in the katamari, or a unique sound if it's something living (like a person, or an animal). There's quite little to complain about considering they do their job and keep you focused on the core gameplay.
The controls are absurdly easy, as for 99% of function, you'll be using the analog sticks in unison to roll about and following the path to try and collect as much of everything possible. While there are more functions, you won't need them a whole lot.
So what is the gameplay about? Very simple. You start out with a bare katamari. You start rolling up the smaller stuff, until you are able to start picking up progressively larger objects. The bigger the summarized katamari gets, the more stuff you can collect. Some of the objectives may play with this around a little... like telling you to make it so big in so much time, or collecting all the objects in a given mission, or even one where you are to try to collect enough to make the resulting katamari a specific size. While the missions themselves are simple enough for the most part, it is then the challenge to replay to improve on your scores or your times, and to obviously improve on the resulting creations from the rolled-up katamari.
The game in itself can be finished fairly quickly, but the simplicity of the core gameplay will likely compel you to replay continually to improve your rolling craft.
This is my first game in the Katamari universe, and it is clearly designed as a 'love letter' to all those that enjoyed the original. That being said, I had quite a thrill playing this, and would easily recommend either to anyone looking for a simple-yet-deep game to enjoy.