Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Namco's Bizarre Object Conglomeration Game Rated

Posted by simoniker on from the keep-rolling dept.

Thanks to Game Science for its review of Namco's extremely odd PlayStation 2 game, Katamari Damacy, recently released in Japan. The game's premise involves fixing your father the King's drunken heaven-trashing exploits by "...collecting a load of junk from Earth, rolling it into clumps, and sending it up into the Cosmos to make stars." The gameplay is also distinctly unconventional: "Starting with a clump no bigger than the Prince himself, you must roll around the deepest crevices [MPEG link] of a house, picking up tiny things like drawing pins, moving up to Shogi tiles and batteries", before moving all the way up to "picking up giant octopi and huge monsters." The reviewer ends by noting: "A European release can't be ruled out, but a US release seems very unlikely. It's likely to become hot property when word spreads of its goodness, so I recommend a quick purchase if you're teetering on the brink of buying it."

3 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. As seen at GDC by Anm · · Score: 3, Informative

    The developer of the game presented at GDC's Experimental Gameplay Workshop. Personally, I'd love to try the game out. It looks like a lot of fun.

    For everyone else wondering where the fun is, it's probably no different than Super Mario Brothers (collect stuff/coins on a level within a time limit), but of course the mechanics are vastly different. It should be noted that the arrange of stuff on the ball changes how it rolls. E.g., a pencil sticking out of the side will make it difficult to turn. That and the ball grows in level, making it possible to roll over large objects by accomulating small objects.

    Anm

  2. i played this game by sonatinas · · Score: 3, Informative

    When you get to the last level you get so big that u can roll over clouds and gods. THe soundtrack is very catchy and is available online at various places. The game can be beaten in a few hours though, but the replay value is in getting better at certain objectives such as getting a bear for a constellation. You can get any bear, but u want to get the big bear; however the whole stage is filled with bears. You also get presents.

  3. Re:Translation by jetfuel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Damacy is a whimsical romanization of "damashii", which is in turn a modification of "tamashii". Voicing the t, thus turning it into a d, makes it sound better when compounded with another word. Thus, Katamari Damashii, "Cluster Spirit".