Katamari Damacy

by Namco

• Play is controlled with the analog sticks only. No buttons to press. No combos to cause distress. Featuring ball-rolling and object-collecting gameplay mechanics of mesmerizing fluidity, reduced to Pac-Man simplicity, through pure absurdity.
• Dimensions change drastically as your clump grows from a fraction of an inch to a monstrous freak of nature. Go from rolling along a tabletop to ravaging through city streets, picking up momentum and skyscrapers along the way.
• Two-player battle mode lets you compete in a race to grow the biggest ball of stuff. Even the competition can be picked up, if your opponent is unfortunate enough to get in your way.
• Enjoy quirky, infectious humor throughout—from the insanely cosmic animations, to the wacky and wonderful musical stylings, to the royally contagious storyline that's undoubtedly like no other.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002Y2XXQ
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: August 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (308 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,272 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

When the King of All Cosmos accidentally destroys all the stars in the sky, he orders you, his pint-sized princely son, to put the twinkle back in the heavens above. The only way you can do that is by rolling everything on Earth into clumps so that he can replace what's missing in space. "Everything" includes cookies, lawn mowers, lamp posts, sumo wrestlers, bulldozers, brontosauruses , cruise ships, and more. Katamari Damacy also includes a two-player battle mode where you and a friend can see who can grow the biggest ball of stuff. For one to two players.

Features:

• Play is controlled with the analog sticks only. No buttons to press. No combos to cause distress. Featuring ball-rolling and object-collecting gameplay mechanics of mesmerizing fluidity, reduced to Pac-Man simplicity, through pure absurdity.
• Dimensions change drastically as your clump grows from a fraction of an inch to a monstrous freak of nature. Go from rolling along a tabletop to ravaging through city streets, picking up momentum, and skyscrapers along the way.
• Two-player battle mode lets you compete in a race to grow the biggest ball of stuff. Even the competition can be picked up, if your opponent is unfortunate enough to get in your way.

Enjoy quirky, infectious humor throughout--from the insanely cosmic animations, to the wacky and wonderful musical stylings, to the royally contagious storyline that's undoubtedly like no other.

Product Description

Katamari Damacy is a silly, colorful and occasionally hysterical game that's become a hit in Japan. Now it's arrived here and it's unusual gameplay and one-of-a-kind design will make gamers laugh and play for hours! When the King of All Cosmos accidentally destroys the stars in the sky, he orders his pint-sized princely son, to put the twinkle back in the heavens. He decides to do this by rolling everything and anything on earth into clumps, so he can replace what's missing in space.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

243 of 252 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Weird, weird, weird....and really good! October 9, 2004

By W. Scott Heitman VINE™ VOICE

One thing can be said for certain: you haven't played a game like this before. Everything about this game is off-the-wall, but it works. When you load the game for the first time, you will be greeted with giraffes, rainbows, bicycles, and a plethora of other things- all performing some contorted dance- just for you. Welcome to the world of Katamari Damacy, where the gameplay is original and surprisingly addictive. Your goal?- roll your sticky ball around to collect the "objects from earth". As your ball gets bigger, you can pick up bigger things. So you go on a hunt to keep growing your ball. The levels you play in are simply huge- I never felt like I had seen everything in a level- so replay level is quite high. Meanwhile, the background music is a lot of fun, good enough to put you in a good mood if the rest of the game doesn't. And the story- without ruining anything- has to be the product of mixing drugs and alcohol. The controls are quite simple, employing only the analog sticks and a couple shoulder buttons (although I never found much use for the shoulder buttons). When I heard about and found the game, I worried that it would be too simplistic to entertain me- it seems my worries were unfounded; Katamari Damacy is a great game for everyone....and cheap, too!

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Surreal game, flawlessly executed October 11, 2004

By Game Geek

Durability: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 2.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I really hope the success of this game convinces publishers to bring over more off-the-wall Japanese titles. This game is awesome. Gameplay is very simple: you roll around a ball (using the analog sticks in a control scheme reminiscent of Battlezone) and things stick to it. That's it. There are basically two kind of challenges: get the ball to be a certain size, or pick up as many of something as you can find. (Katamari Damacy loosely translates as "ball of stuff.")

While this may not sound like the world's most exciting way to spend your time, the flawless execution gives Katamari Damacy the simple, in-the-zone addictiveness of Tetris. The backstory is bizzare: your father, the King of All Cosmos, goes on what sounds very much like an acid trip and breaks all the stars. When he sobers up, he finds that everyone is annoyed, so he tasks you with going to Earth to collect raw material to rebuild the sky. The raw material turns out to be anything from thumbtacks to people to ships. The King's disconnected, slightly deranged speech patterns add much to the style of the game, as does the intro video, which is better seen than described. Add to that another side of the story told by following a Japanese family in very weird, stylistic interstitials and you've got a very surreal experience.

Katamari Damacy is backed by a soundtrack that would be worth $20 by itself. With replay value assured by levels that are easy to conquer but difficult to do perfectly, this game is a great addition to anyone's console library.

110 of 123 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Marble Madness Gone, well, Mad October 12, 2004

By jay kenyon VINE™ VOICE

Durability: 5.0 out of 5 stars    Educational: 4.0 out of 5 stars    Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

After first reading about this game in PSM, in a small article in the back of the magazine, and then finding discussions everywhere on the web I was intrigued. I found it in a bigbox for cheap so I bought it. It is great. It is a nice diversion from killing people, and scoring touchdowns (both of which I enjoy tremendously). The game is a trip. It is very odd, but the music rocks, the graphics are trippy and the controls are flawless. THIS IS THE BEST BARGAIN THERE IS IN PS2 GAMES.