Touch My Katamari Review

Na na, na na na na na na na na, Katamari Damacy!  I have to admit that the Katamari series is one of my favourites of all time – largely because it is utterly, unashamedly, wonderfully odd.  But whilst the first couple of Katamari games on the PS2 oozed creativity, the franchise has become a little bit stale and lacking in imagination of late.  So do the Prince and the King of All Cosmos turn over a new leaf in honour of being a Vita launch title?

If you’ve played a Katamari game before, you’ll certainly agree with me on one thing: all the games in the series have character.  They’re unique.  They’re… odd.  Strange, even.  But that’s always been part of the charm. Whilst all the Katamari games have never pushed the hardware that they run on to anything that could be considered approaching the limit, the sheer simplicity, craziness and downright fun of the games have helped the series find its way into many a gamer’s heart.

But there’s also another thing that could be said about the series: it’s become rather stagnated and predictable.  Sure, the first Katamari games were truly original, but the series has certainly been guilty of resting on its laurels for some time now.  Oddly enough, this is something that’s played off in the story of Touch My Katamari. The King of All Cosmos has gone off the rails and turned into a bit of a slob.  You, as the Prince, are charged with revitalising the King through – you guessed it – rolling up increasingly massive balls of stuff in order for the King to make new stars with, thereby demonstrating that he hasn’t lost his metaphysical mojo.

It was certainly brave of Namco to acknowledge and use the idea that fans of the Katamari series had become disenchanted with it on the grounds of recycling old levels and gameplay concepts – presenting an opportunity for Touch My Katamari do do something truly different.  Sadly, this opportunity was squandered – whilst I agree that there’s only so much you can do with the gameplay mechanic of rolling up stuff into a giant ball, the vast majority of the concepts and levels in Touch My Katamari are unashamedly lifted from earlier games in the Katamari series.  That’s not to say that the game isn’t fun – it is – but it could have been so much more.

Like many of the other titles we’ve seen in the Vita’s launch lineup, Touch My Katamari utilises some of the new input features on Sony’s handheld. Much like the woefully unplayable iOS versions of Katamari, you can opt to move Prince around using the touchscreen.  I wouldn’t recommend it. Moving around using the twin thumbsticks feels so right in a Katamari game and, frankly, the alternatives feel kludgy in comparison.  Thankfully, the back touch panel is utilised in an interesting way in Touch My Katamari, allowing you to pull and stretch your Katamari should the fancy take you.  Whilst doing this isn’t necessary to complete the game, stretching your Katamari into a long sausage so that it can hoover up items in a tight space is implemented well and certainly useful.

Apart from these Katamari-related spherical gymnastics – and the ability to dress up the King of All Cosmos (no, really) – there’s very little that’s new to be found in Touch My Katamari.  Sure, there’s alternate versions of each level, but there are only 8 of those to begin with, and the main part of the game can be polished off in a little under two hours.  Considering this is one of the pricier Vita launch titles, there should be much more on offer here. Relying on consumers playing yet another Katamari game through rose-tinted specs can only get you so far.

I can really only recommend Touch My Katamari to people who are die-hard fans of the Katamari series.  There is fun to be had here, but considering the game regularly pokes fun at the lack of originality of the preceding installments of the series, the bitter taste of irony and missed opportunities rather mires the whole experience.

Tags: Katamari, Namco Bandai, PlayStation, PSV, Touch My Katamari, Vita