So far, only PlayStation owners have had a chance to indulge in the weird world of Namco’s Katamari franchise, which has to date brought us two games (Katamari Damacy and I Love Katamari). However, it won’t be long before Xbox 360 owners will be able to visit that world also, with the forthcoming Beautiful Katamari.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, you’re in for a twisted treat: The King of the Cosmos seems to have some a drop in the star population, so he calls on you (as the Prince) to roll a sticky ball around a world to pick up items and increase the ball’s size—much like a snowball rolling down a hill in a cartoon—until the King is satisfied he can make it into a replacement star. You start with small objects, but gradually with the ball growing circumference, bigger objects can be snagged, thus adding further to the ball’s waistline.
Strange, right? Well, yes, but also as a video-game concept, it has become one of the more unique titles to hit the market in recent years. With its first PS2 release in the U.S. in 2004 (after it’s successful debut in Japan), Namco was so sure it would tank that it was released at a $20 price point—and then quickly sold out on fierce word-of-mouth recommendations.
There’s plenty of stuff on the water to pick up.
Beautiful Katamari will give Xbox 360 players much the same experience as before, but with a few expected changes. Most notably, it’ll be playable in a sharp 720p resolution, giving the world even more vibrant colors and sharpness than ever before. It’ll also offer gamers a chance to use a variety of playable in-game characters, with over 50 being available (and, as Namco puts it, each with its “own quirky animations and style”). Fans of the series will be happy to know that Beautiful Katamari will offer a backing soundtrack of brand-new tunes.
And Beautiful Katamari will have a number of new levels in which to tumble your katamari (which, for those who are interested, is Japanese for “lump” or “cluster”), each of which has a broad assortment of items to collect. In one world that Namco gave us an opportunity to check out, we needed to pick up items that could roll or that had wheels, starting with rolls of toilet paper. Before long, we were running over wheelbarrows, then small cars and, just before it was over, large semis and fire trucks that quickly increased the size (and lopsidedness) of our sphere. The counter showed well over 1000 wheels in our collection, which was all the more rewarding.
By the way, if you fail to meet the required circumference for the level you’re playing when the timer ticks down to zero, you’re thrown onto a purgatory that resembles a billiards table. Instead of rolling up a ball, you have to avoid the various pool balls that are tumbling onto the tabletop. Yeah, you guessed it—more bizarrified gameplay ensues. (Even if you’ve played a Katamari game before, it’s easy to get swept up in its strangeness on a regular basis.)
The most exciting addition in Beautiful Katamari is from its various layers of multiplayer action. On the same system, two players can participate in either competitive or cooperative gameplay: As a battle, both players are fighting to make the biggest ball with the most objects, while the coop segment is an hilarious challenge where each player is controlling one side of the ball (much like if two people were driving the separate treads of a tank). Coop players need to work together toward a common goal, and even then it still ends up where the katamari careens off somewhat out of control as the players battle to coordinate the navigation with each other.
Where it should really be fun is when you take the game online (a Katamari first), with up to four players competing. Gameplay includes combat for who can pick up the most of a certain type of item (much like the “wheels” example given before) or by simply making a bigger ball than anyone else. Online leaderboards will track which players are the most accomplished at building up a sizable katamari.
This is when a traffic jam is a welcome sight!
While Namco isn’t giving up any details, it also stated that Beautiful Katamari will get expansions in the future through the offering of downloadable content after its release. We can imagine that it could range from fresh songs to new worlds—and maybe even the addition of different multiplayer modes. With a game this peculiar, the door is open to take it in a number of directions.
Though this fall is shaping up to be a competition between a bunch of triple-A games—led by Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV—throwing Beautiful Katamari in there will certainly add to the top-level choices for gamers to make in the store. Of course, it’ll also be one of the games that can be played by all members of the family, which will increase its appeal and popularity.
We’re looking forward to getting a fresher look at Beautiful Katamari as Namco gets closer to finishing it. Be sure to check back with TeamXbox for new details and observations on how the game is shaping up.
Andy Eddy - Teamxbox
June 15th, 2007
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