Katamari Damacy REROLL

Katamari Damacy is an evergreen game experience that brings a sort of blissful childhood glee to all those who play it. Coming from the imagination of Keita Takahashi, Katamari can best be described as a game that hits on that sense of childhood imagination where as a kid, you may have said, hey what if I could roll up the whole world into a ball. Not only is this game imaginative, it's simple concept makes for some incredibly addictive fun to boot. Every now and again a game so zanny comes out of nowhere and carves it's own niche, Becoming both memorable, and profitable enough in the mainstream to warrant sequels. Katamari Damacy is a decidedly Japanese-style game that normally would never see the light of day in North America. Luckily for us, Namco decided to localize it anyway. It seems, however, Europe missed the original, but did get it's followup We Love Katamari. I also missed picking up the first two on PS2 back in the day, but did win a free copy of Beautiful Katamari on the 360 from a Gamepro.com offshoot site, so while I wasn't completely Katamari-less in my day. Seeing Katamari Damacy REROLL available on Steam for a $15 sale price finally netted me a copy of the original. I have also since gone back and picked up both PS2 Katamari games which were more reasonably priced than I expected them to be. When the king of the Kosmos accidentally destroys all the stars in the sky, he orders his pint-sized Princely son to help him restore the cosmos by rolling anything and everything into clumps he will then use to turn back into the stars and constellations in the sky. The concept of Katamari Damacy is simple, you roll things up with your Katamari to increase the size until you can roll up larger objects to increase the size to roll up larger objects, rinse and repeat until you reach the required size for the level within the time allowed. The growth-gameplay design makes it incredibly addictive with the time limits giving it a sense of urgency. On top of the growth-gameplay, the zany, eclectic list of items and areas you are rolling up are the star of the show. A strange collection of childhood toys, cards, to even a Sega SG 1000 Mark II lead to eventually rolling up, dogs, cats, and humans themselves who's comical screams and reactions to being rolled up always put a big smile on my face. That is a very basic, maybe even poor description of the items you collect in this game. There are so many wacky yet humorous sights to see in the game, like why is a guy riding a panda, and why are sumo wrestlers twirling each other around? In fact, the best part of the game is that nothing makes sense, yet it still makes sense in the strange childhood imagination world presented in Katamari. Eventually your Katamari grows big enough to roll up houses, skyscrapers, and even huge chunks of land in later levels. The game has a deep sense of humor, with a lighthearted atmosphere, and some addictive gameplay. The comical game concept mixed with the comical objects to roll up means the game definitely doesn't take itself too seriously, despite it's seriously fun gameplay. This game is a timeless classic that is fun in all generations. When I first booted Reroll on my PC, it was, strangely, windowed, and while there is a way to play it with keyboard and mouse, I decided to pick up an Xbox One controller I found on clearance at my local Walmart, because the way the game controls using both analog sticks to move, turn, and even dash doesn't translate well on the PC without a controller. REROLL makes some changes to the original. For example extra time has been added to some of the constellation levels, making ReRoll a little easier than the PS2 original. However, the visuals are the most obvious upgrade, adding a widescreen perspective to see more, and higher resolutions. This is, however, a remaster, and not a remake, so not a whole lot has been changed graphically outside of higher resolutions, and some of the character art. This is a good thing, because REROLL retains mostly the same unique art direction as the original, along with the cheerfully bright color pallet. Not just the interesting art direction, but also the brightness makes this a game you can tell is meant to be a happy experience. This is a game that has an uplifting air about it. The entire visual design from the Flamboyant King of the Kosmos, the story cutscenes featuring a family that bear witness to the goings on, to the art direction and the uplifting, bright look of the game are a throwback to the days when games didn't take themselves so freaking serious. Having a bad day, play some Katamari for a happy place. The tracks that play in certain levels in the game have also been shuffled a little in REROLL, and there are some other minute changes, but playing almost entirely through the PS2 version while writing this review, and then also playing REROLLalong side it, it turns out, I was too busy just playing the game to notice any changes. Look, I'm not addicted. I can quit at any time, I swear. I don't really need it, I just don't wanna quit. My only disclaimer with this game comes with listening to Katamari on the Rocks, the main theme. Once you hear the theme, it attaches itself to your soul, and it will never leave you. At random you will find yourself La, la, lala, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, lala, la, la-ing it out for the rest of your life. OK, I can't lie, I love the title theme in particular, and the rest of the songs, while not my usual taste in music is also fitting for the game. The sounds are well done, and some of the sound bytes, like the screams of people when you roll them in are hilarious. REROLL also changes the story scenes back to Japanese voice over with English subtitles, whereas the PS2 was English dubbed. The game controls great once you learn it's idiosyncrasies, so long as you have a controller to use. There were supposedly some control changes according to the game's wiki page, but jumping from the PS2 version to REROLL, I can tell you I haven't really noticed much difference. Again, I was too absorbed in the gameplay to notice. If I have any complaints with Katamari, it's that the game is rather short. I completely beat it in about 5 hours on my first try. That being said, I obviously found replay value in coming back to the game every now and again, but your mileage may vary. My only other complaint I could think of has to do with the constellation levels where instead of rolling up as much stuff as you can, you have to roll up a bunch of one type of thing to create a constellation, or other similar type objectives. I did these missions just to complete the game, but never found them to be as enjoyable to the main levels. I understand they were added for variety sake, but honestly, this is one of those games where the main concept is so fun, that any side missions distract more than improve. Beautiful Katamari on the Xbox 360 would later add these kinds of objectives to the main level objectives. Though I still enjoy that game, the straight simplicity of the original just makes for a more fun experience without further unneeded convolution to the formula. The Ba, ba ,ba ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba, bottom Line: Katamari Damacy will always be fun, and always be engaging. This is a game that still stands out as one of the most imaginative, unique experiences in gaming history, and it's an uplifting ode to how bright the world can be in the imagination of a child. If you're having a bad day, play some Katamari. If you're feeling down, play some katamari. If you're having a great day, play some Katamari. If you've never played Katamari, just play this game. REROLL is available on every platform under the sun, or you can find the original on the PS2. This is one of those forever fun games that every gamer should experience at least once.

I think the Controls for the keyboard just do not make sense, this is by far the worst game i played in the term of controls, maybe if i had a controller it will be a lot better

Think of the game that you play when you've had a bad day, or when you're upset and just want to relax and feel good. This is one of those kind of games. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but it just has... that *feel* to it. As soon as the theme song starts playing on startup... you can feel the stress just melt away. Just watching the opening movie of the game is enough to bring my anger down a couple of notches pretty much instantly. It's really good at just holding your attention too, you can really just zone into the game and forget your troubles for a while. It's a comfy classic, and it just exudes calm.

The (restored) original version of the most original game ever made. I haven't played this since the PS2 days and it still holds up. Best Game Soundtrack of All Time.

I love Katamari dude. The newer ones have better QoL decisions than this one but I can't not recommend it because it's one of my favorite games ever

Katamari Damacy Reroll preserves the core structure of the original game: simple movement, clear objectives, and a steadily escalating sense of scale. The premise is direct. Roll objects, grow larger, and meet size targets within strict time limits. The clarity of goals makes each run easy to grasp. Controls are dual-stick and require brief adjustment. Once learned, movement becomes predictable and allows smooth navigation through crowded spaces. The design emphasizes momentum and route planning instead of precision. Levels are compact but layered. Each stage introduces new object groups and environmental boundaries that shift as the katamari grows. Early runs focus on small items, and later stages push into larger open areas that highlight the jump in scale. Visual design is stylized and consistent. The bright palette and simple geometry keep objects readable at high speeds. Performance is stable and supports the rapid transitions between size tiers without slowdown. The soundtrack is a major component. Tracks are energetic and define the tone of each stage. Music and movement sync well, which reinforces the game’s rhythm during time-limited challenges. Content is concise. Reroll stays close to the original structure and avoids significant additions. This preserves pacing but may feel short to players expecting expanded features. Overall Katamari Damacy Reroll delivers a clean and faithful update of a focused concept. It offers a tight loop built on scale, momentum, and sensory clarity, and remains effective due to its direct design.

I know this is a cult classic but I just can't get into the controls. I had a bad first impression of the game when I started it and it started in windowed mode and you cant change it until after the first cutscenes, tutorial plus first level. So the entire time you play on this tiny window on your desktop. Now if the rest of the game would have been great I could have overlooked this but THE CONTROLS. There is an option for simple controls but I feels incredibly clunky even with those. Also the game is locked to 30FPS, I dont care about FPS to much normally but the fact that the controls are like that, plus the kinda choppy look from the low FPS PLUS the fact that the main theme of the game is spinnig I got motion sick from playing it. Apparantly those problems are not there in We Love Katamari (and I got both games dirt cheap in a bundle) so I'll definitly try this at some point, because the premiss and our little chracter are pretty charming and I'd like to experience it without those issues