Game: Katamari Damacy
Genre: Puzzle
Platform: Playstation 2

In Katamari Damacy you play the role of the Prince of the Cosmos whose father just got done mistakenly destroying the universe. Right off the bat the plot is relatable for most angst-filled-teenagers. The King sends you to Earth to start collecting as many things as possible. The things you collect are not important, just the size of the things. You start off rolling the Katamari into paperclips and thumbtacks but few short hours later you are devastating cities and rolling up entire islands. The more you pick up the more you grow in size, allowing you to pick up even bigger objects.

That is about as complex as Katamari Damacy gets.

But no, I can not stop there. As an English major I need to go deeper into the plot, which beings me back to the bible and the story of Noah’s Arc. From there I see The Cosmos King as a representation of God. He purges life in order to start a new universe and sends Noah, or in this case, The Prince, to collect the tools necessary to begin anew. Are these similarities coincidences?

Yes.

The fact that you destroy cities and turn school children into planets is masked by the absolutely amazing art style and music in the game. From a graphical standpoint it is not impressive but from a stylistic standpoint it is damn near breathtaking. The game looks like it could be made of legos and the music is some of the catchiest j-pop I have ever heard. The soundtrack is fun and goofy; matching the mood of the game perfectly.

When Katamari Damacy came out in 2004 it brought gamers to a forgotten area of gaming. With its “pick up and play” controls and simplistic game play it lured in some people who would generally shy away from modern games. Those factors, mixed with a quirky art-style, a fun story, and some of the best music ever featured in a video game all lead to what is still cherished by many and considered one of the best games of all time by a large number of gamers.

However, Katamari is not for everyone. It may seem too “Japanesey” to some and it is a bit on the short side. Due to this I have to say before you buy it you should: