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Way too frustrating and hard to control

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 32
Date: November 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Skip this one.

1. To start each request (level) you have to press the A button about 20 times to get through pointless dialog. If you fail the level and want to try again you have to click 20 times through a "punishment skit". This is every time, on every level and there's no way to skip it.

2. Controlling movement is very difficult and has left me sorry I trusted any of the reviews on Amazon. The automatic camera angles are equally bad.

3. Most requests (levels) are timed. And the game doesn't give you enough time on the clock to perform the required task without a lot of effort. Young children will be super frustrated.

4. The King who narrates the game is rather insulting which makes a difficult game even less appealing to play. He says things like you're a loser, you're mediocre, etc. Hard to believe this is a Japanese game.

Pissed off that Namco switched platforms

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 25
Date: April 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I was a huge fan of the two PS2 Katamari games, and even bought myself a PSP in order to play the third game, which was also wonderful.

However, after announcing for months that they would release the next Katamari game for PS3, Namco suddenly pulled a switcheroo and decided to release it on XBox 360 only. I've even checked with their consumer relations, and they have no plans to release it for PS3. That move strikes me as not only stupid but also kind of mean to Katamari's loyal fans, who have thus far been PS users. I've already got a PSP, PS2 and PS3, and have neither the funds nor the room for another gaming system at this point. (If I do shell out the cash for another gaming system this year, it will certainly be a Wii.)

Maybe it's unfair of me to give this game only one star when I haven't had the opportunity to play it, but Namco's outright rejection of loyal fans really chaps my hide. Get a clue, Namco!

Very Disappointed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: November 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I'm very disappointed in the new Katamari game! One of the things I really enjoyed about previous installments was the variety of challenges, but so far all of the levels fit the profile of make a katamari of x size in y amount of time. There are "fast as you can" type challenges, but they're only for online rankings, not for level completion. Not having a variety of challenges means that if you aren't good at one kind, the game isn't going to be much fun.

It Would Be a Fine Sequel, If You Could Actually Play All of It

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The creative force behind Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari did not work on Beautiful Katamari, so I didn't expect this game to have as many new gameplay mechanics as those games. But a new Katamari game full of new levels with new objects and maybe a few new challenges sounded appealing to me anyway. As near as I can tell, there is such a game on this disc. Unfortunately, you can't play all of it just by buying the game.

When I first played through the game, I thought it was a bit short. Even including bonus unlockables, there are only about 9-12 levels and several of them are very similar to each other. Almost every level on the game has the same kind of goal: get as big as you can while picking up as many objects of a particular type (drinks, cold things, "powerful" things, etc.) as possible. The only exceptions are one level where you have to raise the temperature of the katamari by picking up hot things and avoiding cold things (very difficult), one where you need to pick up as many "rings" as possible (which is pretty fun), and a bonus level where the type of object you need to pick up changes every minute or so. There are no get-an-exact-size challenges (like Saturn in the previous installment), no pick-up-only-one-X levels (like the CowBear level), no katamari-on-fire levels, no underwater levels, no snow levels, no pick-up-lots-of-one-item (as in the firefly level), and not much clever at all. So when I completed the game, I was slightly disappointed that there wasn't much more to do.

That's when I heard about the "downloadable" content. There actually are more levels in the game, but you just can't play them unless you pay (about $3.50 each level) to "download" them. I put "download" in quotation marks, because the levels are already on the disc. You just can't play them unless you pay extra money. In theory, this wouldn't be a big deal; it just saves downloading time, I suppose. But since the game already seemed short to me, it felt like they created a complete game, and then locked up some of the levels. And that's just obnoxious.

Even so, the game wasn't completely unenjoyable, even if it was cut short, and I'd already spent the money, so I kept playing. I completed all of the levels, including the bonus level. I started collecting presents and cousins, and I planned on collecting every object in the game, as I'd done in the previous installment. But when I got all the cousins and presents, a funny thing happened: nothing. No unlocks, no achievements, not even a message saying "good job!" This struck me as strange because they had listed achievements for collecting all the cousins and presents, and the game even gave progress mini-achievements (10 cousins, 20 cousins, etc.) So I dug around a bit and discovered that you can't even get the achievements without buying the downloadable content. That was the last straw, and I put the game back on the shelf. I really want to play those last few levels (which include some of the challenge types that I thought were missing), but I'm just so pissed off that they needed to squeeze an extra $10-$20 out of me that I can't justify spending the extra money.

Buying the downloadable content would be sending a message to Namco that they can take full games, lock up some of the levels, sell the game at full price, and then charge extra money to unlock the rest of the game. And as much as I love the series, I can't condone that kind of behavior.

Squeezing the last drop of profitability out of a future classic

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Namco must have fired their innovators & replaced them with the laziest programmers on the planet. Beautiful Katamari feels like a quick port to a new platform without much thought or creativity put into the effort. The levels, the graphics, the story; they all seem like contrived reincarnations of what has to be one of the more entertaining game titles in the console world.

I absolutely LOVE Katamari Damacy - it's the only reason my PS2 is still plugged in. This one, however, lost my interest fast. It's difficult to explain, but the magic is gone. The controls are a little more cumbersome, the motion a little more difficult, the graphics seem no better (in fact, they seem a little less interesting for some reason - maybe frame rate? maybe depth blur?), and the experience has not bested its predecessor in any way whatsoever. I would forgive it if it did *anything* better than the original, but it doesn't.

I would only recommend this to people who can't play the original because they don't have an appropriate console; otherwise, it gets a thumbs down from me.

Short and sweet

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 25 / 27
Date: October 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was really excited to learn that Katamari was coming to the 360. I thought we would be able to roll the biggest Katamari ever at lightning fast speeds, have 3 times as many areas to explore, a killer new soundtrack and tons of online playability. Unfortunately, Katamari fails to deliver on several of these expectations.

First, this game, like the other Katamari games: Katamari Damacy, We Love Katamari and Me and My Katamari, is a BLAST to play. For those who don't know, you play as the Prince of the Cosmos who has been sent by the King of the Cosmos to use a sticky ball known as a Katamari, to roll up items in the world to create stars, satellites and planets to re-populate the solar system after the King has done something to mess up the galaxy (always something funny). The Katamari starts out small and at first you can only roll up small objects, but as the game progress you'll be able to roll up people, cars, buildings and even landmasses (and much later... entire planets!). This kind of unique gameplay is addictive and fun to say the least. Here's where the game falls short...

I defeated the game in a day and a half (that includes obtaining the online achievements). The game is very short compared to other Katamari releases. Also, you end up re-visiting several maps that are being passed off as new levels simply because they have a few different items in them. With the 360's power, I really expected there to be tons of levels and none that repeated themselves, which isn't the case here.

The sound was a let down also. Most of the sounds are recycled from old Katamari games and the soundtrack is the weakest in the series. The Katamari games are none for their killer soundtracks: Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy, but there are only 2 or 3 good songs that stand out. They even seemed to run out of new songs worthy of the game, because you'll also hear cuts from "We Love Katamari".

The online portion of the game is the biggest letdown. You can play thru all 5 levels in under 20 minutes and the object of each stage is to collect as many of a specific item as possible before the game ends. Online opponents can run into each other, knocking their foes items off their Katamari, but all this gets boring and repetative... after you play all the stages. I was really hoping for an online competition, where cousins could compete to roll the biggest Katamari for the King in either an online version of the one player game, or a specific game for xbox live, but it didn't happen.

With that said, there is a lot to praise. The game looks amazing in HD. I disagree with some gaming critics who think the graphics should have been redone to take advantage of the 360's power, but to me, if you change the look...it's not Katamari. In this version, the items and characters pop with a vibrant colorfully clarity you don't get in previous games. I also got one of my wishes for the game, you will be able to roll the biggest Katamaris ever! I wont give anything away, but the last stage is absolutely amazing. The replay value is very high with the game too. To trully beat a stage, you need to find all the cousins and presents and be awarded 100 points by the King. Obtaining 100 points on a stage, will unlock an infinite mode, that lets you play that stage without being timed! Just press "X" to quit. This is a great way to locate presents and cousins you may have missed, as well as plot a strategy to grow your Katamari at a faster rate, when it does matter.

Overall, I'm pleased with the purchase. Die-hard fans of the series will love this version of Katamari, but I think you'll feel like the game could've been so much more.

(A Little) more Katamari Fun!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you've enjoyed either of the previous Katamari games,you're going to love this one. Pretty much the same deal - start as a tiny little ball boy, and roll stuff up until you can roll up the world - then the solar system. Nice to see it on the Xbox 360, but it's still pretty much the same game.
Unfortunately, the ambient sounds have been almost all cut/removed (remember the bike guy yelling "Nanananana" as you rolled him up?)
The biggest issue I have with this is that it's so short. When I can finish the game in one evening after work, I begin to wonder if its worth buying - no matter how much fun it is. They also didn't change the existing maps much.
Overall - it's worth the money if you're a Katamari fan, but probably won't be worth going out of your way for.

Price Makes it Worth a Purchase if You are a Katamari Fan

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I love the other Katamari games but I found this one a bit of a disappointment. The graphics are exactly the same as the other games in the series even though this game is on a new system and the stages look very similiar. Speaking of the stages, however, they may look similiar but there seemed to be a lot less that was interesting and funny to roll up.

The game was fun to play because the controls were quite simple to use, but the game is quite short and does not contain anything new. It is pretty cheap so if you like the Katamari games this is probably worth a purchase. If you are new to the series of games and have one of the other systems I'd think about getting one of the other games as you will probably get a longer game play out of them.

Not As Good As Previous Installments

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this game having played and completed the first Katamari game on PS2 and now with the 360 version, I was hoping to get more of the same enjoyment but with new mini-games and other innovations from the first installment. Boy was I wrong. The first Katamari game for the PS2 version was much better. There are good things about this game for those not famaliar with Katamari but if you've played the previous installments you may want to save your money. The controls for one are not as user friendly.

Not as Good as Previous Katamaris

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I've played the first two Katamari games extensively on the PS2, and this one just doesn't meet the same standards. The first katamari game was really fun and had about 20 different levels. The sequel, We Love Katamari, was great because it had lots of new types of levels with different scenery and concepts (underwater, at night, in the snow, etc.). This game, not only doesn't have many new concepts, it doesn't have many levels/places to roll. I finished it in about 6 hours and was pretty amazed that it was over so soon. In its favor, the music is good, there are a few decent levels, and the graphics are improved due to the Xbox 360 platform. Overall though, it's a disappointment.

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