Death by White Dust
Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:43 am
I was waist deep in the original Katamari when Minna Daisuki was announced, and I was against it from the start. I couldn't imagine where they'd take a sequel... they got it quite right the first time, and covered, I thought, all possible bases. Fuck me.
There are only 5 stages based on the traditional get-this-big-within-the-time-limit structure, and as you'd expect, the first few are a bit slow because the novelty of simply rolling bigger balls was spent in the original. It freshens up a bit as you progress, but it isn't until stage 5 that it gets taken to the next level -- I'll silence myself here to avoid stifling the surprise, but I will say that the stage is gargantuan. The goal is 500 meters, but my current best is well over 2000, and there are still things roaming around too big for me to pick up. I've yet to find the border edges of the stage.
Still, the awesomeness of the last stage alone probably wouldn't justify dropping another Ulysses S. Grant on a game that's really only slightly better than the one you already played. Fortunately, those happy, wacky children at Namco were well aware of this fact, and in addition to the 5 basic stages, they thought to include another 8 or 9 "side" courses, each with a unique theme and some unique rules. There's the obvious snowball-rolling stage, in which you roll a snow katamari to act as the cranium for a giant snowman; a racetrack stage in which your katamari rolls at high speed down a course (though your raid is by no means restricted to the track); a bizarre stage where you roll a sumo wrestler over food which he slowly absorbs until he's fat enough to knock his opponent out of the ring at the end of the stage; etc, etc. (My personal favorite is the Hansel & Gretel stage, but I'm not going to elaborate on it because it's better when you realize yourself what's going on. It will make you giggle with joy.)
Other than that, it's got all the basic tweaks that you'd expect... a slightly higher framerate, expanded 2-player mode, a larger roster of shit to pick up, etc. As much stuff as there is to collect, though, alot of it is comprised of, like, two dozen different kinds of crates, 12 different kinds of walls, umpteen different random cloud structures, and so on. Getting 100% seems like it would be more of a chore than anything else. In addition to the normal versus mode, there's now a co-op mode, which I've yet to try, so I don't know how it works, but I don't imagine it would be a whole lot of fun. There are more than twice as many presents this time, and you can now play as any one of the unlocked cousins in the single player game. (Not that the cousin you play as or the presents you equip affect anything whatsoever.) Every stage has at least two missions, some have three, but still no sign of any eternal modes.
My biggest complaint is that not all of the stages/missions are up to par. The campfire stage in particular is more of a pain in the ass than anything else. Also, in large stages, Ousama still interrupts your groove to point out new areas you can access, and you can't skip past his prattle. It sounds like a quibble, but it's pretty aggravating when you're on a roll and Captain Package holds you up for ten excruciating seconds to point you to an area you would eventually have rolled your way to anyway - especially considering he does it as soon as you expand, when your adrenaline is at its height. Another complaint is that the soundtrack, while still excellent, is not quite as varied as the original. The Katamari theme is a bit over-used this time, and the only one of the songs that has a different sort of beat is Everlasting Love. It's still a great soundtrack, but a bit more limited in scope.
Rough pockets aside, though, I am pleasantly surprised. It's difficult to explain the cooler nuances without spoiling the thrill of discovering them for yourself, but there are clever little moments that succeed in making the old mechanics satisfying in new ways - you can now roll through bushes, for instance, and the bushes are covered with flowers, so as you invade the shrubbery, you get a satisfying "glump-glump-glump-glump" cluster of material. That's just one such instance, but it's the subtle things like this that revive the old thrill I would have thought for all the world was over after the first game. Still, I really, really think it's done now. I believe I've had enough Katamari Damacy for life - but what's here is good enough to keep me satisfied for that long.
Incidentally, I just saw a doctor about some respiratory problems I was having, and it turns out I've inhaled so much white dust from the Dual Shock analog sticks that my lungs are cased in it. The doctor gave me a week to live. I feel positively Korean.
There are only 5 stages based on the traditional get-this-big-within-the-time-limit structure, and as you'd expect, the first few are a bit slow because the novelty of simply rolling bigger balls was spent in the original. It freshens up a bit as you progress, but it isn't until stage 5 that it gets taken to the next level -- I'll silence myself here to avoid stifling the surprise, but I will say that the stage is gargantuan. The goal is 500 meters, but my current best is well over 2000, and there are still things roaming around too big for me to pick up. I've yet to find the border edges of the stage.
Still, the awesomeness of the last stage alone probably wouldn't justify dropping another Ulysses S. Grant on a game that's really only slightly better than the one you already played. Fortunately, those happy, wacky children at Namco were well aware of this fact, and in addition to the 5 basic stages, they thought to include another 8 or 9 "side" courses, each with a unique theme and some unique rules. There's the obvious snowball-rolling stage, in which you roll a snow katamari to act as the cranium for a giant snowman; a racetrack stage in which your katamari rolls at high speed down a course (though your raid is by no means restricted to the track); a bizarre stage where you roll a sumo wrestler over food which he slowly absorbs until he's fat enough to knock his opponent out of the ring at the end of the stage; etc, etc. (My personal favorite is the Hansel & Gretel stage, but I'm not going to elaborate on it because it's better when you realize yourself what's going on. It will make you giggle with joy.)
Other than that, it's got all the basic tweaks that you'd expect... a slightly higher framerate, expanded 2-player mode, a larger roster of shit to pick up, etc. As much stuff as there is to collect, though, alot of it is comprised of, like, two dozen different kinds of crates, 12 different kinds of walls, umpteen different random cloud structures, and so on. Getting 100% seems like it would be more of a chore than anything else. In addition to the normal versus mode, there's now a co-op mode, which I've yet to try, so I don't know how it works, but I don't imagine it would be a whole lot of fun. There are more than twice as many presents this time, and you can now play as any one of the unlocked cousins in the single player game. (Not that the cousin you play as or the presents you equip affect anything whatsoever.) Every stage has at least two missions, some have three, but still no sign of any eternal modes.
My biggest complaint is that not all of the stages/missions are up to par. The campfire stage in particular is more of a pain in the ass than anything else. Also, in large stages, Ousama still interrupts your groove to point out new areas you can access, and you can't skip past his prattle. It sounds like a quibble, but it's pretty aggravating when you're on a roll and Captain Package holds you up for ten excruciating seconds to point you to an area you would eventually have rolled your way to anyway - especially considering he does it as soon as you expand, when your adrenaline is at its height. Another complaint is that the soundtrack, while still excellent, is not quite as varied as the original. The Katamari theme is a bit over-used this time, and the only one of the songs that has a different sort of beat is Everlasting Love. It's still a great soundtrack, but a bit more limited in scope.
Rough pockets aside, though, I am pleasantly surprised. It's difficult to explain the cooler nuances without spoiling the thrill of discovering them for yourself, but there are clever little moments that succeed in making the old mechanics satisfying in new ways - you can now roll through bushes, for instance, and the bushes are covered with flowers, so as you invade the shrubbery, you get a satisfying "glump-glump-glump-glump" cluster of material. That's just one such instance, but it's the subtle things like this that revive the old thrill I would have thought for all the world was over after the first game. Still, I really, really think it's done now. I believe I've had enough Katamari Damacy for life - but what's here is good enough to keep me satisfied for that long.
Incidentally, I just saw a doctor about some respiratory problems I was having, and it turns out I've inhaled so much white dust from the Dual Shock analog sticks that my lungs are cased in it. The doctor gave me a week to live. I feel positively Korean.