Katamari Damacy Reroll

Katamari Damacy is one of the most standout games of my childhood. I'm so happy to have it available on PC and all modern platforms so it doesn't get trapped on the PS2.

You are the Prince of All Cosmos, going down to Earth to collect raw materials to fix your dad's fuck-up erasing all the stars from the sky. There's not much of a story: Katamari is all about it's gameplay after all. It's fun, the premise is wacky, the music is stellar. Length-wise, this first game is a little bit shorter than the sequel that was just announced. At 5-6 hours, it's fine since there's almost infinite replayability, and you can easily close to double that going for 100% on achievements if you don't collect the presents in every level the first time.

There are some nits that I have with the controls. Ultimately, they're just Katamari-isms, but the main thing that irks me is how bad it feels to boost still, after all these years. You have to flick the analog sticks up and down rapidly to charge up the Katamari, but there's little to no feedback to know when it's done charging, and sometimes it takes a second or two to recognize that you want to initiate a boost. In a game with timed stages, boosts can be incredibly important, so it's frustrating not really having them on command. This games stages are fairly forgiving, but if I remember correctly there are some stages in the second game that really make you manage time well.

This is a great remaster, but at $30 I'd say it's a little steep for the ~6 hours of gameplay you get. At $20 or less, it's perfect. Don't skip the game altogether though—there's nothing quite like Katamari Damacy.