Sunday, 01 May 2005, 21:32:50 EDT

I went to see The Hitchhicker's Guide To The Galaxy yesterday afternoon. Overall, I liked the movie; there were some rather funny parts but it wasn't hilarious like I thought that it would be. I suppose I should just break down and read the book to get the much lauded humor. After the movie, my room mate and I went over to Media Play to waste some more time. When we had tired of walking around the store I went to pick up Midnight Club 3 (MC3). However, on the way to get it I noticed another, cheaper, game on the shelf. I ened up buying it instead of MC3.

What game did I buy? One of the craziest and oddest sleeper hits to ever come out of Japan — Katamari Damacy. I realize that most people who read this site have already played this game but, believe it or not, there are those who do that haven't so... In this game your character is about 1cm tall. The character's father is the "king of the cosmos" and is about as tall as a whole planet. It seems that the king went a bit crazy and knocked all the stars out of the sky. Since this is not a "good thing," the king commissions you, the prince, to restore the stars. To do this you have to roll a ball, called a "katamari," ranging from 1cm to 5cm in diameter, around earth. This ball has the unique ability to pick up items that are small than it is. As you pick up items, the ball "grows." That is not to say that the ball actually gets bigger but the items make it bigger so that you can pick up progressively bigger items. While the ball gets bigger, the character pushing it, you, do not. So, it ends up that a character smaller than a mouse can push a ball with cruise ships, sky skrapers, islands and even rainbows around. When you amass a ball large enough to meet the levels requirements the ball of junk is then transfered to space and becomes a star.

Katamari Damacy is something that has to be seen to be understood. It is a very addictive game. I played it for several hours last night, making it to the final level. This morning I beat the minimum requirements to "complete" the game, unlocked all three untimed stages, and beat several of the time trials. If you are looking for a new game that is unlike anything you have played before then do yourself a favor and pick up Katamari Damacy; it is worth the $20.00 retail price. Oh, there is a sequel in development.

"I wish I was little bit taller, I wish I was a baller..."

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I smiled a genuine smile.

Posted by William S Graves Jr. on Tuesday, 03 May 2005, 6:12:04 EDT.

I havent seen the movie yet, but to be skeptical - I don't see how the tongue-in-cheek British humor can possibly be transferred over into an action movie. So much of what made the book funny was the narrator, or the glimpse inside of the characters thoughts. Those things can't be conveyed in a movie easily.

Posted by Mr Frosti on Tuesday, 03 May 2005, 10:04:47 EDT.

An action movie? Um. It's not an action movie. It's a comedy - and there is a lot of narration. It gets the humor across pretty well.

Posted by Jason on Sunday, 08 May 2005, 3:35:32 EDT.