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Roll Your Way Out of This World - Katamari Damacy

GamingGuest Userjapanese, subculture, original, culture, japan, game, katamari damacy
Roll Your Way Out of This World - Katamari Damacy

The early 2000s were a good era for gaming.

 
 

Sony released the PS2 and started the PSP series, Nintendo released the GameCube and started the GameBoy Advance series, and Microsoft released the Xbox. 2D side-scrollers were coming to an end, and 3D polygon-based games were becoming the new standard.

 
 

With many new possibilities introduced to gaming, companies were trying to bring out more complex and detailed titles, and the market was becoming saturated with them. But Keita Takahashi, a Japanese game designer, wanted to go back to the basics.

 
 

In 2004, his game Katamari Damacy was released for the PS2, published by NAMCO. While Keita struggled to pitch the game to NAMCO, he created the game for under $1M USD, and it became a major hit both in and out of Japan.

 
 

In the game, which means "Clump [Katamari] Spirit [Damacy]", The King of All Cosmos gets drunk and accidentally destroys the stars in the sky. The Earth is the only planet left, and he sends his 5cm tall son, the Prince, to go clean up & fix his mess. The Prince is sent with a small "Katamari", a ball that attaches anything smaller to it and grows, and gather enough material with it to recreate the stars & Moon.

 
 

The gameplay is as simple as that; you are the prince, and you roll a ball, gathering things along your way, to try and make it as big as possible. While at first you are only able to attach small objects like plants or stationery, as you grow you will be able to pick up objects like skyscrapers or even mountains.

 
 

The game itself was critically acclaimed, but the soundtrack is also highly praised. The main theme "Katamari on the Rocks" is for sure to get stuck in your head. The simple & easy gameplay, the amazing design-work and colors, the soundtrack, all in all won the game the "Good Design Award" in its year of release, which has never been achieved by a video game title ever before.