Katamari Damacy
| Katamari Damacy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release |  March 18, 2004
United States of America September 22, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Third-person action |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Katamari Damacy (塊魂, Katamari Damashii) is a Japanese video game designed by Keita Takahashi and published by Namco. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on March 18, 2004, in South Korea on August 12, 2004, and in North America on September 22, 2004. However, it has not been released in Australia or Europe. The game follows a Prince on his mission to rebuild the stars, constellations and the Moon, which his father has accidentally destroyed. This is achieved by rolling a magical sticky ball called a katamari around various locations, collecting objects ranging from thumbtacks to buildings until the ball has grown to sufficient size for a star. This makes the game fall in both the puzzle and action genres, since both thinking and dexterity are needed to complete a mission.
Katamari Damacy's story, characters, and settings are bizarre and try in almost no way to be realistic. The many quirks and idiosyncrasies of the plot, settings and characters are left completely unexplained to the player. These unusual characteristics are quite reminiscent of the early days of computer gaming; Katamari Damacy evokes the type of gaming philosophy common to such early titles as Spindizzy, Pac-Man or Jet Set Willy (the last of which has a very similar plot device), where, due to memory restrictions, plot and characterization were less important than an emphasis on the game as a game. The game's simple controls and colorful graphics seem to be targeted towards a young audience; however, due to its innovative gameplay and surreal setting, it has attracted the attention of many people of all ages.
Name
In Japanese, 塊 (Katamari) means "clump", and Damashii is the rendaku form of 魂 (tamashii, "soul" or "spirit"). Therefore, the whole phrase approximates to "clump spirit," or, somewhat more loosely, "clump of soul." It might also be considered a pun — dama means ball while shii can be translated as circumference, and the two kanji that form the name look nearly alike in a kind of visual alliteration. The name is officially transliterated as Katamari Damacy in all releases.
Story
Template:Spoilers The King of All Cosmos accidentally destroys all the stars in the sky one night, although the different versions of the game offer different explanations why he did this (the original Japanese release states that he was drunk; this was omitted from the US release, although somewhat implied). He sends his son, the Prince (who is five centimeters tall), to Earth to gather material with which to reconstruct the galaxy.
To gather material, the Prince pushes around his katamari, a magical ball capable of sticking to anything smaller than itself that it rolls over or against. Initially, the katamari can only pick up tiny items such as loose change, thumbtacks, and ants. As it becomes covered with things, the larger clump can pick up larger items, such as fruit, milk cartons, small animals, children, cars, houses, stadiums, office buildings, rainbows, clouds and sperm whales. There are also Royal Presents hidden in the levels for the Prince to pick up, including a camera with which he can take photos.
In addition to the King and the Prince, there is another story, showing the effects of the game's missions on people on Earth. It is told entirely through cut scenes following each level, and follows the Hoshino family: the mother, named Mizue, and her two children intent on watching their father Tomio, an astronaut, begin his trip to the Moon. During the game, the son, Mutsuo, seems to be the only one noticing the changes in the sky and the appearances of the King and the Prince. He actually sees the katamari rolling in one of the cutscenes, and sees the King of All Cosmos in another, but he is not believed by his mother. The daughter, Michiru, senses the changes in the constellations, reacting with joy when a new constellation is remade. Mizue never sees the effects of the katamari and tells her children to stop imagining things. In the end, the father's space mission is called off because there is no moon, as it was destroyed by the King. In the final cut scene, the entire family is on the moon, as the final mission in the game, Make the Moon, requires the rolling up of many or all of the objects on Earth, including the hapless family, the rocket the father was supposed to depart on, and, ultimately, the island on which the rocket launch pad was located.
Characters
King of All Cosmos: The King of All Cosmos is the reigning monarch of the entire universe, who has just accidentally destroyed all of the stars in the sky. He is the only character who has a speaking part outside of the cut scenes. He opens every level by giving the Prince the size goal and time limits of that level, and usually manages to insult the Prince while doing so. The King also calls time in each level, and judges the katamari's size, or, in constellation levels, judges how well the target has been met on a percentage scale.
The Prince: He is the one who is constantly pushing the katamari to fill the sky back up, and he is never referred to as being the Prince of All Cosmos, not even in the game's instruction manual. He is simply known as the Prince. He also has no spoken dialogue. He is said to be five centimeters tall by the King, although at the end of the game, the King claims that he has actually grown two centimeters.
Queen of All Cosmos: She is rarely seen, and is only visible in the opening and ending sequences of the game. She has no spoken dialogue, and is always seen by the King's side. She is only approximately one half of the king's height, but she still towers over the Prince.
Cousins: The Prince has twenty-three cousins, according to the game. The cousins are found in levels and can be rolled up like people and other objects if the katamari is of the proper size. The cousins cannot participate in missions, but can be used in multiplayer mode if they have been rolled up by a katamari in single-player missions. The cousins vary widely in appearance and size. Eight of the cousins are female, and the other fifteen are male. The King of All Cosmos finds them all "disturbing".
Gameplay
Katamari Damacy is a radical departure from traditional video game concepts; there is no attack button, there are no "special moves" to unlock as the game progresses, and there are no bosses, yet it also does not fall into the familiar mold of a "puzzle game" like Tetris - it features an explorable world instead of an abstract puzzle challenge. The katamari is moved entirely by the two analog joysticks in a manner similar to the classic arcade game Battlezone.
The Prince pushes his katamari over smaller objects, picking them up and increasing the size of his katamari, which in turn allows him to grab larger objects. The difficulty of picking up each object is not directly related to mass or volume. Every object has a threshold value indicating that once a katamari is the same size or larger than that value, it can be rolled up. These threshold values are not determined by the size or weight of the object, but rather the object's height × width × depth, including the empty space within these dimensions. This sometimes defies common sense, as an open beach umbrella is more difficult to pick up than a small car. Another striking example of this anomaly is that of a manhole cover and a small dog, the small dog actually having a threshold value six millimeters larger than that of the manhole cover. Long, narrow items, such as pencils, fences, and lampposts, are easily grabbed, even if the length of the object is significantly greater than the diameter of the katamari. This can make rolling awkward for the player as the object protrudes from the katamari. The protruding object will arc the katamari through the air, not unlike a pole vault.
As the katamari grows to target sizes, which differ in each level, the screen blurs for a few moments and the gameplay changes slightly. The world and its objects become smaller in relation to the katamari, making the objects slightly easier to pick up but with less of an effect on the size of the katamari. In addition, any objects that have become too small to affect the size of the katamari disappear from the world.
The game's graphical style is simple rather than realistic; the graphics have a blocky appearance that economizes polygons. The cut scenes are similarly styled, with everything composed of simple shapes, far from any kind of realism. The individual objects are low in detail to allow for a large number of things on the screen to be rendered quickly without slowdown or popup. This includes the objects in the katamari, all of which are constantly rendered.
Game modes
There are three kinds of levels in the single player mode: "Make a Star", "Constellation", and "Eternal".
In Make a Star, the player is given a time limit (in minutes) and a goal (in centimeters or meters). The katamari must grow to the indicated size before time runs out. Whether or not the player is successful, play continues until the time limit has passed. At the end of the limit, if the target size is reached, the katamari, along with the objects attached to it, becomes a new star. The larger the katamari, the larger the star in the sky. The final level, Make the Moon, is played the same way. Unlockable rewards are given if the player can reach the goal size very quickly or make the katamari much larger than required.
In the Constellation levels, the goal is tailored to match the constellation given. Most levels are centered around collecting as many themed items as possible. For example, to recreate Cancer, the katamari must collect enough crabs. To recreate Virgo, the required item is "maidens"; any human female, from young girls to old women; even representations, like dolls and statues, will count. For Pisces the player must collect fish; for Gemini the player must collect identical pairs of items. There is only a certain number of these items in each constellation level, and there is also a time limit, usually more strict than that of the other missions. The player's katamari is judged on the percentage of the desired objects the player rolled up out of all of the objects available. The higher the percentage, the brighter the constellation.
Other Constellation levels have more specific goals. To recreate Ursa Major, the player must find and grab the largest bear (real or fake) they can find. Rather than give the player a time limit, the level ends only when the katamari picks up a compatible item. The player must keep the katamari away from tiny bears before it is big enough to grab a more substantial bear. Taurus has a similar goal, to catch a large cow.
There is a level to make the North Star, which is considered a constellation in the game. The player's goal in the level is to get the katamari to exactly 10 meters, with no time limit or size indicator. There is a bit of leeway, however, as the resulting katamari is only measured in meters and centimeters, not millimeters.
In the Eternal levels, there is no goal, and no time. The player is free to roam around the level getting as big as possible, until they decide to quit. There are only three Eternal levels available, and they must be unlocked by building a katamari much larger than the required size on Make a Star 4, Make a Star 8, and Make the Moon. The Eternals are nearly identical to the standard versions of the three levels, but they produce separate five-pointed stars in the sky, instead of the more rounded stars produced by the Make a Star levels.
There is a two-player game in Katamari Damacy. A player can pick either the Prince or one of his numerous cousins to play as. The screen is split vertically; player one is on the left, and player two is on the right. Both players compete at the same time in a small arena to collect the most objects within three minutes. The playfield is replenished with new objects periodically. In addition, if one player leads by a fair amount, they can even collect their opponent and the opponent's katamari.
Areas
The game takes place in one of three areas, each of them used in multiple missions. In some missions, only certain parts of an area are accessible, but in others the entire area can be explored. Although areas maintain the same scenery and layout, placement of the objects to be rolled up by the katamari differs between missions.
- House: The house is the area where the first missions, with a Katamari size up to about 1.30 meters, are played. It is simply a small, traditional Japanese house with a kitchen, dining area, bedroom, entry hall (genkan), bathroom, and a small attached yard. Also included are the streets in the immediate neighborhood. The roof of the house can be accessed, but this is somewhat difficult.
- Town: The town is the area where missions involving katamari between 90.0 centimeters and 25.5 meters take place. The town consists of an upper section of densely packed homes centered around a very small park. In the center of the park is a sandbox, and down the hill from this area is a shopping district and a large park area with a lake. The shopping district has several small farm fields and a river running through it. The area around the lake has more fields and a baseball field as well.
- World: This is the largest area in the game. It is used for katamari sizes larger than three meters, up to the maximum size of about 890 meters. The world includes many cities, islands, and other towns. The katamari starts off in a small park area, but usually outgrows this locale very quickly.
Reception and awards
Katamari Damacy is an unusual game, and it was originally presumed that it would have limited appeal and this would prevent a release outside of Japan. Indeed, even in Japan the game was only a moderate success with 155,869 units sold in 2004 even with its low price tag of ¥4725[1], about two thirds the price of a regular PS2 game. Namco speaks of "robust demand" for the game in Asia in its annual sales report for 2005[2]. However, due to its popularity at trade shows, and a write-in campaign, Namco decided to release it in the United States. Furthermore, to spur sales of the game, it was priced at only around US$20.00, less than half the usual price of a new game. The game was very well received by professional reviewers, was mentioned and praised on TechTV, and was a featured sidebar in the May 23rd edition of Time magazine. Time continued to praise the game in its November 22 "Best games of the year" special, calling it "The most unusual and original game to hit PlayStation2."[3] A common complaint was that the game is relatively short and repetitive - it can be completed in under ten hours, and the gameplay stays virtually the same all the way through. This is balanced by the quality of the game itself, however, as Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewer Mark McDonald notes: "Sure, you're basically doing the same thing each mission, but Katamari's elegant controls, killer soundtrack, and wicked humor make it perfectly suited for replay."[4]
Most retailers underestimated the demand for such a quirky game, and only purchased a few copies; it rapidly sold out nationwide, its sales passing the 120,000 units mark in North America[5]. The "cult/underground hit" status of Katamari Damacy has made it become a minor internet phenomenon on websites such as YTMND and 4chan.
Katamari Damacy won the gold prize at the 2004 Japanese Industrial Design Promotion Awards, the first time a video game has won this award[6]. Furthermore, it also won the award for "Excellence in Game Design" at the 2005 Game Developers Choice Awards[7], and G4techTV's awarded Katamari Damacy its "Best Innovation" prize in its G-Phoria of that year[8].
Soundtrack
For details and track listing, see Katamari Fortissimo Damashii.
The music in the game was widely hailed as imaginative and original[9], and was considered one of its top selling points. The soundtrack was released in Japan as "Katamari Fortissimo Damashii". Its eclectic composition featured elements of traditional electronic video game music, as well as heavy jazz and samba influences. Most of the tracks were composed by Yu Miyake; many of the tracks feature vocals from popular J-pop singers such as Yui Asaka from the Sukeban Deka 3 TV series, a vocal sung and written by Charlie Kosei, composer of the Lupin The Third OST, and anime voice actors, including Nobue Matsubara and Ado Mizumori.
Sequels
The sequel to Katamari Damacy, We ♥ Katamari (みんな大好き塊魂, Minna daisuki Katamari Damashii, which literally translates to "Everyone loves Katamari Damacy"), was released in Japan in July 2005 and North America on September 20th, 2005 (although some retailers released it early). We ♥ Katamari is essentially the same as Katamari Damacy as far as gameplay, controls and graphics are concerned, but adds several new options like a cooperative play or scoring by the monetary value of the objects picked up. Also, the sequel is substantially longer, and its plot is very self-referential - it deals with the fans the King of All Cosmos and his son have attracted since the first Katamari game.
Namco has also announced that it is planning to bring the Katamari franchise to the PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS, although further information is only available for the PSP version: The tentative title is 僕の私の塊魂 (Boku no watashi no Katamari Damashii, "My Katamari Damacy and me"), it will be a sequel, it will be set on an island ravaged by a tsunami and it will include day and night as well as seasons[10]. Whether the Nintendo DS game will be a port of an existing Katamari game, another distinct sequel, or whether it has even been cancelled altogether is not known at present.
References
- ^ "In Asia, sales and earnings were both higher, thanks to robust demand for Tekken 5, Katamari Damacy and Ace Combat 5: Unsung War for the PS2, as well as other titles." Namco annual report 2005 (PDF), retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ Game Science: Famitsu 2004 Top 100, retrieved September 9, 2005
- ^ time.com: TIME’s Top 10 Video Games of the Year, retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ 1up.com: Katamari Damacy PS2 Review from Electronic Gaming Monthly, retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ Doug Lowenstein's 2005 E3 address, retrieved September 9, 2005
- ^ 1up.com: Katamari Damacy Wins Design Award, retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ Game Developers Choice Awards 2005 recipients and nominees, retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ G-Phoria awards 2005, retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ Katamari Damacy has won both Gamespot's and IGN's "Soundtrack of the year 2004" awards. Both retrieved September 14, 2005
- ^ 1up.com: Katamari PSP Coming, retrieved September 16, 2005
External links
- Official web site in Japanese and English, a trailer demonstrating the game's concept and soundtrack, and Flash version
- Hints and tips from GameFAQs
- Katamari Damacy reviews at GameRankings.com
- Katamary Damacy information at MobyGames
- a Japanese commercial (Waxy.org)