![Katamari Damacy / 塊魂 - PlayStation 2 - Intro, Tutorial and Gameplay Stages 1 - 4 [UHD 4K60]](/images/yt/iz/katamari-damacy-playstation-2-intro-tutorial-and-gameplay-qodqb.jpg)
Katamari Damacy / 塊魂 - PlayStation 2 - Intro, Tutorial and Gameplay Stages 1 - 4 [UHD 4K60]
5Keita Takahashi rather unique take on rolling a ball around is a wonder and original game. That ironically got far too many sequels all to quickly, still the concept is just wonderful and a lot of fun to play. The game itself was a breath of fresh air compared to may of the other overly saturated genres at the time when it released on PS2.
Bold colourful characters with a styled visual style mean the graphics look as good now as they did back then. A rather quirky soundtrack with a mix of songs, many of which you will find yourself humming away to. The plot is just as bonkers with The King of All Cosmos getting drunk and smashing up all the stars in the cosmos. So he assigns the task of rebuilding them all to The Prince, that's you and his special Katamari ball.
The gameplay is solely about rolling bigger and bigger giant balls to make a star. Each stage tasks you with having to roll a ball of a set size, the bigger the ball gets the bigger the items you can roll up into it. So you have to start by rolling up small items and as the ball grows you can starts rolling in items from the next size up. Knowing what to roll up at your current ball size is key to finishing a stage with the largest ball possible. Advance players will no doubt map out ball rolling routes in their heads. It's a mixture of arcade and puzzle genre gameplay that combines perfects to make a very addictive game
It's a superbly well made game and while there are a few flaws here and there, such as not being about to judge the size of some objects easily. Along with some brutally hard stages that may have you jumping up and down in frustration. The whole game is just a first class production, that sadly needed more coverage on release. Namco failing to get the original PS2 game released in Europe didn't help the franchise. Still in 2018 Namco made good and released the HD remaster of this title Katamari Damacy Reroll on a number of formats in all major regions.
Our editor covered this in a stream last year, but we wanted to do a video without commentary this time around so enjoy the gameplay of the first few stages. This was recorded using open broadcast software as a trial capture for a PS2 game let us know what you think of the quality.
Also known as: 塊魂 (Japan) かたまりだましい / カタマリダマシイ (Alternative Japanese spellings)
Release: 2004
Developer: Namco / Now Production
Publisher: Namco
Format: Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) / プレイステーション2
The original Katamari Damacy is also available on PlayStation 3 as a PSN PS2 digital download in Japan and North America only. The HD remaster Katamari Damacy Reroll is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
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Footage is captured directly from original hardware in this case a modded PAL PlayStation 2, via Component, captured using Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro with a open source scan converter (OSSC). Upscaled to UHD 4K to improve the video bit rate, watch in HD or UHD for best video playback on YouTube.