Tech: Katamari Damacy

Perhaps it was the first time you chainsawed a demon in "Doom." Or maybe it happened when you launched your spaceship to Alpha Centauri in "Civilization." Some games just have the unique ability to put a silly grin on your face. It's like that with "Katamari Damacy," a budget title for the PS2:



Which is not to say "Katamari Damacy" is the greatest game ever made. Actually, the underlying gameplay never changes in the 10-odd hours it takes to go through the main storyline - you roll an ever-expanding ball of junk, avoiding obstacles and racing against the clock to collect as much as you can. While the game does throw some curveballs at you (animals that can bump into you, barriers that cannot be passed without a big enough katamari), it does get repetitive after awhile.

Where the game gets its grins is by its subtle progressions in scale. At first you're rolling up thumbtacks and mice, then you're collecting small Japanese children. At the end of the game, you'll be rolling up oil tankers and office buildings, causing the people inside to scream for their lives:



Rating: 82/100