Beautiful Katamari details
| Format: | 3 Xbox 360 |
|---|---|
| Genre: | Puzzle/Board/Casino |
| Developers: | NAMCO BANDAI |
| Rental release: | Currently unavailable |
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Most helpful review
One of the best 360 non-violent games
By borandi (2 reviews) from Hull , 11 Mar 2008[Highly rated reviewer]
I imported this game in September from the US (I own a US 360 also), and I could not put this game down!
The demo on XBLM introduces the concept - you roll a sticky ball which continually picks up things. Then bigger things. Then bigger. You start with small toys, jewels, then fruit, the tv, hat stands, people, houses, skyscrapers, land, continents, planets, stars, etc.
The object of the game is at each stage, reach a specified diameter in a time limit. The learning curve of this game is quite steep for younger children, as quite a deal of control is needed, but the idea and presentation will certainly appeal to them. If you hit a certain level in the timed stage, the whole stage unlocks for a go at no-limit rolling, i.e. you can take as much time as you like rolling up the city.
There are around 12-15 levels to participate in, with a further 6 to be released as downloadable content (at the time of writing, 11th March, it is not out in the UK yet).
Online, the competition involves collecting the most items in a certain time limit against other people. This is fairly simple, and no matter who wins, everyone gets cookies! Certain setups also allow bonus cookie prizes, such as for 'the person who lost the most stuff'. There's something for everyone.
Overall, I recommend this game. It's fun, quirky, and will appeal to everyone except the gun toting jocks who only like Gears of War, Halo, and Rainbow Six. Your kids will like it, your teenagers will like it, you will like it. The 3 minute demo does not give the game justice - just imagine more time on a stage, and larger stages than the demo.
For achievement hunters, this game should be an easy 700GS. Put in a little time (and some guide help) and DLC, and 1120GS is easy. The two difficult achievements are - 100% completion (pick up each of the 3200 items at least once) and 100 hours played (I had all the other achievements and still 50hrs to go). The completion achievement will require some forum digging too - I used 5 or 6 forums, only to still be missing 3 or so items. I'm happily the first UK 360 owner to get the full 1250GS.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(22)innovative idea... dreadful execution
By Davey29 (5 reviews) from Aberystwyth , 25 Jan 2010This game had the potential to be a unique, addictive experience. The awful graphics, frustrating camera and poor presentation ultimately rendered it unplayable. Some people may love the Japanese kitchyness and crazyness but I just found it annoying. Avoid.- Was this review helpful to you?
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OHH HOW bAD?????
By brimar1988 (4 reviews) from north east , 15 Jan 2010Seriouslly dont get this waste of your time, you wont even want this on your gamerscore history youll be sick by the end of the first level, camera angels shocking, gameplay shocking, im not surprised i hadnt heard of this game before!!!!!- Was this review helpful to you?
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Unqiue premise and gameplay, but lacking content
By SunKing (16 reviews) from Guildford , 26 Oct 2009Seen Akira? Seen that bit where Tetsuo starts devouring the planet? Okay, well, this is kind of like that, but a lot less terrifying and a lot more humourous.
Essentially, you are placed in around a dozen or more bizarre, earthbound stages where you have to roll this ball around that picks up stuff. As the ball grows bigger, the player opens up new sections of the level and is able to roll over and absorb larger items – from normal household furniture to people to whole continents! There is usaully some sort of timelimit, some optional goals and a target you have to achieve to pass the level. The controls pretty much just involve the two joysticks on the pad, and this does take some geting used to, but you'll be a pro by the time you get to the last few levels.
And that's part of the problem: by the time you start to get the hang of it, it's all over. There are new challenges, items to collect, etc., but a lot of the levels are recycled. Making matters worse, there are several levels that are suspected to be on the disk but can only be unlocked through paying for them via Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Several achievements also require that you pay for the pleasure to unlock them, and this all sort of taints the innocent, silly humour of the gameplay experience, sadly.
Despite the bad taste left in my mouth by Bandai's obvious greed, everybody should at least try one of the Katamari games. The gameplay is fun, challenging and addictive; the music is a fantastic collection of bouncy J-pop songs; and the art style, combined with excellent localization for the dialogue and text, sets the game apart from everything else currently out there.
Rent Beautiful Katamari – it's just too bloody weird to ignore.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Weird
By DauntingLady (13 reviews) from Worcester , 14 Sep 2009This is an odd game, never seen a game like it before so I thought I would try it. I tried the demo on Xbox live and thought it was very strange but somehow intriguing. After a few tries at the demo I got into it and rented the full version.
I was really disappointed with it…the camera views are awful and the controls aren’t that great. I still have this game on loan and will probably try it one more time before I send it back, I’m not likely to complete it.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Beautiful Katamari
By TheLegendKiller (21 reviews) from Camberley , 28 May 2009What a load of crap, its about as interesting and fun to play as paris hiltons acting career- Was this review helpful to you?
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