Touch My Katamari Review for PS Vita

System: PS Vita
Dev: NAMCO Bandai
Pub: NAMCO Bandai
Release: February 22, 2012
Players: 1
Screen Resolution: 544p	Comic Mischief, Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes

Another thing that caught me as being completely weird is the graphical look. Now, the cutscenes have this intentionally tacky look to them, and that's all fine and good once you condition your brain to actually process what you're seeing. However, the gameplay graphics are just bland. The polygon count is far too low for a modern game, and the textures are incredibly low-res. In fact, there's one area where the ground looks like it was made in Minecraft. This sounds like an exaggeration, but it's not; the grass texture is literally as low-res as a Minecraft texture. But even with the excruciatingly low polygon count and texture fidelity, the edges look incredibly smooth. It's definitely cranking out HD imagery, only the game doesn't even attempt to take advantage of this.

Touch My Katamari Screenshot

Then again, Katamari isn't really about fancy graphics. It's pretty much about insanely random humor and rolling things up into gigantic balls. The music fits this theme perfectly, as it's a ridiculous mix of J-pop tunes that only serves to highlight the absurdity of the whole thing.

If you absolutely need to look at the fanciest graphics, or if you just simply hate weird Japanese humor, Touch My Katamari is not for you. However, for anyone who can handle it, this title offers gameplay so addictive you'll struggle to put it down, despite its flaws. And really, when a game comes along that's simply this much fun, graphics and story are allowed to take a back seat, no?

By
Josh Wirtanen
Editor / News Director

@joshuajwirtanen
Date: February 17, 2012

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

2.2

Graphics
Touch My Katamari is an HD game, but it has texture resolutions and polygon counts so low that they wouldn't have impressed many people fifteen years ago.

3.8

Control
The traditional controls feel okay minus some awkward camera issues, but the touch controls are a disaster.

4.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The best word to describe the game's soundtrack is "insane." It's actually a perfect fit for a Katamari title.

4.8

Play Value
This game is highly addictive. Stages are almost infinitely replayable as you try to keep beating your high scores and rolling even bigger Katamaris.

3.7

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Roll the Katamari in any direction using the multi-touch screen or dual analog sticks of the PS Vita, and use the rear touchpad to stretch or squeeze the Katamari into a narrow space to gather more objects.

Collect candy and use them as money to buy items for the King, get extra music tracks and unlock new game modes.

Playable once a day, replay one of the missions to get your hands on loads of extra candy.

Leaderboards rank players according to the amount of candy they earned in the previous three-week period.

With the "near" virtual communication system for PS Vita, exchange information with other players and receive "Buddy Requests." Try to beat other players' top scores and earn extra candy.