We *Heart* Katamari keeps the ball rolling

Katamari is back! The Playstation 2 sequel to the strange and unique game has proven just as addictive as the first. The tiny prince and the king of the universe have returned in We *heart* Katamari. Not familiar with the first game, Katamari Damacy? It’s a fairly simple concept. The gamer plays a tiny prince, about the size of a thumbtack. The goal is to gather up and refill the stars and planets in the sky. The part that makes the game interesting is the bizarre method used to accomplish each level’s goal. The prince starts in with a small ball. With the dual joysticks, the player picks up various items throughout the levels. The ball might start picking up thumbtacks and move up to dice. As the level continues, the katamari (the pile random items you accumulate) grows in size. Soon the katamari is capable of picking up books, cats, children, adults, cars and eventually entire islands. The sequel places the petit prince in a world where many fans of the previous game wish to be involved in rolling various items up. The king of the universe takes this opportunity to restore the planets to the solar system, which he had destroyed in a drunken stupor. Some changes that have been made to the game involve the inclusion of alternate items other than the katamari ball to pick up the various pieces of junk populating each level. For example, in one level the prince is asked to help a sumo-wrestler eat as much food as possible so that he can defeat his large sized rival. Thus, the prince pushes the sumo like a ball, picking up every morsel of food on screen, making him gigantic. Perhaps the biggest improvement in the second game is the inclusion of a two-player co-op mode. Both players can play through the normal game levels gathering up the items. The co-op mode is difficult at first due to the fact that each player controls half of the katamari. For example, if the players wish to turn left, player one must pull back on his/her joysticks and player two must push forward. With the excellent co-op mode as well as brand new levels and items, fans of the first Katamari and new players alike will enjoy this addictive action/puzzle game.