Once Upon A Katamari Review – I Love Mess!

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Someone once called Katamari Damacy a “cool uncle game,” which I thought was funny because my actual cool uncle was the one who first showed it to me. What they meant was that while the game never became hugely popular, it built a dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase. These fans love how strange and unique it is – they enjoy the silly idea of rolling up the world and are always excited to share new, quirky things about the game. It’s a game for those who appreciate something a little different – a fanbase of ‘cool uncles,’ so to speak.

I’m not known for being hip, but after playing Once Upon a Katamari, I’m definitely a fan! This new installment in Bandai Namco’s wonderfully weird series has won me over. It’s a fantastic revival for the franchise, with subtle improvements that make the gameplay even more enjoyable and the levels surprisingly creative. The game features a more focused story, a better-designed world to explore, customization options, and updated graphics, all while keeping the quirky charm that defines Katamari. While it doesn’t drastically change the formula, Once Upon a Katamari is a polished and genuinely fun addition to the series.

Okay, so the game starts like most Katamari games – with the King of the Cosmos doing something unbelievably silly! It’s one of those family cleaning days, and he finds this weird scroll. Honestly, it’s so relatable – he gets distracted, decides cleaning is the worst, and ends up just chucking the scroll into space after using it like a conductor’s baton! Of course, that totally destroys everything, and now I, as the Prince, have to clean up his mess. It’s a bigger mess than usual, naturally!

To save the universe, the Prince must travel through time in his spaceship, the S.S. Prince, and collect the spirit of humanity as colorful, sticky balls – before it’s lost forever. This quest takes you through over 50 levels spanning nine different time periods, like ancient Japan, the Ice Age, and Greece. This storyline is more focused than in previous Katamari games, with short cutscenes adding to the experience. Though the premise is lighthearted and a bit strange, this approach is exactly what the series needs to be both fun and wonderfully bizarre.

The S.S. Prince is your base of operations for this exciting new journey – it’s a spaceship shaped like a saucer that acts as both your time machine and your home. From the main console, you choose which time period or level to visit. You can also use the ship’s features to personalize your character with items you discover and change the appearance of your living space. While there isn’t a lot to do on the ship, it adds a nice feeling of completeness to the game. The same goes for character customization – it’s not overly detailed, but the ability to create and name your own cousins – those familiar little characters you rescue in each Katamari game – is a brand new feature and a truly charming addition.

Okay, so after you leave the ship, each time period is laid out kind of like a world in a Mario game – lots of open areas to explore, with the actual levels being these big, square spaces. You unlock new eras and levels pretty quickly just by playing, and every Katamari you roll up also gives you fuel to jump to a new time. Some levels do require a bit of searching, though – you need to find three hidden crowns in each area to unlock them. But the cool thing is, you’re not forced to do everything right away. I’m a bit of a completionist, so I wanted to beat every level and grab all the collectibles as soon as I could, but you don’t need all three crowns from every level to keep going. That means if a level seems boring or too hard, you can totally skip it for a while. And honestly, some of these levels are pretty challenging, just because of how the Katamari games play!

Once Upon a Katamari doesn’t change much of the original gameplay. You can still choose between two control schemes: standard, which uses both analog sticks for precise movement, and simple, which is easier to pick up and uses one stick to move the Katamari and the other to position your character. Rolling around cluttered environments and busy streets is still a bit awkward and chaotic, but mastering the controls makes it really rewarding.

The game’s biggest update comes from adding collectible items – a magnet, stopwatch, sonar, and rockets. You pick these up by rolling over them, just like in games like Mario Kart, and then activate them with a button press. Each item does what you’d expect: the magnet pulls objects towards you, the sonar helps find important things, the stopwatch briefly stops time, and the rockets give you a speed boost. While they’re all useful, I wanted more items to really shake things up. A great part of the Katamari experience is feeling incredibly powerful, being able to roll up even the biggest structures. These items, unfortunately, didn’t quite deliver that level of chaotic fun. They’re nice little boosts, but they don’t fundamentally change how the game plays.

What truly makes Katamari special is its creative levels, and Once Upon a Katamari delivers some fantastic ones. Each level is accompanied by upbeat J-pop or instrumental music that perfectly matches the energy you need. The stages are beautifully designed, funny, and memorable. The best levels are those that surprise you or really emphasize the game’s theme of appreciating history. For instance, the “Philosopher Hunt” level, set in Ancient Greece, asks you to roll up famous philosophers, and their quotes fill the screen as you do. My favorite is “Lots of Yokai,” where you collect demons for a traditional Japanese parade. This level is set in darkness, and you use glowing blue lights to find and roll up the demons, revealing more of the map.

Once Upon a Katamari includes a new multiplayer mode called KatamariBall. In this mode, you and up to three other players compete to collect items and return them to your spaceship. While I initially encountered it in a level against computer opponents, it appears the full experience will be online. I didn’t have access to the online servers during my time with the game, but the portion I played was enjoyable.

While some levels in Once Upon a Katamari are incredibly creative and fun, they unfortunately highlight how basic most of the other levels feel. When you experience stages that cleverly use folklore, history, or interesting size and scale challenges, simpler objectives – like rolling up a large collection of objects in a set time – start to feel ordinary. I found myself replaying the more innovative levels, the ones that really stood out. Once you’ve seen how well-designed the game can be, it’s harder to enjoy just collecting a bunch of everyday items – except for the level where you help a young prince gain weight, which was a standout!

Ultimately, the biggest problem with Once Upon a Katamari is that it doesn’t feel innovative enough. While the Katamari series is unique, many other games offer similarly charming and accessible worlds where you can play at your own pace. What really makes a game memorable is its ability to consistently surprise and delight players with playful and new ideas. Games like Mario Wonder and Astro Bot constantly present players with fresh concepts and tools, and that’s what sets them apart. While Once Upon a Katamari has moments that are just as fun and memorable, I wish the game maintained that level of excitement throughout.

Even with minor flaws, Once Upon a Katamari is a truly enjoyable game and a standout title in the series. It brilliantly captures everything that makes Katamari so beloved – the witty writing, quirky humor, catchy music, and overall silliness – and presents it in the best way possible, whether you’re new to the series or a longtime player. While a little more ambition and creativity could have made it exceptional, Once Upon a Katamari is still a fantastic and very welcome return to the Katamari universe.

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2025-10-22 19:42