i Love Katamari
by Namco Networks America Inc.
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Description
The King of All Cosmos has accidentally knocked all the stars out of the sky during a crazy night out. It is up to the pint-sized Prince to put the twinkle back in the heavens in i Love Katamari. i Love Katamari delivers an experience only possible on the iPhone/iPod touch.
The gameplay is simple! Tilt your iPhone/iPod touch to roll your katamari with precision. Roll the katamari ball over various objects in each stage. As more and more objects are rolled up, your katamari will increase in size and it becomes possible to roll-up larger and larger objects.
Features a range of fun-filled modes, such as "Story Mode" (roll up items requested by the King of All Cosmos), "Time Attack Mode" (make a katamari as large as possible within the time limit), "Exact Size Challenge Mode" (roll up to the exact target size), and "Eternal Mode" (roll at your own pace without any time or size limit).
Join the Prince in this addictive ball-rolling adventure!
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER COOL NAMCO GAMES:
- Garters & Ghouls
- Mr. Driller
- Solitaire: Deck of Cods
- Worst-Case Scenario
What's New in Version 1.0.3
iPhone OS 3.0 Support
Customer Reviews
A console classic could be the best game on the app store, if Namco fixes a few serious flaws.
This review is based on the 1.0 version of the game, written on December 14.
For those who aren't familiar with the basis for this iPhone game, I Love Katamari is based on a series of games that began on the Playstation 2 called "Katamari Damacy" from Japanese game publisher Namco. Every game in the series has you play as the Tiny Prince, who is continually ordered by his father, a powerful and eccentric deity called the King of the Cosmos, to go to Earth and roll every object he sees into a ball called a "katamari". The challenge of the game is in controlling an ever expanding and unwieldy ball of stuff in order to make it as large as possible within the time limit. The Katamari Damacy games have been cherished for their simple style and quirky sense of humor.
I Love Katamari is a continuation of its bigger predecessors on the iPhone. The levels here seem smaller and more limited than the ones you can roll in on the console versions, but follow the same format of starting off very small and eventually collecting people and houses in your monstrous ball. While there are only five levels, they each have four modes, so there's a lot of replayability.
Rolling your Katamari in this game involves pitching your iPhone in different directions, which is a change in the series which usually relies on analog sticks on a gamepad. I think that the controls here work great for this game, and drastically pitching your iPhone around makes the game even more fun. However, on my second time playing, I ran into an issue where the center point kept getting adjusted so that in order to move forward, I had to pitch my iPhone so far down that my neck was craned over it to look at the screen upside down.
The game includes all the sound and graphics of the console versions in their entirety. The music in this game is quirky and enjoyable, including tracks which were brought over from previous games. While it would have been nice for fans to get new music, at least everyone can enjoy these classics. The sound is great on the iPhone's speakers. The simple geometry of the objects is intentional, but the textures are smaller and muddier than on the consoles.
The only real problem with this game is that it has severe performance issues on the iPhone. As your Katamari gets bigger, the game runs slower and slower. The framerate stays fine for the most part, but everything slows down, even the clock. This only makes the game feel mushy to control and somewhat frustrating. If Namco fixes this and the control issue, though, then this game is one that would be strongly recommended. As a Katamari fan, though, I still think that I Love Katamari is the most enjoyable game in the app store.
This is the most wonderful thing that has ever existed... EVER!
I can't believe this! I read 40 to 50 sites per day including many about gaming in general and a few about iPhone gaming specifically. I never even knew this was in development! Imagine my surprise when I fired up the feed reader this morning to find that Katamari Damacy had been released for my new mobile gaming platform of choice! Suffice it to say, I couldn't get out my credit card fast enough.
The premise of the game is simple: roll the katamari over objects. The katamari grows as objects stick to it and is then able to pick up larger objects. This is a fantastic implementation of the game. The accelerometer controls may even be a bit more satisfying than dual analog sticks for this game. My only complaint: there is some slowdown when the screen goes wavy (happens when the katamari reaches certain size milestones). Also, during these times, the timer appears to proceed at the normal rate meaning you actually lose some time waiting for the wavy to go away so that you can continue at full speed.
Thank you, Namco, for delivering this bundle of joy!
I Love Katamari
I was hesitant to purchasing the game, but I took the risk and bought it. I love it. Not perfect, but it's a start.
Pros: Good graphics for a mobile device and first try. Love how it has different modes. I never get bored in free mode. Great soundtrack. The controls on the iPod Touch/iPhone, for me, works better than using a console controller. Good price, but I would like to have updates to fulfill everybody's issues.
Cons: Needs more levels. More depth.
Hopefully, by supporting game developers by purchasing their games and writing well thought out feedback will increase attention and awareness. Other game developers might hop on board this platform and create better games too.
- Category: Games
- Updated Jun 29, 2009
- Current Version: 1.0.3
- 1.0.3 (iPhone OS 3.0 Tested)
- 84.2 MB
- Languages: English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Seller: Namco Networks America
- © 2003-2008 NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc.
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch. Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later.
