Katamari Damacy REROLL | Review, roll on consoles

“Okay Mr. Sunshine! ”And it is immediately magic. Katamari Damacy is one of those immortal games that we really don't care about if it's an operation of nostalgia: there is always room to roll and collect everything on the face of the Earth. And Katamari Damacy Reroll is exactly that opportunity to relive the first adventures of the King of the Cosmos and the Prince, one of those offers that cannot be refused if you want to have fun in the purest way there is.

For clarity, Katamari Damacy Reroll was already on our planet since 2018 for PC and Nintendo Switch, but was still absent on the most popular home consoles. But was there a better time to propose it than that of the transition to the new generation? Obviously not, if you inaugurate the console with Katamari it is a bit like that famous saying about the New Year.

Rolling back in 2020

Katamari Damacy Reroll, in its transposition on console, is not it differs in no way from its previous versions, if not from Switch for slightly better graphics. Playing it for the first time, however, is witnessing the consecration of a brilliant idea, born from a particular slice of Japanese humor straight out of the 90s with a lot of swing, jazz and rap music, perfect testimonies of what the video game was one of the most "evident" cultural bridges to sanction the passage between one age and another. Released in 2004, Namco’s Katamari Damacy was one of the most successful and beloved experiments in the gaming field, so much so that it managed to conquer Western hearts despite an expressly Japanese cut.

The comedy of the rising sun, at least at the time, was difficult to absorb at first glance, especially if we are talking about an adolescent audience. It was a bit like when on MTV Anime Night they gave Inuyasha and everything seemed normal, only to find oneself watching Abenobashi and being catapulted into the absurd halfway between ecchi and cultural references. Both children of great changes in cultural perspectives, the two works have in common that of treating the perceptible cultural evolution between the streets and the TV in a bizarre, fun and appealing way for the public. Not surprisingly, much of the merit of Katamari's success is due to its iconic music associated with the Shibuya-key or Picopop movement, shown in Reroll in their crystallized form over time and capable of telling how the collection of clubs in the homonymous neighborhood has shaped the pop scenario of the early 2000s.

Takahashi's intent with Katamari was certainly not to break through as a visionary game designer, but to bring the simplicity of fun back into the world of increasingly complex video games infantile. The result is still evident today with Reroll, capable of transporting even post-40 players to a childhood made of discovery, amazement and pure entertainment. In fact, the only thing required by the game is to roll on different levels and increase one's "katamari", which is a ball that sticks anything equal to or less than its size. You will start from modest dimensions of a few centimeters up to building real rolling monsters of increasingly absurd dimensions. And yes, the pleasure you will derive from it will be absolutely immense.

Among the stars

Katamari Damacy's strength is to have a creative level design, spot on and full of evident artistry which remains in balance between a minimalism of forms and the absurdity of block representations. It is funny but it is also really beautiful to look at, almost harmonious if you want, especially for how everything becomes perfectly suited to be incorporated into the spherical shape. The perfect demonstration of how much it takes just a simple but well-made idea to create a stellar product.

Katamari's plot is in fact almost non-existent except for some reference here and there that holds the strings together and justifies the because we hit the Earth in search of objects and living beings to turn into balls. All the credit for the involvement is left to the King of the Cosmos, the only stable speaking character beyond the various comic “skits” or “skits” that show the life of the terrestrial inhabitants. Today, playing Katamari Damacy Reroll is throwing yourself back into a past but decisive time for the pop vision of the world, capable of merging the desire for fun games with the synthesis of the most evident influences of the oriental cradle both in musical and cultural terms. br>
Of course, the edition does not add a lot to the dynamics of the past and on a graphic level you will not find Ray Tracing on the King of the Cosmos and his elegant dress, but after all it is really difficult to improve the perfection of titles of this genre, and Katamari is one of those cases where we can make an exception and say that, after all, it's best to have it stay exactly as it was. And yes, complete with a Namco logo for rescues.