Me & My Katamari review

But, yes, Katamari is irresistible and, ultimately, irrepressible. Regardless of the existence of two other nearly identical games, there's something so satisfying about collecting hundreds of unique and colorful items in a Dadaist Lego-block Japan that it's hard to put Me & My Katamari down. The fact of the matter is, even if this game is an utter rehash, it's also a rehash of one of the most distinctively creative games we've ever seen.

It also works fabulously well on the PSP. The loading times are kept manageable, the controls function, and the brief escapades into junk-collecting last less than ten minutes a pop. It's perfect to play if you only have a few minutes to kill, but works in longer sessions, too. Somehow, they've managed to squeeze these detailed levels into the PSP, but they run almost as smoothly as on the PS2. Certainly the game is always playable, no matter how many blocky Japanese children, overturned toys and messy bedrooms are thrown onto the screen.

Also included is an Ad Hoc local wireless mode which pits up to four players against each other to collect the most treasure on a beach. This is as simple as can be, and consequently, not that much fun in the long run. The fact that there's a game-killing item or two hidden in the sand (you're pretty much an automatic winner if you happen to find one) doesn't improve matters much. This mode is a fun little throw-away, but nothing more.