With classic Temple Run style gameplay, you move your finger along with your demented little character, rolling around and picking up what appears to be lady birds and what look like nails – for some reason. You can’t pick up anything that’s bigger than you, but the more items you manage to ransack from the terrain, the larger you get.
Every time you smack against larger objects, the mysterious King gets upset, filling up a meter on the left side of the screen. Fill up the bar completely and the level ends and you’ll need to either pay a failure tax of a gem, or start all over again. Alongside the King getting rather upset, you can lose a level by failing to jump an obstacle like a show horse.
The problem with Amazing Katamari Damacy is that the whole experience feels pointless. The coins gained on level completion don’t really serve any purpose other than to upgrade seemingly useless features.[sc name=”quote” text=”The coins gained on level completion don’t really serve any purpose other than to upgrade seemingly useless features.”]
The game will sporadically offer you a special offer to gain both gems, money and unique decorations. That’s all well and good for those that enjoy spending money on mobile games, but the decorations don’t bring anything useful or interesting to the in-game scenes – everything is so awfully cluttered already.
Cousins are the unique aspect of Amazing Katamari Damacy that seeks to provide some kind of gameplay variety. As you run into Cousins during the levels, they will grant you special abilities for a short time only, such as speed boosts or shrinking. You can pay gold to increase their duration, but the costs are so astronomical compared to their value increase that they effectively only serve as a gold sink.
Alongside this, the Cousins aren’t explained or indicated at all, leaving you feeling confused when you randomly run into little demented anthropomorphic monsters during playing.[sc name=”quote” text=”Alongside this, the Cousins aren’t explained or indicated at all, leaving you feeling confused when you randomly run into little demented anthropomorphic monsters during playing.”]
The core concept of Amazing Katamari Damacy is an often repeated one – rolling to collect items is easily addictive and satisfying. However, the UI is overwhelmingly cluttered with a myriad of useless, flashy effects and menu options, leaving you feeling like you’re swimming through a quagmire of mediocrity.
Ultimatley Amazing Katamari Damacy is filled with a lot of unnecessary, pointless features that serve either to try and give you a bit more currency through waiting or to give you some kind of barely tangible goals. The problem, once again, is that nothing is explained – you just end up feeling confused and unsatisfied by the overwhelming amount of clutter.
Amazing Katamari Damacy is a game that attempts to bring the Katamari Damacy brand into the mobile market, but the overwhelming amount of clutter for such a small screen leaves the player feeling confused and irritated as they attempt to navigate the world.
Katamari Damacy should be applauded for trying to bring their game to a new market, but perhaps not every game should leave the big screen.
[review pros=”The effects feel engaging and sensory.” cons=”The actual gameplay feels rather repetitive and overdone. The UI is overwhelmingly cluttered, so much so as to make everything complicated.” score=3]
[appbox appstore id1102463151]
[appbox googleplay eu.bandainamcoent.amazingkatamaridamacy]
