Bandai Namco is itching to get the ball rolling on both the new consoles coming out, as well as the old. Their Katamari Damacy Reroll is a remastered version of an odd franchise-starter created by Keita Takahashi, and originally premiered in 2004 on PlayStation 2.
The game has already launched in December 2018 on both Nintendo Switch and PC, receiving the high praise that gamers would expect from the release of a classic.
Although it seems that this newest edition doesn’t add that much when it comes to new content, it translates beautifully to the more modern hardware and is a joy for all to see.
For those gamers are not readily familiar with the Katamari Damacy, the King of All Cosmos, here is a little backstory. The game is centered around the King having removed all the stars from the sky, and his son, the Prince, working to make amends for his father’s egregious mistakes.
The Prince achieves this task by way of his rolling around a ball, referred to as a Katamari, that has the ability, in the world of humans, to stick to pretty much anything. The ball, along with the Prince, starts off being extremely small in size.
However, as they roll around and collect more items, the Katamari’s size is increased by a significant measure. Once the Katamari is large enough, the King can then throw it into the sky, thus sending the Prince on an entirely new mission.
When first announced, Bandai Namco stated that Katamari Damacy Reroll was headed to the Japanese Xbox and PlayStation 4 systems. This was somewhat quickly followed up with an announcement of a Western release just a day after the Japan initial date of November 20th.
The Western release will coincide within a week or so after the upcoming next-gen consoles hit retailer shelves. It is worth noting that those gamers who plan on purchasing the new consoles will still have an option of playing the game as the next-gen consoles offer the backward capability.
Although all indications are that there is no suggestion of anything notably being different about this version of the game, this is, however, the first instance in this generation that a Katamari Damacy will be hitting these consoles.
When initially released in 2004, Katamari Damacy was a massive hit, and as a result, spawned its fair share of sequels through the years. The original was quickly followed up by Me & My Katamari, which was playable on PlayStation Portable and did a little altering of the overall gameplay.
Phone app versions of the game allowed its players to use the phones built-in motion sensors to mimic the Prince and his rolling around. The series then proceeded to HD on the 360 with the title Beautiful Katamari.
Many gamers feel that Bandai might have, in its early days, overextended the series, trying to capitalize on the game’s massive initial success. However, it is now pretty safe to say that enough time has passed that the introduction and rerelease of a new game are well-timed.