Beautiful Katamari

Did You Know?

• The game opens with the King, Queen, and Prince playing tennis; a powerful serve creates a black hole that sucks everything but Earth into it.
• The Prince must roll up a "Super Giant" katamari to plug the black hole, after which the King takes all the credit.

Downloadable content

Beautiful Katamari is the first series game to offer downloadable content. Seven additional levels were available individually from the Xbox Live Marketplace, each occupying about 384 kB. Reviewer Aaron Linde complained that the game was shipped feature-complete but required extra payment. One achievement explicitly requires downloading stages to build a 1,500,000 km katamari. Additional downloads on the U.S. Marketplace immediately unlocked ten cousins or presents, bypassing the need to find them in-game. European downloadable content was released on May 7, but item names were mishandled, resulting in two items named "Perfectly Sized Katamari" with identical descriptions, differentiated only by image. Six additional levels were available on the EU Marketplace at that time.

History and development

Series creator Keita Takahashi was not involved; the game was directed by Jun Moriwaki, co-lead designer of Me & My Katamari. A demo appeared in the September 2007 Official Xbox Magazine and on the Xbox Live Marketplace in August, featuring a three-minute time limit, an 80 cm katamari, and the song "Nananan Katamari" on the main menu. The demo level included "Katamari Dancing" by Takashi Utsunomiya as the opening song. The game was released in October 2007 in North America and Japan, and on February 29, 2008 in Europe.

In 2021, it was added to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S backward compatibility catalog. A March 2007 Orange Lounge Radio post, later removed at Namco Bandai's request, reported that a PlayStation 3 version would support the Sixaxis motion-sensing feature. In mid-April, Famitsu confirmed development for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan, and Namco Bandai Games America officially announced it that month, stating both versions would retain dual-analog controls and include online play. Moriwaki said a Wii version was considered but faced controller difficulties.

Reception

Beautiful Katamari received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic. Official Xbox Magazine called it a refreshing contrast to serious titles. IGN gave it 7.8 out of 10, praising it as a welcome family-friendly game on the 360 but criticizing its short length and lack of series evolution. Game Informer labeled it the "ugly duckling" of the series, praising multiplayer but calling environments "dull and lifeless." NTSC-uk gave it 6/10, noting its short length and lack of innovation, suggesting it might suit newcomers but disappoint fans. As of December 2007, it was the 25th best-selling Xbox 360 title in Japan with 24,186 copies sold.