We Love Katamari

Did You Know?

• The game's Japanese title is Minna Daisuki Katamari Damacy, meaning "Everyone Loves Katamari Damacy."
• The cover art features the development team cheering outside Namco's head office in Yaguchi, Ōta.
• A remaster titled We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie was released in June 2023 by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

Gameplay

In We Love Katamari, the player controls the Prince, the 5-centimeter-tall son of the King of All Cosmos, who rolls a magical ball called a katamari that causes objects smaller than it to attach. The player moves the Prince through each level, collecting objects to meet objectives set by his father. Collecting enough objects makes the katamari grow, allowing it to pick up larger items such as coins, pencils, dice, buildings, mountains, and clouds. Colliding with a moving object or a wall causes attached objects to fall off and shrink the katamari; rolling against a wall lets the katamari climb to reach higher areas. The game differs from its predecessor in level design. The standard mode is "Make A Star," where the katamari must reach a specific size. New modes include making the katamari as large as possible with limited objects, rolling snow for a snowman's head, collecting children for school, and using a sumo wrestler to roll over food to gain mass. Completing missions unlocks alternative versions of levels. Players can find the Prince's cousins to unlock as playable characters, and "royal presents" unlock clothing. A cooperative two-player mode has each player controlling half the katamari, and a "Battle" mode has players competing to roll up more objects.

Plot

The first story follows the King of All Cosmos reacting to the unexpected success of Katamari Damacy. After recreating the stars, he discovers he has many fans on Earth and seeks to fulfill their wishes with the help of his son and cousins, who again travel Earth rolling objects into a katamari. The second story recounts the King's life before becoming King. His father always pushed him and punished him for failure. He was a boxer, but after losing a tournament, his father threw his second-place trophy into the river. After an argument over strawberry shortcake, the future King ran away, got into fights, and had his pompadour haircut sliced off. He then met a woman and fell in love at first sight. His father lectured him, and the son knocked him down. The father walked away without dispute. Later, the future King saw his father staring at the second-place trophy, imagining him fishing it from the river, and realized his father's love. He burst in crying, knelt, and begged forgiveness. His father supported the relationship. After reconciliation, the Emperor fell ill, crowned his son as the new King of All Cosmos, and collapsed. Later, the grown King paced in a waiting room, heard a baby cry, and a nurse called him. The King and Queen then looked down at their newborn son, the Prince of All Cosmos.

Development

Namco announced We Love Katamari in April 2005 and demonstrated it at that year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, where it received favorable reception. Keita Takahashi opposed creating a sequel, believing the industry's focus on sequels limited creativity. Namco had already begun work on a Christmas-themed version of the original without Takahashi. When he discovered this, executives stated development would continue with or without his input, so Takahashi agreed to direct the sequel, tentatively titled Katamari Damacy 2. He themed it around fan service in response to fan support for the original, stemming from his gripe with defining games through traditional methods like cover art descriptions. The team named it We Love Katamari in reference to this concept and the level structure of taking requests from fictional fans. Takahashi noted such concepts were impossible in the original. The game had a larger scale and a development team of 30 people. Takahashi mandated it keep the spirit of Katamari Damacy while feeling new. The game rarely attempts realism, focusing on stylized and bizarre characters and environments. Takahashi wrote the story as self-referential, with characters knowing they are in a game. Multiplayer modes were originally created for Katamari Damacy but were cut due to time constraints; the staff created them to encourage teamwork and a sense of accomplishment.

Reception

We Love Katamari received positive reception. Metacritic gave it an aggregate score of 86 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. It sold over 116,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald praised how the scale changes seamlessly. The Times noted it represented a move by Electronic Arts to release a title that is new, entertaining, and original. GamePro and Game Informer praised the co-op mode, saying it took getting used to but was polished and fun. GameSpot agreed it could be a great acquired taste, while IGN was more critical, stating it did not work well. The music was positively received. Game Informer found dogs barking the theme song brilliant. GameSpy said the music was as cool as its predecessor with more production values, and appreciated the ability to select songs. Eurogamer thought the music was better than its predecessor, noting re-recorded songs and classical pieces. GameSpot noted the music was less focused on catchiness and more experimental. X-Play found it one of the best but inferior to its predecessor. Some reviews critiqued specific aspects. Eurogamer criticized imbalance in difficulty between levels. IGN said the gameplay wasn't as appealing as the first game and expected more creative changes. GameSpot criticized the versus mode for having only three stages. X-Play noted the game did not offer enough advancements from its predecessor.