The Discussion Thread: The Greatest Games Event 2017 - FINISH YOUR LISTS

[Mnementh]

The_Liquid_Laser said:

#7 Katamari Damacy

Why did it make the list?
Katamari Damacy only attempts to do a few things, but on each of those few things it completely knocks it out of the park.  The controls are simple and perfect.  I cannot overstate how great these controls are.  It feels like someone made a first-rate arcade game on the PS2.  The music is the best soundtrack I have ever heard in any video game.  And then there is the gameplay. 

The gameplay is genius.  I have no idea how anyone could possibly think up a game like this.  You just roll up objects that stick to your ball and you get bigger in the process.  The bigger you get, the bigger things you can roll up.  It’s crazy and yet so addictive.  Whenever I play this game I just zone out.  It’s like being in an awesome dream that you never want to wake up from.

The deceptive thing about this game is that it is not graphically impressive in the slightest, even by PS2 standards, and it uses the same few areas over and over again.  It also is incredibly short which is probably the biggest mark I have against it.  If I could have a game of this quality but also have it longer with more variety in the areas then it would be even higher on my list (and being #7 is a huge deal since all of my top 50 games are in the top 1%).  There are sequels to Katamari Damacy, and the first sequel is still pretty good, but it doesn’t quite reach the pure bliss of the original game.  (The other sequels are nowhere near as good as the first two games.)

 

Original experience:
When I first heard about this game I wanted to try it out.  I went to several local video game stores and they were all sold out, because they only had ordered a couple of copies each.  My wife called around and ended up driving out of the state to get me a copy.  (My wife is awesome!)

Once I started playing this game it blew me away!  I had no idea that my favorite PS2 game would be an unknown budget title released near the end of the console’s life.  I tore threw the game and then played the stages over and over trying to “max” my scores.  My wife also played it a bunch.  Then we showed it to friends and they loved it and wanted their own copy too.

 

How does it hold up today?
This game never gets old.  Graphics were never the selling point of this game, and that is why Katamari Damacy is timeless.  I really wish this game’s director, Keita Takahashi, would make another Katamari game.  Until that happens I will keep playing the original over and over on the PS2.

I only played Katamari Damacy shortly at a con, yet it was a great experience. The controls felt just right. I considered buying a sequel, but as you describe it I probably should stick to the original.