Beautiful Katamari

[Kroogah]

Picked this up today, yes it's more of the same, but that's not entirely a bad thing. I miss some of We <3 Katamari's more imaginative levels like the snowman and racing levels, but at least cowbear is nowhere to be seen. There is one unusual stage, where you have to collect hot things to get your Katamari to a certain temperature, while rolling cold things hurts you. That was a little annoying.

Online play is suprisingly fun, the host picks a level and you are given a specific object to collect. The winner earns cookies (and thus, the achievements for collecting 100 and 1,000 cookies)

If you haven't picked up Katamari in a while, this is worth it. There is some irritating slowdown at parts (including online play) and I nearly completed it in 2 sittings which I suppose is normal for a Katamari game. But other than that, I felt it was worth 40 bucks. I await the downloadable levels.

Gamertag is Mexistrat 3000, come earn some cookies.

[boatofcar]

OMG...this is out already?

I thought it wasn't coming out till Christmas!!!

EDIT: Anybody know if it's region free like Halo 3?

[smork]

OMG...this is out already?

I thought it wasn't coming out till Christmas!!!

EDIT: Anybody know if it's region free like Halo 3?

Play Asia has the Asian version for sale -- not region free, but if your 360 is Korean it's perfect for you. Those Asian versions are rarely region-free, but they're always a pretty good value.

[Kroogah]

Aaaaand I beat the game. Now I'm REALLY awaiting the downloadable content. Gamerscore whores, beating the game should earn you about 250 points. I got 10+ cousins and 10+ presents without really looking. And the size achievements are usually the same as certain level requirements.

[PapaStu]

Now that our power seems to have stopped turning off randomly we shall go out and find this Katamari and pwn it. Our scores shall be so insane that only Karl can hope to keep up. So let it be written.... so let it be told.

[Oobgarm]

Challenge Accepted

[heybtbm]

Isn't this game only $39.99? I might bite.

[Aussie2B]

"Only"? I find it funny how Katamari games have progressively been getting more expensive. The first was still, by far, the best value because not only was it budget-priced at 20 bucks, but it was also completely fresh and original at that point. Then We <3 Katamari went up to $30, and now Beautiful Katamari at $40. I guess Namco is trying to slowly, subtly bring the series up to standard game prices. I guess compared to next-gen prices these days, though, it still seems like a great deal.

[blissfulnoise]

I'll look for you Kroogah this weekend when I'm off the road and can get back to my 360.

It's painful being away this week. Everyday Shooter, E4, Tony Hawk (I can't help it; love that series) and Katamari all waiting to be played. And I've barely had a chance to play Halo 3 co-op...

[blissfulnoise]

"Only"? I find it funny how Katamari games have progressively been getting more expensive. The first was still, by far, the best value because not only was it budget-priced at 20 bucks, but it was also completely fresh and original at that point. Then We <3 Katamari went up to $30, and now Beautiful Katamari at $40. I guess Namco is trying to slowly, subtly bring the series up to standard game prices. I guess compared to next-gen prices these days, though, it still seems like a great deal.

To be fair Everyone Loves Katamari on the PSP was $39.99 MSRP too.

[boatofcar]

Play-asia is locked at work for me...did anyone see if they had the US 360 version? I bought my 360 in the states before I left.

[digitalpress]

As a fan of the series, I must say that I'm quite disappointed with this one.

It *almost* feels like I'm playing the PS2 version of the game. And while that may not sound like such a bad thing to many, if you were like me hoping for a NEXT GEN version of the game... anything - better graphics, better camera, even just a bigger game - you've been played the fool. This is clearly a "cash in" product. It's not right.

I finished the game in six hours. I played a bit online, that may help give the game some replayability. Ultimately, the PS2 games are better games overall and other than the "collect only hot things" level, far more challenging than the 360 as well.

Oh well... maybe they'll redeem themselves with the promised downloadable content.

[smork]

Play-asia is locked at work for me...did anyone see if they had the US 360 version? I bought my 360 in the states before I left.

Yup, they do -- same price as the Asian version.

[boatofcar]

Yup, they do -- same price as the Asian version.

It's saying it's out of stock

[Kroogah]

Bump with a few things I've found out.

One of the secret achievements is for completing all the levels, plus all the time attack levels. That's an easy 100 points.

You can also unlock Eternal mode on every level by getting a perfect 100. So far I've done this on Saturn (2000 rings), Schloss Kosmos (rolled up the black hole, yes that is possible) the Casino (stay in the house and roll up almost everything, you should get it) and the Plant stage (I dunno, I was rolling up big trees by the end)

[PapaStu]

We've been hitting the game pretty hard. We've gone through the game a few times now *snicker* and are working our way towards the big achievements cousins (9 to go), presents (10 or 11) 100% items (97%). We've got a bunch of 400 or better World rankings in individual Katamari rollups. Not to mentio that were down to 358 in Total worldwide rollup for the 'Everyone Katamari' world.

[skylark]

This is the first Katamari I've played, and apparently I suck. I usually can meet the request requirements, but my scores seem to be pretty low. I'm still finding it addicitive, but I wish I could just get better.

[PapaStu]

This is the first Katamari I've played, and apparently I suck. I usually can meet the request requirements, but my scores seem to be pretty low. I'm still finding it addicitive, but I wish I could just get better.

Don't feel too bad, this is whats seeming to happen to alot of people off the bat. We had a few issues with some of the later levels and getting a decent size. Now the size isn't a problem, its just pushing the 100 score on those last few levels that we're still working through.

Remember that its not just about hitting the size required right when time runs out, your objective is to get the thing as big as possible by the time the level stops (except for Mars, thats totally time, just go fast). Thats what will get you the maximum points.

[katchoo]

Picked this up today, yes it's more of the same, but that's not entirely a bad thing. I miss some of We <3 Katamari's more imaginative levels like the snowman and racing levels, but at least cowbear is nowhere to be seen. There is one unusual stage, where you have to collect hot things to get your Katamari to a certain temperature, while rolling cold things hurts you. That was a little annoying.

Cowbear level was honestly one of the levels I really did enjoy. It drove me mad, but I loved playing it over and over and over again until I was able to get it! Some of these levels in the new one just make me mad. The hot things level frustrates me to no end - there's just been too many times when I've rolled over something that I couldn't see and it dropped my temp down to almost nothing. "what was that, what did I roll over, what the hell!!!??!!"

I am pretty bugged by how hard it is to actually roll up and over stuff in this one as well. In the previous versions, with time and perseverance, you would be able to roll up over a steep cliff/wall/etc, but this one, I just keep ramming into the wall/train/cliff/etc.

Stu and I are playing this one to death, but there is just something missing from this iteration that keeps it from being up there with the rest.

[Kroogah]

Agreed on the temperature level and how annoying rolling up ledges is. This game lacks the freshness of the first game and the variety of the 2nd, but it's great for me since I don't have a PS2 anymore.

All the secret achievements have been found, and they are:

Complete all requests and time attacks (100)
Collection 100% (80)
Complete requests 100 times (40)
Complete requests 200 times (80)
Play for 50 hours (40)
Play for 100 hours (80)

Man, that's just lazy.