Through a magical twist of fate, copies of We Love Katamari ended up in the hands of a few Way I Play bloggers two weeks before it should have. What’s that mean? That means we’ll be posting reviews of the game while we work through it. Enjoyment!

So far, I’ve had the game in my PS2 for an hour, and I’ve completed four of the missions. 3 of them were normal “roll around and get junk” (one played cooperatively, which is not nearly as difficult as you might think) and the other was 1 underwater mission, which is equally frustrating and superfun, as the physics are reflective of the situation. The game plays exactly like the first Katamari, so that ain’t bad. The only real unfortunate difference, so far, is that when the katamari is blocked due to an object obstructing the view, the Japanese “katamari damacy” characters don’t pop up. Instead, the game tries to cut a heart- or clover-shaped hole in the object, which often makes it a little hard to keep a close eye on the ball and the surroundings. But I’m willing to accept that tiny fault, as this seems to be a well-crafed sequal to the original.
Of course, Katamari isn’t just about rolling. It’s about odd phrases coming out of the King’s mouth, and cut scenes that confuse and entertain. Well, there’s no need to worry: the King says plenty of things that are unbelievably strange, and the cut scenes, which tell the story of the King as a child, are simply fantastic. Heartbreaking and humorous, just like a cut scene should be.
Well, that’s enough reviewing for now. I need to get back into the game and see if my smile can grow any larger.

UPDATE!
I’ve logged a few more hours in on the game and I can say one thing - the sumo level is awesome. I won’t spoil it by telling you what the sumo level consists of. Just know this: the sumo level is awesome.

UPDATE 2!
Well, the wife has taken over play, which leaves me a little time to reflect.
After a few days with We Love Katamari, I’ve found that a) the turning seems slower in this than in the first game, almost to a frustrating point at times, and b) the presents are the greatest. Hoorah for presents. They make up for the turning frustration. Especially the ear tassles.

I’ll continue to play and post any updates as I see fit, but for now, here’s a little thing to tidy this little review up…
We Love Katamari is slated to come out during a pretty busy gaming season. The PS2 alone has Burnout Revenge, Genji, Star Wars: Battlefront, Resident Evil, and a million other games (mostly of the urban beat-em-up variety) all coming out with much hype this fall. We Love Katamari, like Katamari Damacy, isn’t an easily-definable game, but it’s FUN. A poop-load of fun. A different fun than any other fun that you know about. It’s not without it’s flaws, but you’ll find that this game will put a smile on your face every time you pop it in. We Love Katamari deserves your attention this fall. That’s the plain and simple truth.