Katamari Damacy Reroll (Nintendo Switch, Windows) Review

14 years after the original Katamari Damacy on PS2, a remastered version named Katamari Damacy Reroll was released on Nintendo Switch and Windows. The game is most famous for being quirky and for having This review will judge the Nintendo Switch version of Katamari Damacy Reroll on its own merits.

 

The gameplay of Katamari Damacy Reroll is obviously its biggest draw. Players control a guy rolling a ball and roll it into stuff. If the ball is bigger than the stuff it is rolling over then the stuff will join the ball and the ball will grow in size so even bigger stuff can be rolled too. Players do this over a few maps that are repeated often but never become boring because of how they are remixed, how new areas are revealed, and how the developers place the players in different starting positions every time. Overall the system is fun, has a lot of replay value, and never gets tiresome during the main campaign. There are only a few gripes that could be had with the game. The first is the controls, which are unconventional but perfectly usable especially after the useful tutorial early in the game. Another issue is that it is easy to get stuck on stuff and the way that the controls work can make it difficult to navigate some areas. Still, these annoyances only come up for a fraction of the game’s length so they don’t leave any particularly large negative impression. It is also hard to blame a PS2 game for not having perfect and modern controls and physics, though it could be argued that this remaster should have fixed those issues. There is also a multiplayer mode which is pretty much just tacked on but it at least adds a little bit extra replay value.

 

In terms of sound Katamari Damacy Reroll will probably surprise most people who are not familiar with the original. The soundtrack is varied and pretty much has only good songs. Sound effects are also well done and the reviewer never found any of them grating even though they are frequently repeated. Overall this is probably the second best part of the game behind the gameplay.

 

Technically Katamari Damacy Reroll is just an upscaled PS2 game. Still, the remaster is pretty much perfect. The games original look is intact and still looks great upscaled, and the framerate is a locked 30 the entire time as far as the reviewer could tell.

 

The story in Katamari Damacy Reroll doesn’t really matter. There is some good writing and what is there is entertaining but it is so limited that it hardly gets a chance to make any impact on the player at all. Overall the story doesn’t hurt or help the game much.

 

As for value Katamari Damacy Reroll is about average. Beating the game the first time will only take a few hours, so anyone who only plans to play it once should probably wait for a sale under its already half of full price MSRP. However, the game does have a lot of replay value because of the scoring system and because it is fun and short in general so the game is roughly worth it for anybody willing to invest their time into the game.

 

Overall the reviewer would give this game an 8.5 out of 10.