"Katamari ... knows how to party." Okay, enough puns on 2Pac's "California Love," although the idea of Katamari Love is what propels Namco's sequel. Katamari Damacy's broad appeal helped it become one of 2004's hottest titles. As a former game store employee, I personally forced it into the hands of many a wary shopper who returned very happy. It appears that in the year since the Prince of All Cosmos rolled up the world, a feat that would make most comic-book villains jealous, he and his perpetually dissatisfied father, the King of All Cosmos, have some fans. That's right, the Prince has blown up worldwide, and like a radio DJ, he's taking requests.

Many readers know the origins of Katamari Damacy. It's the twisted tale of a successful yet stern man who, after a long night of drinking (at least in the Japanese version) goes out and causes pandemonium. After looking at everything he's done, rather than take personal responsibility for his actions, he forces his poor, diminutive son to clean up his mess, berating him along the way. Sound like a classic case of parental abuse? Okay, maybe it sounds a little Tarantino-esque of a description, but yeah, the King is a jerk, and the Prince has to clean up his mess. Then again, no one's born mean-spirited; they're made that way.


And that's where We ♥ Katamari's subplot comes into play. Combining a sequel with a backstory fill-in, it's still as weird as ever, but it's just what fans of this cult classic will be looking for. Players will learn of the King's life as a young man. A scrappy lad, he went through trials and travails before meeting his future wife, although it still doesn't explain his fashion taste and excessive use of the word "fabulous," let alone his choppy grasp of grammatical rules. Designed in the same style of the cutscenes with the family in the first game, but with much more animation, the vignettes of the King as a despondent young man are absolutely hilarious.

In regard to how it handles, gameplay is largely unchanged from the first game. It's not broken, so it doesn't require fixing, although there seems to be a small bug in the game that has caused the Prince to run around haywire; it's solved by unplugging, then re-plugging the controller. It's annoying, but infrequent.