Katamari Damacy Rolling Live

Published by Bandai Namco

Released in Apple Arcade
Played on Macbook Pro

The Skinny: The Skinny: Still rolling along.

Released exclusively for phones, tablets, and Mac via Apple Arcade, Katamari Damacy Rolling Live brings back The King of All Cosmos, who is dismayed to find that time has moved on from his heights of popularity in the early 2000s. In order to regain the hearts of the people, he hatches a plan to become a hugely popular streamer. And by streamer, he means streaming the Prince taking on missions rolling up everything in his path.

Structurally, Katamari Damacy Rolling Live works in much the same way as every Kamari sequel since 2005’s We Love Katamarii. A line of fans will each give the King a request, which results in a level or a challenge for the Prince. In addition to the traditional challenges of growing to a certain size or within a given time limit, levels include trying to spend as much as possible in a convenience store, rolling up as many people as possible at an amusement park, and using the katamari to clean a bath house. As the game has been optimized for play on phones (with use of a wireless controller or backbone,) the challenges tend to be a little shorter and the levels are a bit cramped. But the game shares the same low poly aesthetic and jazzy electric J-Pop soundtrack that you remember. As the levels grow in complexity, you can go from rolling around a living room, to a shopping mall, to rolling up the whole world. There isn’t a ‘house’ to explore, but the levels, if a little small, are interesting. New levels unlock based on the number of ‘views’ your performance earns. Most levels will unlock eventually, but a better score unlocks them faster.

The game plays a bit too far into nostalgia. The central joke, the King becoming a streamer because nobody is paying attention to him, doesn’t really land. The joke’s fangs are blunted, mostly because the game doesn’t want to really say anything too mean about streamers, whom Bandai Namco presumably wants to push and market the game for them. So the story just kind of falls flat as a gimmick, and the satire feels toothless.
The Soundtrack is another standout, full of peppy, dancy, and occasionally downright weird J-Pop Jazz to roll along to. “Midnight Tryst,” “Parallel Damacy,” and “Starry Night Fever” are standout tracks for me. You can also spend Candy, the game’s in-game currency on unlocking extra cousins, personalizing your channel logo, and unlocking classic songs from previous games like Katamari on the Swing. As a part of Apple Arcade, there aren’t any cash micro-transactions so the unlocking experience doesn’t feel at all predatory.
Katamri Damacy Rolling Live is presented as a part of Apple Arcade, so it’s free with a subscription to the service, which makes it well worth your time if you liked the PS2 classics. Take it for a spin on iPhone, iPad, or Mac If you aren’t a part of the Apple grid, you can wait for Once Upon a Katamari when it launches for Steam and consoles later this week.