This is an ongoing list where I attempt to play/complete/ and rank every video game in existence. For previous entries please see prior blog posts.. or check out the link at the bottom of the page to see where everything ranks now.

I love playing video games, but there are very few video games that make me feel pure joy while playing them. Some of that is simply because the design of the game wants to get elicit other responses out of the user. In horror games, you are supposed to feel fear and anxiety as you await something sinister to pop out at you. In sports games or competitive shooters, you are supposed to feel that competitive spirit, the highs and lows of the pendulum swinging from your teams favor to the other's. Whenever I pop in Katamari Damacy, I just get a sense of joy. The music, the animation, the story.. all of it is in service to that feeling and it is a game that no matter what I am trying to accomplish in the game, I don't get frustrated or mad while doing so.

Katamari Damacy is a Playstation 2 game where you, the prince of the cosmos, is looking to rebuild the night sky after your dad wrecked it. Depending on the star/planet/constellation you are making, you get beamed down to earth and are told that you have to roll a ball to a certain size in a certain time limit in order to make the item. By using both analogue sticks you push a super sticky ball around which can roll up anything that is roughly a smaller mass than what the ball currently is. The bigger you make the ball, the bigger objects you can pick up. This process repeats in each level until you are eventually rolling up islands, mountains, whole cities, and eventually countries. It is an absolute insane concept to try and explain to someone if they are not in the gaming know. It doesn't really fit any other genre that we think of as mainstays. It isn't a platformer, a puzzler, adventure, action, RPG, or shooter. It isn't a simulation, or sports title, not a racing game, etc. I imagine the game is just coded as generic adventure or action game, but those don't really seem to fit in my head. It truly is a genre-defiant game or genre busting, whatever buzz word you want to spit out there and I can't even imagine trying to pitch this game to a company during startup.

However, it's here, it exists and I'm so glad it does. I don't really know where to begin with this game, but I will start with what probably most people associate with Katamari at this time, and that is the music. 20 amazing music tracks that fit perfectly in the game as well as listening to outside of it, when you need a mood boost. The music fits the theming of the game, as it is both silly and instantly puts a smile on my face, but can create a sense of awe if it is your first time experiencing it. As a dumb teenager when this game came out, I had very minimal experience listening to anything that wasn't in English, but the soundtrack is so incredible that it never bothered me that I still don't know what any of the lyrics are. Honestly I can't stress this enough, but if you have never played the game you at least owe it to yourself to find the soundtrack and give it a quick listen.

One of the things the game does well is lay out all the tools you have well before you take your first spin around the first level. There are no powers to unlock, no currency you need to save in order to buy a "faster roller" or "bigger starting ball" so your ability is only limited to your skill. With that said the game is also very accessible in which you don't feel you need perfect runs to accomplish the task at hand. You can bump around, or make wrong turns and it doesn't mean that you are going to fail the level. That's not to say there isn't a challenge either, in some later levels you are expected to have a clear plan in place and can't just fumble backwards into the goal. For those looking for even more challenge, you can replay levels to either try and hit the goal even quicker (create a shooting star) or try and create a larger ball in the time limit. In both of these instances you may find yourself trying to find the perfect route or starting position to accomplish the goal, but neither of those items are required for any playthrough so the desire to do better rests solely on your contentment.

I would also be remise if I didn't mention the humorous writing in this game. Between levels you can pop into your collection, which shows you everything you have rolled up currently in the game. Each item is accompanied with a description that is written from the perspective of the king of all cosmos, which can be rather enjoyable. For instance one description for a bear cub statue reads "It must have been a very famous bear to have a statue made of it." It might not be laugh out loud funny, but it is this small attention to detail in that each item as its own description regardless of how small and meaningless the item is. We don't technically need a description for a pencil, we all know what that is, but the game decided to try and come up with something clever about an everyday object.

There is a split screen multiplayer mode, where you try to get big enough to roll up the other person, but honestly it is the only stumble in what is otherwise a fantastic oddity. Instead of putting you both in a single player level with lots of items to roll up, you are instead transported to a much smaller level, with only about 10 items to pick up between the two of you. Should you find yourself at roughly the same size, you need to ram each other until you can break their size down and roll them up that way. Its real skippable.

As I said before, Katamari is pure joy to me. Whether I am rolling around taking turns playing with my wife, or playing solo and trying to go for the harder challenges, the minute that music starts playing I am in my happy place and even if I fail at my goals, I walk away in a good mood. While there have been multiple other Katamari games, the original still holds up and is worthy of checking out now if you have never played it.

Is this game the Greatest game of all time: No, but it is still great

Where does it rank: I hemmed and hawed about where to put this game for a little bit, because I couldn't believe I wanted to put it so high, but here it is.. the new #3 game out of 38 other games. I placed it higher than both Mario 64 and NES Mario 1, and put it just below Mega Man 2.

Up Next: Empire of Sin (Played on the Switch)

Anyone looking for it: here is the link to the list and more if you are interested in following along with me (this is not a self promotion). Here

Thanks for listening.