I feel kind of weird putting a collection in my top 10 - especially since I snubbed the excellent God of War Collection - but at least this game's got new modes and features and isn't just a straight port with upgraded visuals. Namco did a nice job with Katamari Forever.

After Katamari Forever, there is no reason to play any other version of Katamari again. It has everything from the first three Katamari games. The load times are much improved. The graphics are nicer. There's some minimal online functionality, trophies, all that next-gen crap. The game's new features are nice additions. There's a couple of powerups scattered throughout each level that suck everything within range into your Katamari. There's a jump button now. There's even a couple of new levels.

And yet, I like Katamari Forever a lot less than I liked Katamari in 2004 and 2005. If this was a fresh idea and not the fourth or fifth Katamari game in the last five years, it probably would have been #2 or #3. This series, more than any other that I can think of, is one that suffers from the novelty wearing off. Katamari is an awesome concept, but when the magic goes away and you're left with the gameplay, it loses a lot of its luster. I still do enjoy rolling up the world - and Katamari Forever's got at least half a dozen "big" levels - but there's a lot of "been there, done that" to it.

The new additions to the game are nice, but there's a problem with each one. The jump button is cool, but because the original levels were not designed with a jump button in mind, there's a whole bunch of invisible walls added so you don't completely break the game. This really interferes with the whole open-world aspect of Katamari. There's also an unlockable "drive" mode that lets you move twice as fast as usual - think the race track level from We Love Katamari - but they have all these car sound effects that are completely unnecessary and detract from the crazy soundtrack and sound effects. There's also this absolutely awful level where you have to get to 10,000 degrees and rolling up anything cold is pretty much an instant game over. It's totally not fun - the whole point of Katamari is mindless destruction, not being careful. This is what happens when you try to mix up the formula though: Katamari is all about doing one thing repetitively and adding any new ideas is usually a Bad Idea. Better to make new levels and new objects to roll up than resort to a needless gimmick.

Katamari's still fun though. Maybe it's not exciting or novel anymore, but the feel of rolling through a city and destroying it is so satisfying. The sound effects are perfect. The graphic style is hilarious. I can't play this every day but I have to go back to it at least once a year. Katamari's a great idea with equally great execution.