If you didn't know this game existed, and the first thing you thought when you saw there was a Katamari game on PSP was, "Well, how does that work? There's not two joysticks and the hardware is so weak!" You have a very accurate picture of how good an idea it was to make a Katamari game on PSP. I'm glad it came out domestically, because I would've felt like a total moron if I'd had to spend like $50 importing it.
Now, this game isn't completely worthless. The King's dialogue is still very silly and funny as ever (my personal favorite line being, "It should be "Us and Our Katamari"" because he always speaks using the royal "we.") The levels which are there are also designed fairly well, and the levels where you're doing unique missions (like collecting things with age or things with high monetary value) are also very well designed and fun.
UNFORTUNATELY, the bulk of the "levels" is where this game really shows its flaws. This game has FAR too many stages for how much content it actually has. There are like 10+ normal stages (roll the katamari X big) in this game, but there is like 1 map per size level with each of those maps having like 2 or maybe 3 variations, if any at all, of where items are located on it. This makes the game get SUPER monotonous when it really doesn't try and hide that you're doing the same thing over and over. This also pads out the story of the game to like 6 or 7 hours, which is WAY longer than it needs to be.
A lot of the levels end up being really long because instead of the normal katamari way, where you slowly get bigger and then new areas are revealed to you and you can roll up everything in them and do that process all over again, you're often given a series of consecutive stages to do, usually 3 or 4 five+ minute stages, to do in one level. And because the level variety is so small, this really doesn't help with the monotony. The hardware just really shows its limitations, especially when you reach a new size level to access a new part of the level.
When you reach a new size that requires the game to load more objects, like in the first game, (I can't remember if the second game had that but the 360 one definitely didn't) basically all of the objects, save for the very tiniest ones that were out of your vision range, would still be there in the place you were just rolling. In this game, the object limit is so small, that basically the entire field you were just in is cleared of tinier objects, so there's no point in continuing to roll there. Hardware problems are also very present when you get to the stages where you're larger, because there's REALLY obvious and bad item pop-in.
The tremendous length of the game is not helped by the BAD controls. The PSP doesn't have 2 joysticks, or even 2 joy-nubs, to replicate the traditional Katamari Damacy controls. As a result, you have to use the D-pad and the face buttons to control instead. This takes some getting used to just because of how far apart things like the face buttons are laid out and how things like the 180 degree quick-flip and the charge are differently mapped, but the bigger problem is that it just hurts to play. The center of the D-pad on the PSP is a sharp little fucker, and pressing your thumb into it for even 2 consecutive levels will really start to hurt your hands. I will say, though, that the load times aren't bad, though they are relatively frequent compared to the other games.
The last thing about this worth mentioning, as with any Katamari game, is the music. Again, it's not bad, but not great. Almost the entire soundtrack is just the first game's music. There're a few new songs present, and they're usually good (especially the main theme), but there's not a whole new soundtrack like with a lot of the console releases.
Verdict: Not recommended. Unless you're a HUGE Katamari Damacy fan like I am, there is no reason to play this game. I would go as far as to say that this game just shouldn't have been made. This is the first Katamari Damacy game where the original creator wasn't involved in the creation process at all, and it really shows. The development team was either just too unfamiliar with the series, and/or just too limited by the hardware and it just comes off that they really didn't know what made Katamari Damacy fun. Add in that most if not all of the best levels in this are probably in Katamari Forever, and this is a game you can very safely skip.
Now, this game isn't completely worthless. The King's dialogue is still very silly and funny as ever (my personal favorite line being, "It should be "Us and Our Katamari"" because he always speaks using the royal "we.") The levels which are there are also designed fairly well, and the levels where you're doing unique missions (like collecting things with age or things with high monetary value) are also very well designed and fun.
UNFORTUNATELY, the bulk of the "levels" is where this game really shows its flaws. This game has FAR too many stages for how much content it actually has. There are like 10+ normal stages (roll the katamari X big) in this game, but there is like 1 map per size level with each of those maps having like 2 or maybe 3 variations, if any at all, of where items are located on it. This makes the game get SUPER monotonous when it really doesn't try and hide that you're doing the same thing over and over. This also pads out the story of the game to like 6 or 7 hours, which is WAY longer than it needs to be.
A lot of the levels end up being really long because instead of the normal katamari way, where you slowly get bigger and then new areas are revealed to you and you can roll up everything in them and do that process all over again, you're often given a series of consecutive stages to do, usually 3 or 4 five+ minute stages, to do in one level. And because the level variety is so small, this really doesn't help with the monotony. The hardware just really shows its limitations, especially when you reach a new size level to access a new part of the level.
When you reach a new size that requires the game to load more objects, like in the first game, (I can't remember if the second game had that but the 360 one definitely didn't) basically all of the objects, save for the very tiniest ones that were out of your vision range, would still be there in the place you were just rolling. In this game, the object limit is so small, that basically the entire field you were just in is cleared of tinier objects, so there's no point in continuing to roll there. Hardware problems are also very present when you get to the stages where you're larger, because there's REALLY obvious and bad item pop-in.
The tremendous length of the game is not helped by the BAD controls. The PSP doesn't have 2 joysticks, or even 2 joy-nubs, to replicate the traditional Katamari Damacy controls. As a result, you have to use the D-pad and the face buttons to control instead. This takes some getting used to just because of how far apart things like the face buttons are laid out and how things like the 180 degree quick-flip and the charge are differently mapped, but the bigger problem is that it just hurts to play. The center of the D-pad on the PSP is a sharp little fucker, and pressing your thumb into it for even 2 consecutive levels will really start to hurt your hands. I will say, though, that the load times aren't bad, though they are relatively frequent compared to the other games.
The last thing about this worth mentioning, as with any Katamari game, is the music. Again, it's not bad, but not great. Almost the entire soundtrack is just the first game's music. There're a few new songs present, and they're usually good (especially the main theme), but there's not a whole new soundtrack like with a lot of the console releases.
Verdict: Not recommended. Unless you're a HUGE Katamari Damacy fan like I am, there is no reason to play this game. I would go as far as to say that this game just shouldn't have been made. This is the first Katamari Damacy game where the original creator wasn't involved in the creation process at all, and it really shows. The development team was either just too unfamiliar with the series, and/or just too limited by the hardware and it just comes off that they really didn't know what made Katamari Damacy fun. Add in that most if not all of the best levels in this are probably in Katamari Forever, and this is a game you can very safely skip.