With how big of a juggernaut and Lightning in a Bottle the original Katamari Damacy was back in 2004, you'd expect a sequel to the game to maybe take a handful of years and multiple brainstorming sessions in order to maybe equal if not maybe slightly below the original. Well, what if instead the sequel was made and released in only a year and a half and was actually JUST as good, if not EVEN BETTER than the original. This game is We Love Katamari. Somehow this team was able to craft what essentially is a perfect sequel in every way. New gameplay gimmicks for levels, returning challenges from the first game, an expansion of the Cousins and multi-player, and a very sweet and self referential story that takes full advantage of how fast Katamari has become a juggernaut. Couple that with the always perfect soundtrack and you've got yourself a flawless sequel that's amazingly a second batch of bottled lightning that's just as impressive as the first. The newly released Remaster also adds a new collection of retro Namco stickers that's fun to scavenger hunt for through levels if your using the Camera present, and it even seems like they're even testing the waters for a potential new Katamari after all these years with the addition of 5 brand new challenges featuring the young King of all Cosmos as he endures intense training from his stern father before him. These levels are made using existing levels and are actually pretty short, but it definitely feels like a potential "what if we make a brand new Katamari?", and while later Katamari entries would struggle without the guidance of original series creator Keita Takahashi, I think a new generation of devs at Bamco deserve the chance to bring our favorite royal family back for a new outing.

Reviewed on Dec 25, 2023


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