My absolute favorite marketing for Katamari Forever took place earlier this week, when my girl began explaining the game to a friend and they said “stop, you had me at Robo-King.”

I’d rather get back to playing the game as opposed to reviewing it, but I will take a moment to blast some sweet-sticky web love at it all the same. If the FCC is reading this, I bought my copy, honest. I even kept the receipt.

The game’s been taking some knocks though, for offering up much more of a remix rather than an original title, something perhaps lost in the translation from its Japanese title, Katamari Tribute.

It’s entirely a tribute to the most addictive and tactile experience on a gaming console, something I could do unto forever - the end-all-be-all-get-me-through-to-the-end-times - definitive disc full of Katamari pleasure. Sadly, it also feels like I have to accept that there’s no more room for growth beyond this release.

And yes, this includes remixes of places we’ve already been and many splendid objects we’ve already rolled - but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, I don’t recall Final Fantasy IV on the DS getting blasted for being awfully similar to its earlier SNES edition - because that would just be asinine right? It has graphical upgrades and new localization after all - just like Katamari Forever. And yes, Katamari Forever is certainly an upgrade - more of a good thing, more of the same thing, remixed to be pretty damn close to everything. So, maybe Namco should have stuck with the Japanese title.

What’s really got me is the little details, the game looks visually fantastic now, unable to venture into realism, instead using filters to add deep color tones. Objects seem to pop with so much more life now as people scramble to avoid my Katamari and cats kick their legs trying to break free - unreal objects seem more real, or at the very least seem possessed of more bizarre personality.

It may sound trite, but the game even sounds more distinct, like hearing whale songs while rolling over the ocean. It also doesn’t hurt that some spectacular work has gone into remixing the soundtrack. They’ve made it very easy to fall into the experience all over again, which makes it a fan game, but also the definitive game for newcomers to the concept.

Katamari Forever is the previous editions rolled into a better, one game to rule them all release, meant for gamers who have itchy thumbs for the return of the series to the only controller it was ever meant for.

If that’s you, that I earnestly recommend getting your Katamari on, for your own mental well-being - it’s not like I own stock in Namco or anything… honest.

But have at the comments with your own two-cents, and maybe we can build a review as we go on this one. This is definitely a game where I’d rather hear what players think. That doesn’t sound right… believe it or not, I almost always want to know what you think - just especially on this game.