Once Upon a Katamari Review (Switch)

The core gameplay conceit of the Katamari series — rolling up everything you see into a giant ball of wriggling debris, one object at a time — almost feels like it shouldn’t work. Yet Once Upon a Katamari manages to turn mess into something meditative, pulling you into a satisfyingly tactile flow state where hoovering stuff up feels as good as popping bubble wrap.

For the uninitiated, the main objective of Katamari games is simple: roll your katamari (a Japanese word meaning 'clump' or 'mass') over objects smaller than itself. These objects stick to the ball, making it grow progressively larger, which in turn allows you to pick up bigger things, starting from thumbtacks and ants and eventually rolling up buildings and clouds.

If it sounds surreal, it most certainly is. Pair that with psychedelic low-poly visuals, plus a soundtrack that veers from sugar-high J-pop to cosmic funk and an absurdist story where a flamboyant, god-like king haplessly destroys the cosmos and sends you to Earth to roll everyday things up into new stars to restore the heavens, and it’s clear you’re not in Kansas anymore.

Hopes were understandably high that this new entry, the first mainline Katamari game in 14 years, would tap into what made the original Katamari Damacy and its direct sequel on the PlayStation 2 critical darlings, particularly given that later entries in the series arguably saw a bit of wear on the formula and lacked the same degree of broad acclaim.

Once Upon a Katamari does just that, picking up right where the early-2000s classics left off. It remains faithfully true to the core rolling formula, but with more refined controls and a clearer emphasis on replayability with heaps of stages, collectibles, and objectives. It also offers some fun new gameplay wrinkles, making it feel like a true continuation of a beloved series.

Players can choose between the classic dual-analogue scheme, which could feel awkward at first yet can be quite precise with a little practice, or a new Simple mode that streamlines movement to a single stick. There are added camera tweaks, such as an X-ray view when you’re obscured by obstacles and surroundings, and handy shortcuts for dashing or repositioning the katamari.

New to the mix are power-ups called Freebies, which offer short bursts of utility without upsetting the game’s balance: pick up a Magnet to pull in nearby objects, a Stopwatch to freeze time and roll up fast-moving targets, use Sonar pings to locate hidden goodies, and fire off Rockets to propel your katamari forward in a high-speed surge.

This entry sends players time-travelling through whimsical historical backdrops — from Edo-era Japan and ancient Greece to the Wild West and ancient Egypt — each era brimming with thematic clutter to roll up. Together, the refined controls, new power-ups, and vibrant technicolor settings make this feel like a faithful continuation with a modern sheen.

Levels are tackled in short bursts of typically two to ten minutes or more, and each one has its own objective, like reaching a certain size before time runs out or gathering a specific item type. Each diorama-like stage brims with collectibles, too, including dozens of Cousins who can be unlocked as playable characters, along with hidden Presents and three shiny Crowns.

The combination of multiple, usually well-hidden collectibles with optional challenge variants that remix objectives makes every map worth revisiting. There’s a pleasing amount of content on offer with around 50 stages. It takes roughly 8-10 hours to beat the main game, but completionists could easily spend hours more rolling up every corner of the map.

Between levels, short cutscenes showcase the series’ trademark absurdity with slapstick humour that will feel instantly familiar to returning players. That said, the verbosity of Katamari’s cosmic ruler can test your patience, feeling somewhat intrusive when his face and dialogue text box overlays the screen during gameplay, which can itself be a sensory overload at times.

There are moments when your katamari grows too large in confined spaces and gets wedged between walls or obstacles, resulting in being a bit stuck until you find a direction to wiggle free. The camera does its best to follow along, but can sometimes be an irritant in such moments. These quirks, however, are baked into Katamari’s DNA and don’t meaningfully ruin the fun.

Once Upon a Katamari includes an online multiplayer mode called Katamari Ball, which functions as a light, competitive side mode that can also be played against AI opponents. Four players race to roll up the most items in a shared arena, periodically depositing their haul into a UFO beam to bank points and shrink their katamari back to a nimble size.

The bigger you grow, the slower you move, a trade-off that encourages bursts of scoring, though if you’re large enough, you can roll up your opponents for extra points. The end-of-round scoring, complete with random bonus categories, feels straight out of a Mario Party, making for a fun palate cleanser between the solo main campaign. Couch co-op is sadly unsupported.

We received our review code shortly after launch, which meant I was able to properly test Once Upon a Katamari’s online multiplayer mode under real-world conditions. Matchmaking was quick; we were paired with live players within moments of initiating a session. Online play felt stable and responsive, with no noticeable lag or connection drops.

Performance is relatively smooth across the board on Switch 2 and the base Switch model, with the latter more noticeably dropping frames during busy moments. Load times are brief, around two to three seconds, but occur mid-stage when the game expands your playable area when you increase your weight class, causing a brief pause before snapping back into the action.

Switch 2 smooths over the edges further, with seemingly faster transitions and steadier performance, though there’s unfortunately no bespoke optimisation for the newer hardware. Graphically, the game’s low-poly aesthetic looks crisp and vibrant with minimal pop-in. The saturated, dayglow palette also looks great in handheld mode on the Switch OLED.