Although it's a little depressing that the Prince will no longer be starring in any more Katamari video games, that shouldn't stop us from enjoying Me & My Katamari exclusively for the PSP. Bringing over this beloved series to a handheld device was a challenge that even the King of Cosmos himself would've been intimidated by, but Bandai Namco Games managed to do a great job at accomplishing this. Featuring dozens of royal cousins, plenty of unlockable costumes, and some interestingly designed challenges, Me & My Katamari is a game that newcomers and veterans alike should embrace with open arms.

While the Royal Family is on vacation, many other animals are in trouble because their islands have been destroyed. Being the nice guys that they are, the King and the Prince offer to help anybody in need by making islands for them by building up katamaries. A katamari is some type of conglomerate ball that grows as smaller objects are rolled into it. As a stage progresses, you can go from being too small to engulf cars at one point, but shortly thereafter you can be rolling over entire cities without even thinking twice. This fantasy action adventure title is really in a genre all by itself, which is a good enough reason by itself to go and pick up a copy right away.

The game uses an island interface that allows you to view the islands you've created while also allowing you to see what needs to be done. Animals will start popping up on Prince Island asking you for help. Every mission you receive on the Prince Island has the same objective; you'll have X amount of time to get a katamari X meters wide. Even though it seems like this would get repetitive and boring, the diversified environments help the game feel fresh for the most part. The Prince can also travel to the Volcano Island where creatures will present him with strange requests. Instead of building a katamari of a certain size, these missions require you to build a katamari containing the right products. For instance, one gorilla needs enough energy to fuel his rocket, so it makes much more sense to run over power plans than trees. Even so, it doesn't hurt to build up a large katamari simply because you'll be able to obtain more objects, which therefore adds a whole new element to the game. The final island is the Beanstalk Island, which allows you to switch between characters you've collected throughout the levels. If you manage to roll over presents or members of the royal family, they will become selectable once the level is completed.

People who have played any Katamari game on the PS2 should be familiar with the dual analog setup that was fairly simple to become familiarized with, but unfortunately the PSP only has one analog stick so a change was needed. Using a unique blend of the analog stick or D-pad with the face buttons, it takes a little more practice this time around to truly get an understanding of how to maneuver yourself. Pressing Up and Triangle will move you forward, pressing Down and X will move you backwards, pressing Left and Triangle will move you left, and pressing Up and Circle will move you right. In addition, the katamari can also strafe left and right, rotate using the shoulder buttons, and even perform a quick dash by alternately pressing Up and Triangle in rapid succession. One tutorial level is included, but it only lasts for a few minutes so you'll probably find yourself replaying it if you've never played a game in this series before. At first I found myself strafing backwards when I simply wanted to turn right, but after playing for a little bit I can now roam around with ease. Even though it isn't quite as easy to pick up as the PS2 iterations, the controls fit nicely on the PSP if you take the time to learn them properly.

The actual gameplay itself is loads of fun whether you want to play for a few minutes or a few hours. Once you start off with a little ball, it's rewarding to see your katamari slowly evolve until objects that used to kick you around are being crushed. Starting off as a little guy, the world around the Prince naturally feels large and intimidating. However, as certain size benchmarks are reached the camera will zoom out as the katamari moves higher up on the food chain. Inanimate objects can help increase your size quickly and easily, but the living objects tend to give you most of the trouble. Horses, humans, and even gorillas can kick you across the playing field if you aren't massive enough to overtake them. Smaller living objects will have an exclamation point pop over their head if they see that you can consume them. There are hundreds of different creatures you can pick up along the way, which is part of the reason why this game is so addicting.

The varied environments help any game feel new the whole way through, but Me & My Katamari recycles levels a little too often. Towards the earlier part of the game levels include basic indoor settings, and as you move on more outdoor environments become available. The terrain you're rolling on does impact how your katamari moves, so you should definitely be prepared if you're about to go skidding across an icy pond or if you're headed straight down a mountain. The only real problem with this game is that not too much changes during the last few missions. In fact, the final three or four challenges in the game use the same levels with roughly the same objectives, and by the final time through you'll probably already have some type of course to follow memorized. The fun thing about trying out new levels is that you have no idea where to go you aren't really sure what objects you can pick up every step of the way, but this whole exploration aspect is taken out with repeat environments. To make matters somewhat worse, it shouldn't take more than six hours or so to complete the entire game if you know what you're doing. The multiplayer segment can be played via Ad-Hoc for up to 4 players in which gamers will compete to build the biggest katamari while simultaneously trying to sabotage their opponents, but unfortunately game sharing isn't supported so everybody needs to have their own copy. Still, there are plenty of unlockables to keep hardcore gamers coming back for more and there are enough levels to keep things interesting for the most part, but it would've been awesome to see even more levels.

As a whole, Me & My Katamari does a fantastic job at bringing this fabled series to the PSP. Despite the lack of level diversity towards the latter part of the game, everything else has been put into place nicely. The control scheme efficiently uses the PSP's solo analog setup, and there are plenty of different objects, unlockable characters, and presents just begging to be discovered. If you've never played a Katamari game before you owe it to yourself to try this one out, and even if you already have it for PS2 it's still a great game to enjoy on the go.

Overall: 9/10