Name: Game: Beautiful Katamari
Genre: Rolling Simulation
Platform: Xbox 360

The King of the Cosmos has launched a tennis ball into outer space and created a black hole that, in turn, devoured the entire universe. That is about as deep as the plot for Beautiful Katamari gets. Once again the Prince is given the duty of collecting different objects in order to rebuild the galaxy.

This is all old and done, but does this high definition version of the popular Katamari series really deliver anything different?

No - and thank god. The formula of these games is tight and pure gaming bliss in the very definition of the word. The plot is as goofy and meaningless as possible, the music is as off the wall and ridiculous as it can possibly be, and the king is as much of the father you never wanted to have as ever.

Little has changed since the original for the PS2 and this budget title running at $39.99 is all it needs to be. The high definition graphics are exactly that. The models and objects aren’t any shinier – there are just more of them. The power of the next generation of consoles was used to make bigger and cooler looking environments with less loading then the last generation.

The Prince will roll up hundreds of people at once with no slow downs as the game cruises at a consistent frame rate. Namco isn’t trying to make new friends with this game; it is just making sure the ones it made stay faithful.

Not to say that there aren’t any additions to the game at all. Multiplayer via split screen and online over Xbox Live give even more ways to roll things up. Competitive multiplayer may not seem fitting to such a casual and simple game but in practice it really does turn out fun and addicting.

Online leader boards also make an appearance so everyone can see the twelve year old Japanese girl who has the biggest Katamari of them all. Not unlike Halo 3 the developers were successful in creating something that took what works and made more of it. There are plenty of levels and unlockables that will keep Katamari fans playing for a long time to come.With a low price and online play this game should roll into your heart in no time.

To sum it up, Katamari isn’t the most innovative game to come out but it is fun and if enjoying a simplistic but fun game is a crime then sue me.