Quick Review: Beautiful Katamari demo on Xbox Live

A demo for the upcoming sticky ball game, Beautiful Katamari, is now available on Xbox Live. The full version is being developed by Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360 and is expected to be released Fall 2007.

The download, available this morning (August 14, 2007), is free and more than 400 MB, so give it 10 minutes or longer to run. The demo is a 3 minute trial of the upcoming game and doesn’t really offer much that is new. The small environment is a mix of water, town, road and filled with familiar objects and sound effects.

The control scheme is the same as the earlier Playstation games, requiring that you use both mini joysticks to roll the ball in any direction. Push both forward to roll forward, one stick forward to turn, etc.

The controls feel a bit more like the original Katamari Damaci (2004) PS2 game which was slightly more sluggish than its sequel, We Heart Katamari released for the PS2 in 2005.

The downfall of the Xbox 360 controller is that the mini joysticks are offset (the left stick is higher than the right, meaning you have to stretch your left thumb a bit further than your right), making it a little less comfortable to play than with the Playstation controller where the mini joysticks are placed in the same place on both sides. it might not matter for a demo but will certain cause some thumb or wrist strain (especially for long-time Katamari fans) after playing for a few hours.

The music, sound effects and colors are all very familiar, with the semi-nonsensical King of the Cosmos periodically interrupting with updates. The good news is that he did mention that the final release will include an online mode.

This latest game was originally being developed for the PS3 but, at E3 2007, was announced to be released for the Xbox 360 (with rumors about a Wii release) and not for any Sony system. Unless the can speed up the roll rate, fans may be wishing it was back on the PS3.

Read [Jigsaw HC] Also Read [Ars Technica]

UPDATE (08/17/2007): I’ve played the demo a few more times and have a few more observations to add. First, I really like the flipping maneuver better in the demo than the older games. It provides a better view of your sticky ball as you flip around and feels like a smoother transition. I also like the timer upgrade. it shows the minutes remaining with a floating arrow that shows your remaining time for that minute. Also, when you hit the final minute, it counts down the seconds in the mini timer instead of of the middle of the screen. The general controls still feel pretty sluggish to me, especially turning, although my wife (who has logged more Katamari hours than anyone I know) didn’t mind it as much as I did.