Game Reviews

We Love Katamari
Playing either this game or the original Katamari Damacy from Namco, both for the PS2, is an experience every person should have, gamer or not. It's among the simplest concepts ever developed for the interactive medium—you roll a ball around various environments (such as a school, a zoo, a cloud-filled sky, and a campsite), making the ball bigger as items stick to it, enabling you to roll up even larger objects—but provides fun, compelling gaming that requires virtually no prior experience with video games and is truly ideal for family game nights. Put Monopoly back on the shelf and gather around the television for a bit of Katamari instead. It's wonderfully psychedelic and wacky, with a Japanese-pop-song soundtrack as a bonus. Rated everyone.

Daxter
Daxter is the side-splitting sidekick from Sony's Jak and Daxter franchise, but in this game, he gets what every sidekick dreams of: a chance to star in his own spinoff. The story integrates nicely into the mythology that's already established in the Haven universe, and the game play is straight?forward and simple, which is all I want when playing on the PSP. But despite being simple, the experience is full: Daxter the character walks the fine line between annoying and funny, and Daxter the game is an entertaining, fun experience that made me turn off the television and play handheld. Rated everyone, 10+.

New Super Mario Bros.
Slip back to simple with New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS handheld and have fun with a straightforward game experience. Forget having to coordinate extensive button combinations, and enjoy basic running and leaping. This title is much like Nintendo's first Super Mario Bros., but now you can take it with you. Added value comes from the quick mini games and the multiplayer features. (You can play against friends even if they don't have a copy of the game.) It's the same, but it's been refreshed, and jumping on heads to save the princess has never been more fun. Rated everyone.