‘We Love Katamari’ takes ball-pushing to new heights

“We Love Katamari”

••• out of four

PlayStation 2,

$24.99

Rating: E (Everyone)

Hey, you pick the words to describe “We Love Katamari.” Weird? Yep. Maniacal? Sure. One of the most whacked-out titles you’ve played in a long while? Absolutely.

This game has archaic graphics, old-fashioned text balloons and one of the most basic themes you’ll find in a video game. You roll around a ball and pick up stuff. That’s it. Now if that isn’t normally the prelude to a nice nap, then you must be swilling too much morning joe.

But here’s the thing: “We Love Katamari” makes this very simple objective so entertaining that it keeps you sitting bolt upright. Those of you who played last year’s surprise wonder “Katamari Damacy” know what I mean.

The new game is very much like the old, or I would give “We Love Katamari” four stars. There is an expanded two-player mode for cooperative play and battling, and the point-of-view camera, which got stuck sometimes in the older version, is improved.

Now I don’t normally applaud sequels that toss in only a couple of new features. But this game is still so out of the ordinary that it’s worth your dime.

You play the king’s son; the king is a likable, boastful nut-job. The premise is a tongue-in-cheek play on the first game’s success: Fans who “loved” the first game appear in the second, begging you to roll a ball – called a katamari – for them. The king sends you to places like people’s homes, outdoors and even underwater, which is new in this version.

You push around the katamari collecting items, starting with small stuff like paper clips, flowers and fish. As you progress, you load up on even bigger things like giant frogs, people and buildings. Eventually, your katamari can get so large that you roll up the sun.

Now does that sound worthwhile or what? Coupled with the sideshow dialogue of the king, who prattles on nonsensically about things like his boxing prowess, and a soundtrack that runs from Vegas-like show tunes to opera – well, darn it, you’ve got one big, juicy ball of lunacy.

Hey, you pick the words.

But here are mine: crazy fun.