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You've already made your mind up, haven't you? You've scanned the pages, looked at the pictures and decided that this is one of those weird-assed Japanese oddities that pops up from time to time. You probably imagine it nestling alongside the train-driving games in a Tokyo shop somewhere, next to the schoolgirl-dispensing vending machines. The only reason you've read this far is out of curiosity. We bet you're already holding the page, ready to turn over in search of something more familiar with bullet time and customisable rims, or maybe a Z-list model with her baps out. Understandable, for sure, but a shame nevertheless. Get past the day-glo freakishness of We Love Katamari and you'll find a fantastically entertaining, inescapably addictive game; one that's been crafted from start to finish with one sole purpose in mind: to make you happy.

Everything about this game is inherently stupid, but importantly, it's always fun. Simplicity is the key. All you do is roll a big ball around - the "Katamari" - collecting the clutter that sticks to it. To begin with, you can only gather things that are smaller than your sphere. Most levels start with you collecting sufficient crumbs and pins to make a globe big enough to conquer something as insubstantial as a matchbox. Soon, however, things begin to cascade. Shoes, radios and small animals start to stick; then it's bushes, boulders, bicycles and before long, the money shot - tiny screaming people, frantically waving as they roll past, stuck to your house-sized Karamari.

Why, exactly, are you doing this? Here's the deal. The first game in the series, which never had a UK release, saw the King Of The Cosmos destroying all the stars on a drunken bender. And no, we're not making this up. As boozy cock-ups go, this is far beyond blocking the sink with vomity kebab chunks for your girlfriend to find in the morning. To make amends, Kingy dispatched our tube-headed hero, the Prince, to earth to repair the damage. Using a Katamari, he was able to roll it around, collecting anything that stuck to it and then use the resulting junk-o-spheres to make new stars.

Having sorted out the stars, the King and the Prince find themselves famous and this new adventure picks up with the world full of Katamari fans - hence the title. Now, instead of putting stars back in the sky, it's all about pleasing your new followers. The various characters that appear all have demands for the King. From the relatively sane, like tidying a room by collecting all the rubbish, to the bizarre, such as gathering friends for a lonely dog by capturing all the animals in a zoo, or ensnaring fireflies so a student can study at night.

Whatever the objective, it's all achieved by shoving the Katamari around. The controls work like a tank, with each analogue stick moving one side of the globe, so you push them both forwards to move and pull them in opposite directions to turn. To start with, you're struggling to move, hemmed in by minuscule obstacles. But as you increase your Katamari's mass, the game takes off. Soon you're tackling people, cars and buildings unimpeded, sucking them all up in your wake.

The progression from a tennis ball-sized orb bouncing off people's feet to an all-consuming behemoth the size of an office block is brilliant - equally hilarious and captivating. As you scale up, the levels offer new challenges; you move from rooms to gardens, gardens to streets, streets to cities... Just when you think the novelty of rolling around is going to wear thin, you start to pick up the very scenery around you. The superb music - everything from Lumines-style disco house to smoky, French-flavoured jazz - and sound effects as you roll up things like cows add to the enjoyment.

The only let-down is the size of the game. There are eighteen levels in all, none lasting longer than ten minutes and some environments repeat. Replays mix things up by making you beat your best size or time, starting you in new locations or even skipping 'small' and taking you straight to the people-eating size. It's a shame though that there isn't much more variety. That said, there's so much fun to be had here that the lack of diversity is unlikely to be a deal-breaker. Sure it's simplistic, but it's such a change to play a game that makes no demands other than that you enjoy yourself. There are no tricky moral decisions, no stealth and not a gangster in sight! If you need further convincing on whether to take the risk on this oddball gem, then try this; If it weren't for We Love Katamari's relatively brevity, it would have easily landed 90%.

Graphics 70%
Smartly stylished and full of character.

Sound 90%
Brilliant soundtrack and freaky noises.

Gameplay 80%
Constantly engaging and never dull!

Lifespan 70%
A simple idea hides plenty of replay value.

Overall 80%
A genius piece of eccentric gaming that's a hair's breadth from being indispensable. Utterly entertaining from start to finish.