Lets add in some lyrics in this one, shall we? Today’s song is from We Heart Katamari, Katamari on the Swing, composed by Yu Miyake and Yoshihito Yano, and sung by Shigeru Matsuzaki. This song is easily one of my favorite video game songs, trumping well over the more popular theme music — Katamari on the Rock — due to a better singer and lyrics.

If We Heart Katamari was summarized in one word, it’d be “weird”. Coming from a newcomer game developer, Keita Takahashi, We Heart Katamari acted as a direct sequel to the sleeper PS2 hit, Katamari Damacy. In fact, from the story standpoint, it even makes references to this. We Heart Katamari starts directly after Katamari Damacy ended: once the stars in the galaxy were restored (long story), the first game had such a huge fan-base, The King of All Cosmos and his son, Prince, decides to fulfill their many requests and favors.

To say We Heart Katamari is a surreal game is really under-selling it. The game’s objective is to roll a Katamari, a gravity ball that can pick-up objects smaller than itself, and make it as big as possible within a time limit. The more junk the Katamari picks up, the bigger it becomes. Consequently, the Katamari is able to pick up larger objects, allowing it to grow in size exponentially. Therein lies the charm of the game: it can pick up anything and everything. No ifs or buts. The art direction is certainly worth taking a look: it makes numerous jokes and references, including things like King Kong, Godzilla, Ultraman, etc. To take the words from another reviewer, We Heart Katamari is a game telling a big, hilarious joke with a stern, serious straight face.

While We Heart Katamari is a old game for the PS2, which may not bode well for many of the audience, its sequels are available on iTunes, Xbox 360, PS3, and the PSP. I definitely recommend giving it a shot. It’s an innovator that redefined the gaming landscape.

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Extra!

Title: Katamari On The Funk (Senor Coconut’s “Katamambo!” remix)
Game: Katamari Forever
Composer: Yu Miyake, Naotaka Higashiyama
Remixer: Señor Coconut
Vocals: Katamari Soul Train

Title: Overture II
Game: We Love Katamari
Composer: Yu Miyake, Asuka Sakai

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Since the last two were from Japan, this poses a nice opportunity to contrast it with a US composition. Introducing a cinematic music from World of Goo: Best of Times by Kyle Gabler.

World of Goo is a game made by two people. It’s available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Steam, and WiiWare. Kind of like Portal and Angry Birds, World of Goo is a unique physics-toying puzzle game where gelatinous creatures called Goo are used to create structures such as bridges and towers. When the structure reaches the goal, represented by a pipe, sucks in the left-over Goos for scoring. If it gathers enough Goos, you pass the level, and proceed to the next one.

The plot of World of Goo revolves around a company called Goo Corporation, which converts Goos into various products. Noticing the number of their denizens are rapidly decreasing, the leftover Goos devises a plan to overcome the powerful corporation. Regularly making fun of itself, it’s a funny game with an unusually serious story.

For a game made by two people, World of Goo has some of the best music, and a unique art direction. The theme per level changes frequently, going from beautiful sunset at one point, a shiny red carpet next, and a gray, ashy corporation. Furthermore, every level is carefully designed to introduce new Goos one at a time, while progressively increasing the difficulty. The game rarely feels difficult, and is quite generous in your progression, such as allowing you to skip levels a limited number of times.

I highly recommend it for anyone interested in gaming.

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Extra!

Title: World of Goo Beginning
Game: World of Goo
Composer: Kyle Gabler

Title: Red Carpet Extend-o-Matic
Game: World of Goo
Composer: Kyle Gabler

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Today is another A Capella from Pop’n Music Iroha, Magical Voice Shower by Ucchies.

As the video suggests, Pop’n Music is a Japanese Music Arcade machine that barely predates Dance Dance Revolution by a few months. The game is played by pressing a whooping 9-button controller at the right time. Yeesh!

Otherwise, the game plays a lot like Dance Dance Revolution. You choose a character, play a song selection or a series of songs, and fight against other characters for beat-superiority. Concepts such as performance ranking and combo tracking are practically the same.

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Extra!

Title: Tsuki yuki ni mau hana no youni
Game: Pop’n Music Iroha
Composer: (Can’t find it!)
Comments: Originally appears in a Beatmania IIDX series. This is a shortened version of the original song.

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Today is the part optimistic, part melancholy Opening Credits Theme from the free horror game, Yume 2kki. It’s an extremely disturbing game that explores a schizophrenic mind.

Yume 2kki is an interesting game, partly because its developed by numerous Japanese collaborators from 2chan, and partly because the game is still incomplete. An unofficial sequel to the cult indie hit, Yume Nikki, Yume 2kki has a plot similar to Inception: a shut-in girl named Urotsuki, who’s unwilling to (or unable to) exit from her apartment, goes to sleep often to travel into her dreams. Within the dreams, Urotsuki must collect a series of items called “Effects,” which as its named implies, causes various things to happen to the character.

Yume 2kki is an artsy game. It is neither a traditional game, nor a traditional horror. Most Effects, such as Stretch that turns you into a Slenderwoman, serves only one, limited purpose. There are no enemies (in a traditional sense), and likewise, there’s no way to die in the game either. The game’s main draw is its environment: like real dreams, it’s trippy. Sometimes, the stage looks familiar and recognizable, such as the Hospital. Other times, it’s hypnotic, like the Marijuana Goddess stage. And yet, sometimes, it’s horrifyingly alien; sexually suggestive (though not depicted), bloody, and all. Like dreams, the same door rarely leads to the same place, and many events occurs by mere chance. The more you travel through the world, the more you realize how deranged Urotsuki’s dreams are, and consequently, how mentally unstable Urotsuki herself is.

Yume 2kki is definitely not for the weak-hearted and the impatient. Curiosity (in a horror sense) is what drives the game, and if that doesn’t motivate you, I really cannot recommend the game. If you do want to play it, however, this wiki has the instructions to install the game on an English Windows computer.

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Extra!

Title: MOTHER Area (currently, this is the only title I can find)
Game: Yume Nikki
Composer: Kikiyama

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In Google+, I started a weekly post of video game music. I figured I’d share them here:

I typically like posting little known games and/or music to retain variety, but since this is the first post, I shall start with a bang!

Update 4/17/2020: Introducing, Cara Mia Addio, from Portal 2! An opera that sings of high praise — and a little sadness — of our heroine, all versed in beautiful Italian. Note that the original September 2011 post had a remix of the tune, but I don’t see that up on Youtube anymore, so the original track it is.