Touch my Katamari is the latest title in the long running Katamari Damacy series. Launching exclusively on the PlayStation Vita, Touch My Katamari takes the series traditional gameplay and adds the ability to use the rear touch panel to squash and stretch their Katamari.

For those not familiar with the series, Katamari Damacy puts players in the shoes of The Prince, who must push a huge sticky ball (called a Katamari) over objects in environments. As more objects attach to the ball, the ball grows bigger. The Prince starts levels rolling up mice and lego blocks, and eventually ends up adding people and other huge objects to his Katamari mass.

Since the series inception, Katamari Damacy has simply been about rolling your character's Katamari over objects in the game world to reach a certain size before a time limit expired. A major part of the series initial appeal was the control scheme, which relied heavily on the layout of the Dual Shock. Players use both analog sticks in unison to control the ball. This control scheme is flawless and has proven itself to be the best way to play, versus using the gyrometer in mobile devices, but they weren't able to replicate it on the PSP version, using the D-pad and face buttons in combination instead. Thanks to the PlayStation Vita's dual joysticks, they've been able to replicate it perfectly on a portable system, but Touch My Katamari takes things one step further: It uses the system's dual touch panels. The front touch screen is used to navigate the Katamari, replacing the need to use the joysticks all the time, but the rear touch panel is used to let the player squash or stretch their Katamari. This allows the player to get into crevices and under objects that they wouldn't be able to in previous games. In addition, if players need to reduce the Katamari back to its original size, a simple tap of the back screen will do just that.

Previous Katamari iterations have attempted to add other objectives, but the series still hasn't been able to substantially improve upon the gameplay of the first title, so this new mechanic is something that promises to add freedom. Now, instead of rolling around and bumping into objects if something doesn't look like it can be immediately rolled up, players can squeeze into smaller spaces to find objects that can expand their Katamari and give them the ability to roll into other parts of the level. It remains to be seen if the ability to stretch the Katamari is essential to completing a level, though.

As with previous Katamari titles, the game's personality is a big part of its appeal, and  Touch My Katamari brings it in spades.  Graphics are bright, colorful, and keep the same blocky art style of previous titles with some of the same enhancements from other current-gen games in the series, such as no loading screen when your Katamari goes through a drastic size change. The soundtrack is a mix of older songs remixed and brand new songs, and it has more of a jazzy feel to it than previous titles.

Touch My Katamari looks to be another well-made title in the Katamari series and brings the HD Katamari experience on the road.  It fixes the problems that plagued the PSP version and adds the most drastic mechanic seen in the series since its inception with the addition of changing the dimensions of the Katamari. Of course, if this new twist will change the overall gameplay of the nearly eight-year-old series that spawned from a budget game is yet to be seen.

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