Quite some time ago, I was told by word of mouth that We Love Katamari was the best of the Katamari games. Such was why I held off on getting the other 3 games in the series that came out after it. Though I have not played Katamari Forever yet, of the original 4 games that all have original level content, I can say that We Love Katamari is definitely the best.
Musically I'm probably the least big fan of this one. It does have some new tracks, but it largely reuses music from the first game. My only gripe with that is that I don't really care for a good chunk of the new tracks, and some of my favorites from the first game (the original Katamari on the Rocks theme, Que Sara Sara) aren't present in this one :/ . It's a tiny gripe, but I gotta throw it out there as it was basically my only real problem with the game.
The controls and physics have been cleaned up a TON from the first game. You don't get thrown around nearly as much, mostly due to better level design and not so much that you can't be thrown around (believe me, you can). You can also climb stairs and surfaces MUCH more easily than the first game (which was a major problem), and you also don't lose items nearly as easily when you bump into stuff. Cleaning up these mechanics really makes the game far more user friendly and fun to play, and very quickly puts it objectively head and shoulders above the original.
Where this game really shines, even over it's console sequel, is level variety. There are quite a lot of stages, but more importantly, they all take place in very different locations. Not only are there just a lot of geographically unique locations that they take place in, but the item variety and mission variety is also good enough that even when you're technically somewhere that you've rolled in before, it doesn't feel like it (This is a problem that SUPER plagues the PSP game, but the 360 game to a lesser extent (which is the biggest shame, because the on-disc DLC really neuters that game's content level :/ )).
Verdict: Highly recommended. If you're gonna play just one Katamari game of the original ones, play We Love Katamari. It has fantastic level variety and mechanics, and is really one of the best presentations you can experience the game's admittedly repetitive gameplay.
Musically I'm probably the least big fan of this one. It does have some new tracks, but it largely reuses music from the first game. My only gripe with that is that I don't really care for a good chunk of the new tracks, and some of my favorites from the first game (the original Katamari on the Rocks theme, Que Sara Sara) aren't present in this one :/ . It's a tiny gripe, but I gotta throw it out there as it was basically my only real problem with the game.
The controls and physics have been cleaned up a TON from the first game. You don't get thrown around nearly as much, mostly due to better level design and not so much that you can't be thrown around (believe me, you can). You can also climb stairs and surfaces MUCH more easily than the first game (which was a major problem), and you also don't lose items nearly as easily when you bump into stuff. Cleaning up these mechanics really makes the game far more user friendly and fun to play, and very quickly puts it objectively head and shoulders above the original.
Where this game really shines, even over it's console sequel, is level variety. There are quite a lot of stages, but more importantly, they all take place in very different locations. Not only are there just a lot of geographically unique locations that they take place in, but the item variety and mission variety is also good enough that even when you're technically somewhere that you've rolled in before, it doesn't feel like it (This is a problem that SUPER plagues the PSP game, but the 360 game to a lesser extent (which is the biggest shame, because the on-disc DLC really neuters that game's content level :/ )).
Verdict: Highly recommended. If you're gonna play just one Katamari game of the original ones, play We Love Katamari. It has fantastic level variety and mechanics, and is really one of the best presentations you can experience the game's admittedly repetitive gameplay.