Some games sound like they're going to be fun from just a simple description of the action. Taking a squad of elite soldiers and infiltrating enemy strongholds, using futuristic weaponry to decimate the ranks of an invading alien army, squaring off against a well-trained opponent in mortal combat, braving the dangers of the dense jungle to find rich treasure: these are all activities that a gamer can immediately identify as having serious fun potential. On the other hand, rolling up household items into a sticky ball over and over and over again sounds more like a punishment handed out by the Greek gods than it does a fun way to spend an afternoon, but as anyone who played Katamari Damacy can verify, it's an entertainment gold mine, providing hour upon hour of goofy addictive gameplay. Now the King of All Cosmos and his diminutive son, the Prince, have returned to roll up more stuff in We Love Katamari, a title that would reek of hubris if it weren't so darn true.

Katamari Damacy came out of nowhere to surprise and delight gamers with its enchanting weirdness, giving the sequel and license-saturated gaming market a much-needed creative kick in the pants. The plot, clearly thought up in the wee hours of the morning when everything seems like brilliance, is that the King of All Cosmos went on a drunken bender one evening, and in his royally intoxicated state, knocked all of the stars out of the night sky. Recognizing the need to remedy the situation, but obviously far too important to do such a menial task himself, he sends the teeny-weeny Prince down to Earth to collect enough raw material from which he can make brand new stars. This entailed the Prince pushing a big sticky ball, the katamari, through the detritus of everyday Earthling life until the ball attained the necessary diameter to please papa. The gameplay of Katamari Damacy was so simple that players of any proficiency level could master the controls almost instantly and would be happily rolling up push pins, acorns, dominos, swans, stop signs, cat statues, eggplants, the Fujiama twins, bears, crowns, seals, boats, bicycles, fences, and anything else that happened to be nearby.

We Love Katamari is smart enough to avoid fixing what ain't broken, and keeps the same gameplay as its predecessor. Once again, the Prince is sent to Earth, but this time it's to fulfill the wishes of the fans of Katamari Damacy, who cry out to the King for favors. It takes serious brass ones to make a game that constantly references how much everyone loves it, but We Love Katamari isn't arrogant or obnoxious; the developers seem genuinely pleased their trippy little budget title made so many gamers happy and they aren't so much bragging as they are calling for a group hug. Although the core game still amounts to pushing a ball around until enough stuff has been collected, the goals have become more varied and complex. Some levels still simply want the Prince to achieve a certain size katamari, but others have him fattening up a sumo wrestler before a match, collecting enough fireflies to make it bright enough for a student to study, cleaning a boy's room, or making a giant snowman. In between levels, we learn a bit more about the King's childhood, his issues with his own father, how he met the Queen, and his love of pompadours and boxing. The correct response to each of these cinemas is to tilt one's head to the side, squint one's eyes, and say "Whaaaa?"

Although Katamari Damacy's visuals were already reminiscent of hallucinogen-created visions, We Love Katamari has improved upon them to make them even more trippingly fantastic. Every environment looks like it was colored by a five-year-old hyped up on sugar, littered with odd shapes and contours that are sure to elicit coos of "Ooo, what's that?" and inspire exploration, if only to see every last wacky item in the level. Such exploration is necessary not only to complete goals in the time allotted, but also to find the Royal Present and Royal Cousin hidden in every level. The Presents are intended for the King, but are too tiny for his massive frame, and so get handed down to the Prince, who, if he has any conscience at all, will do the world a favor and not re-gift them. I mean, the camera is ok, but I really have no need for a giant giraffe hat or super long nose. The Presents don't actually change the Prince's abilities or anything, but accessorizing is always fun, especially since he can now wear more than one item at a time. Once found, the Cousins become playable characters either in single player or versus mode, but they all play exactly the same as the Prince, so choosing whether to use them or not comes down to a simple matter of taste. Players going for the classic Katamari experience should naturally stick with the Prince, but those in the mood for something a little different, say, sparkles or a cow print, have a Cousin to fit their needs.

There's no voice work to speak of in We Love Katamari, but don't think that means the soundtrack is lacking. There's a whole jukebox full of katamari-flavored ditties to choose from, and although each level comes with its own specific theme, players can select their song of choice before starting a new mission. The fact that the songs are a garbled combination of Japanese and Engrish won't stop players from trying to sing along as they roll their way to glory. Want to make some extra cash, Namco? Release a CD of Katamari music. Trust me, we'll buy it.

Katamari Damacy offered multiplayer in the form of Versus mode, and while We Love Katmari has that, too, it goes one step further by offering co-op play as well, but players will have to find one of the hidden Cousins before either option is available. In Versus mode, players compete to roll up the most of a specific item in a set amount of time in one of three arenas. In Co-op mode, the Prince and his Cousin must work in perfect unison to get the katamari rolling at all, which can lead to either laughter-infused entreaties to "No, push it right. Right!" or acrimonious accusations about parentage and intelligence, depending on the personalities of those involved. The multiplayer options aren't nearly as addictive as the single-player game, but they're a nifty addition to the overall package.

One area in which We Love Katamari significantly improves over its predecessor is that of replayability. Although the first game was fun enough to play over and over again, once a level was done, it was done, and the only real point in playing through it again was to try and improve on the previous performance. The goals of completed levels in We Love Katamari change once they've been completed, so if the first time around the King wanted a katamari of a certain size, on the next playthrough, he might want it done in a set amount of time, or ask for a completely new size altogether. Players will be able to revisit levels multiple times without the game feeling stale or worn out, if such a thing is even possible with a game this creative and fresh.

We Love Katamari may just be the most appropriately named game ever made. Because, really, what's not to love? It's one of those beautifully simple games whose brilliance defies simple explanation. What's so fun about rolling up terrestrial objects to please an enormous regent and his fan club? Well…just about everything.