Today's track is "The Moon and The Prince" by Akitaka Tohyama and Kenji Nimura

Katamari Damacy: the game that took the gaming industry by surprise. Nobody knew what the heck it was or what it was about until they got their hands on it. Even now, there are still people that probably do not know what a “Katamari” is.

The game is pretty simple though, despite all the weird and random things you might see and hear about it. All of the stars disappear from the sky, and it's the fault of The King of All Cosmos. So, he asks his son, The Prince, to go to Earth with the help of sticky balls called Katamari, and roll everything in your path to make new stars. It is really quite fun and addicting; you can spend hours playing this game and not notice at all, it does not get old. Of course, the music helps a lot.

The whole soundtrack to Katamari Damacy is probably one of the best in video game history. It won many awards and it is quite critically acclaimed - there is not a single track on the soundtracks that people do not like. Even though most of the songs are sung In Japanese, they still are captivating and really fun to listen to. There are a wide variety of tracks to choose from too - some are upbeat, some are smooth, some are jazzy, and some are more pop-ish. There is a song for every taste.

It was really tough to choose only one song for this article though, since there are masterpieces like "Que Sera Sera," which has a slow yet upbeat mood to it. There is also "A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic," which will remind you of Swing-style songs. "LONELY ROLLING STAR" is absolutely adorable and catchy, and "The Wonderful Star's Walk Is Wonderful" is quite simplistic, since it does not have lyrics, but it captures you in its rhythm. However, if there is a song that truly stands out from the rest, it is "The Moon and The Prince."

This song captures everything that makes the Katamari Damacy soundtrack great and rolls it into one. It has the calmed yet catchy rhythm, something that you would really like to dance to. It has a really unique style to it, which is something that characterizes all the songs in the soundtrack. It is also a pretty simple song. While the lyrics are not understandable, they are really good. Here is a translated portion:

I don't wanna hear any negative talk coming from your mouths!
It may be tough, but we can't stop now!
We'll draw a peaceful vibration in an arc across the sky!
We'll create an object that won't fail to compete with this planet!

The message to this song is "Don’t give up!" which is kind of the motif of the whole soundtrack if you think about. Some parts in the game are really difficult and maybe even frustrating, but the music pretty much inspires you to go on, even if you do not understand what they are saying. "The Moon and The Prince" is the song that truly captures the essence of the whole Katamari Damacy soundtrack. If you have not played any of the Katamari games, you owe to yourself to check them out - each game has their own soundtrack and they are all really great.

That is all for now, please be sure to check out the Requests Thread on the VOG Forums for suggestions and comments on future ILTS articles!

Until next time, keep on rollin’!