I will try to provide a little strategy guide to go with this video :)
To score well in this minigame it is important to reach the size-up diameters as early as possible, since the stage scrolls faster after a size-up, so sizing up early means more time for fireworks at the end.
It is also important to reach the end at as big a diameter as you can, mainly because the fireworks are bigger if you're bigger. In Hard I find it important to reach the end at exactly 300m or bigger, since it seems the fireworks create bigger size-ups if you reach the end above 300m rather than below 300m. However, to reach Punta's amazing world record would (I think) require reaching the end at considerably bigger than 300m! (I don't know how.)
And it is just as important to get good fireworks; fruit fireworks and football/tire fireworks add more diameter than the others. But as far as I can tell this is random, so it'll probably take more than one attempt to get the size you want.
I make sure I grab the bricks I reach at 2:11, partially to cause size-ups in order to reach the end faster and have more time for fireworks. If you could somehow reach the bricks already big enough so you could get them without backtracking, that would be a huge advantage!
If you can it is quite helpful to grab the big katamari right before the King at the end without shooting it. However, that's something I haven't pulled off in the Hard version. In Normal I often shoot the King from the side of the screen, so I can become large enough to get the katamari by picking up two mini-Kings. This strategy approximately turns a 720-meter attempt into a 750-meter attempt. But in Hard I just shoot that katamari as fast as I can! (to keep it from shooting)
It often doesn't seem to be a big deal if you take one shot every once in a while. However, getting shot multiple times or getting shot near the end can be big trouble.
some major threats:
0:58 - the big pear (4 shots at a time)
1:16 - the big robot (4 shots at a time)
1:30 - Havana (I've seen Havana hang around and keep shooting all the way into space)
1:48 - Marny (4 shots at a time, hard to pick up)
2:08 - the spinning Astro Jet (4 shots at a time right before the bricks)
2:22-2:28 - many things that shoot; if you use my strategy then move forward as fast as possible to avoid letting too many shots appear
2:33 - If this is somehow somebody's favorite katamari stage, then Miki is likely their least favorite cousin. She is the biggest threat of all. She seems impossible to pick up without taking at least four shots, and she shoots four shots at a time, over and over. Plus she's close enough to the end so each shot taken makes a big difference. I have tried playing as Miki, but in that case she is replaced by an Angel who is equally as deadly.
2:38 - the big katamari and vegetables like to push you back into Miki's shots
2:43 - shoot the katamari quickly; if it manages to shoot it's very bad
2:54 - shoot the big whatever-it-is quickly; if it manages to shoot it's very bad
3:02-3:09 - Shoot the soccer ball, katamari and King quickly for the same reason. Make sure you grab two mini-Kings.
... And if you make it to the end at at least 300m with 115-120 seconds left, then you're at the mercy of the fireworks. Fruit fireworks are best, and football/tire fireworks are second best. This time I started out with many mediocre fireworks in a row, but then I had better luck, and I ended with two fruit fireworks in the last 10 seconds (!) so overall it went pretty well. It could go better though; if you reach the end at the same diameter with the same amount of time you could possibly beat this score by quite a bit with better fireworks. But like I said, to reach Punta's world record would require something more :)
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5:12
Beautiful Katamari - ending minigame - 934m88cm9mm on Normalby sloobro680 views
I'm still working on this minigame, lol. In my comments I mentioned that the fireworks seem to make the katamari grow more if you reach the end at 300+m rather than 299m ... now I've reached the end twice at just over 310m, and the fireworks seemed to be worth even a little more. Maybe the fireworks become more valuable every 10 meters.
sloobro 8 months ago