Basics[edit]
If you haven't played any of the other Katamari games you may be a little confused going into this, so here's some basic info and tips on how to play Katamari.
Your main goal is to "roll a Katamari" of X size (determined in each level) in X amount of time (also determined in each level). At the beginning of each level the King of all Cosmos will tell you your goal along with some other random and usually funny things.
Your Katamari also starts at a different size each level. To roll something into your Katamari you must run into it, however, it must be the same size or smaller than to stick to your Katamari depending on what it is. It takes some experimentation to really get an idea of how to predict what will and what won't stick to your Katamari.
As you roll things up their size adds to the overall size of your Katamari and then it gets bigger and bigger until you reach your goal.
Some levels are structured slightly differently, but for the most part you can roll until the time limit expires. So this means that if you reach your goal of 1m with a minute leftover, you can roll for another minute before the level ends.
When you run into something significantly bigger than you, or something like a wall that it is unrollable, you will crash and lose some things off of your Katamari.
Eternal Mode / Points[edit]
Eternal Mode is a mode you can unlock for each level that lets you roll without a time limit. It makes it much easier to find the cousins and presents and lets you just have some fun rolling super huge Katamari's.
In previous Katamari games Eternal Mode was unlocked by beating levels with a certain amount of time left, but Beautiful Katamari has introduced a new points system in which you are awarded points in each level based on the Kings requests and the ending size of your Katamari.
In each level it is possible to score up to 120pts, although at 100pts you will unlock endless mode for that level. You do not gain points when rolling in eternal mode, but you do get to keep presents/cousins found. When rolling in eternal mode you have the option to stop rolling whenever you choose.
For most levels you need to get about 160% of the levels goal to unlock the endless mode. For example, a level asking for an 8m Katamari may require upwards 12-13m to get 100pts.
After unlocking eternal mode you will be prompted when starting the level if you want to play it, normal mode or time attack mode.
Requests[edit]
Beautiful Katamari has pioneered yet another idea for the franchise and that is requests. At the beginning of each level and throughout the level the King may tell you of different requests that he has. Things like: "collect fancy objects", or "collect nature objects". The better you do at completing his requests the more points you will be awarded at the end.
For most levels you will find that just by beating the level you will end up with what he asked for as your number one collected item. However, there are levels in which he changes what he wants part way through the level so you will need to watch for that as it happens.
Time Attack Mode[edit]
After beating a level you will unlock time attack mode in that level. After unlocking in you will be prompted as to whether you want to play normal mode or time attack mode (and eternal if you have it unlocked).
In time attack mode you are timed to see how long it takes you to beat the level. There are not any direct rewards for beating levels in a certain amount of time (that I have found), but you're times do get posted on Xbox leaderboards and you can compare them with other people.
Collection[edit]
As you collect objects in each level they get added to your collection. The collection has something like 5,000 objects and when you save you can see the % of the collection that you have collected.
When rolling in the level if you look at where it tells you the items name when you roll it up you will see that some of the names are in rainbow writing (most of them if it's your first time through a level), this means that you have collected a new item for your collection you never gotten before. All items of the same type will be in rainbow writing the first time you collect that item type.
Katamari Memorial[edit]
From the Princedom there is a crown on the main land that you can select to go to the Katamari Memorial. In here you'll find things like the CG's, credits, music and the mini-game that you get to play during the ending credits.
Cousins[edit]
In each level there are cousins roaming around that you can roll up in your Katamari. Whenever you get one the King will pop up and say something about the cousin. After collecting a cousin the level as long as you make your Katamari into a planet (and actually beat the level) the cousin will then be found wandering around the Princedom.
If you walk up to cousins wandering around the Princedom and press A next to them you can play as them. As far as I can tell all cousins play the same as the prince as far as speed and maneuverability, the only difference is in the way they look.
After collecting cousins in a level if you replay the level they will be back again and you will be able to collect them again. But it doesn't do you any good after you have already gotten them once.
Presents[edit]
In each level there are also several presents hidden around. They will look like boxes with a ribbon tied around them and some sort of wrapping. They are not normally in the path that you would take to beat a level, but not normally super hidden. In some levels they may be underneath something like a bridge you need to be a certain size to get, but in others they may just be up on a ledge that is slightly out of the way, but not difficult to get to.
After obtaining presents in a level as long as you finish (and beat) the level, just like when getting cousins, you will receive the present to wear. In the Princedom you can go to the big cake in the main area and select 3 presents you have collected to wear around on the Prince (or one of his many cousins). None of these have any effect on you, but some of them look pretty awesome.
Online[edit]
I don't know much about the online play, but I assume it's like the two player versus in which you compete for a bigger Katamari under at time limit. At the end of an online match cookies are awarded to the winner.
Co-op[edit]
Beautiful Katamari has the Co-op mode, first seen in We Love Katamari, in which you and a friend roll the same Katamari, but you each control only half of it.