Katamari Forever: the Bear Cow

I finally got round to tackling the last few items I had left on Katamari Forever this weekend, and most importantly catching that illusive bear cow mutant. Judging by the rest of the game I thought it would be a quite simple task, and it was just a matter of finding it – how wrong was I?

The bear cow can be found in the cow/bear planet, and is under the “fantasy” category of the collection.

As you can see when you start the cow bear world – they’re everywhere, so you have to be incredibly careful. Most of the items you cannot collect are fairly obvious – but there are some you should look out for, it is the most irritating when you get to 9meters in size and you pick up an item you didn’t think would end your spree.

The two to most look out for is the bear car, and the ox – at least, these were the ones that caught me out a few times.

Location:

The bear cow flies around the level, but the best place to catch it is in the river that passes through the level. This way you can wait for it in a fairly safe place with only a cow umbrella to worry about (or a bear in a box if you are below 8m, but at this size you will not be able to pick up the bear cow)

Path to take around the level:

I tried various methods of going around the level but the one that worked for me in the end is this: When you start, turn 180 and follow the path right, avoiding the cow hidden behind the tree and the bear statues along it. Once you have done this and reached the top of the hill, collect a few items until you can collect the woman and child by the barn. Once I had got to this stage I made my way to the road, as there is loads of items on there, and it takes one or two full circuits to get most of the items.

When going around the road, there are a few things you have to look out for – the cow cones are lethal, as they are incredibly small so easy to miss and pick up by accident. There is also a line of cow people along a section of the road, near a bridge – and a cow on stilts, which is easily the most awkward.

Once you have done a few laps of the road, you should be big enough to collect the unicorns at the top of the level – and they are easy to get to as they are near where you enter the road in the first place. You have to be very careful not to get the cow, but the unicorns add a lot of size to the katamari so it is worth it. Also on this island is a set of cannons that you should collect.

After clearing this island of all the objects you can pick up, very carefully drop into the sea where all the floating logs and boats are – being careful not to hit into the swimming polar bears. After getting as many of these as you can without jeopardizing the round, follow the island right to the set of rocks which you can pick up, and continue making your way along the coast picking up what you can. I found the coast the easiest place to pick up size because although it is spread out, there are not as many bears/cows to end your mission.

Once you think you have achieved all you can in the sea, make your way round to the area with the stalls and the wrestling area as there is quite a lot of items available. I only picked up items in the main square, as there are some small bears and cows dotted around. You can pick up the stalls along the side by the sea, but I wouldn’t attempt the others as the people behind it are cow/bear people.

Once you have done all this you should nearly be the right size to collect the bear/cow, about 8 meters, so make your way back to the center island. There are a few cows walking around here and a bear playing a piano, so be slow when traveling around this area. The two main items to collect is all the sheep and trees on the island, and the giant pile of rocks. The rocks you have to be careful with as there can often be a bear at the top of the pile – so make sure you move out of the way, or you could be starting again.

Once you have gained the 8 meters you need, go back to the river and face the bridge that the bear/cow cow/bear comes from (the one with the cow-umbrella). I found that speeding the katamari in attempt to catch it results in flying past the bear cow and into the umbrella or another item, so it is just easier to try and roll into it. Before it arrives, stay as far back as possible so that it comes out of the bridge a long way. Hopefully these tips help you catch that evil bear cow, good luck!

This is all to change with update 3.0 when trophies will be still be kept in lists, but when you view your trophies for a game, it splits them into two folders, Base and add on.

So there we have it, win win! sony have finally seen the light on that one!

the full 3.0 firmware update details are listed below:

Coming September 1st:

• “What’s New” – The “Information Board” will be replaced with a “What’s New” section, which allows you to enjoy interactive PlayStation news every time you start the PS3 system. Located under the PlayStation Network icon, “What’s New” displays the latest and greatest game, video, PlayStation Network and PlayStation news and releases, as well as your recently played games, in a sleek, new animated format.
• Status Indicator – In the top right corner we’ve added an indicator bar, which displays your user icon, friend icon, the number of friends you have online and a small message icon to let you know if you have any new messages. The indicator also includes a scrolling ticker that features the latest news from PlayStation Network. In addition, when you press the PS button, the battery life indicator will no longer cover up the clock.
• Friends List – Now your PlayStation Network friends will appear in a slightly redesigned format on your Friends List. Also, messages will now be viewable from each of your friends’ respective profiles.
• PlayStation Store Shortcuts – We’ve added a handy shortcut icon to the PlayStation Store under both the Game and Video categories so you can access the latest content quickly and easily.
• Personalization – Personalize your PS3 with new dynamic custom themes and avatars. Dynamic themes as well as free and premium avatars will be available through PlayStation Store. A dynamic theme takes your screen to a whole new level as it incorporates animated objects into the background.
• Trophies – Showcasing your hard earned trophies just got better. Update 3.00 gives game developers the ability to modify how they display trophies for add-on content. Base and add-on game trophies will continue to be combined into a single list so you can see where you stand in a game as a whole. Within that list, trophies will be broken out into subcategories—base trophies and add-on trophies—that way, you can easily view the percentage of your base game trophy collection, and separately track your trophy progress in add-on packs. Look for this enhancement to be included in upcoming games.

However, Shu Yoshida, Senior Vice President at Product Development at SCEA doesn’t seem to agree with Lempel, saying PSP Trophies are “under discussion,” although agreeing with his colleague’s view in this month’s Official PlayStation Magazine (US) that “there are some technical challenges.” Nobody from Sony’s said, to my knowledge, whether Trophies on the PS3 have helped attach rate, but surely with Store downloads (and no piracy) there’d be a lot more PSP titles shifted.