I know Screen Play touched on it briefly last week, but I can't shake how disappointing Beautiful Katamari is.

Few games manage to impart such joy, happiness and laughter as the original Japanese ball-rolling oddity (and its superior sequel).

But while there's little doubt that virgin players of Beautiful Katamari will experience the same thrill as they clumsily guide their first ever-expanding clump over all manner of wacky objects, for veterans Beautiful is like a wonderful joke told too many times.

A game that challenged and inspired many developers to create more original and innovative interactive delights instead of dull re-releases is itself now being lazily exploited, surely to the chagrin of its original creator Keita Takahashi.

The second game in the series, We Love Katamari, was already aware of the law of diminishing returns, but cleverly sidestepped any possible criticism of hypocrisy with a storyline that basked in the original game's surprising success, serving challenges based upon the demands of fawning admirers. If the game was overly similar to its delightful predecessor, it was because its fans demanded it.

Somehow, it's hard to believe many fans demanded Beautiful Katamari, even if the allure of high-definition visuals and online play that the Xbox 360 offers are obvious drawcards.

But perhaps the irony of such a champion of originality now being dull and conservative is not lost on Namco Bandai. After a marathon level in which you can eventually roll up the entire galaxy, the King of All Cosmos says: "very important knowing when and how to quit - perhaps you could teach us?"

It's sad that this sly in-joke, and the appearance of Xbox 360 consoles in a level in which you must roll over cold objects and avoid hot ones, are rare examples where Beautiful manages to find the wonderful sense of humour of its predecessors.

But the lack of innovation in a game that once was at the vanguard of originality is just not funny at all.