Ratchetrospective - Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters

There’s only one Ratchet and Clank Game I never covered during the original Ratchetrospective run, or during sequel month (or a rage review – like with Secret Agent Clank) and that’s Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. It’s the first of the 2 games heralded by High Impact Games, a team that has previous games covered in Rage4Media reviews such is Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier, and Secret Agent Clank. To its credit, Size Matters is better than both of those but we’ve got a way to go to explain why.

High Impact Games was made up of former Insomniac Games employees and were tasked to creating games for Sony’s handheld console of the time, the PSP. The problem is that Ratchet and Clank was a title designed for 2 analogue sticks and 8 buttons, and with the PSP you’re down to 1 analogue stick, and 6 buttons (they cheat to make a 7^th one) this is a problem in both Secret Agent Clank and The Lost Frontier as well.

But enough preamble, let’s take a look at Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters

#50 - Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

It’s been a while since I did a rage review on a game, mostly because of the time investment. Before I’ve gotten around it by watching the plot on the laptop and doing the rest from memory but I assure you I have played this game recently. The sacrifices I make for you…

So, the big 3 star-duos of the Playstation 2 era are Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter and Sly and Bentley, but the only one of the 3 to find much success in the post-PS2 era was Ratchet and Clank. Sly and Bentley did have a PS3 release in Thieves in time but that’s outside of HD remasters, it’s the only PS3 title with just them, with Jak and Daxter, their only PS3 release they star in outside of HD remasters is

  

Oh, my first nemesis. It sucked. Also, they were in that brawl game Battle Royale, doesn’t really count though.

But there was always the PSP, Sony’s handheld console, Jak and Daxter found success with the Daxter title, which is a solid game but then we have the dark sheep of the Jak and Daxter series. This is Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier

Released to surprising critical acclaim, this was the product of High Impact Games, the guys who made Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank, so good hands! This was their last big-name title before they fell and were relegated to only making garbage and mobile games.

Yeah, sure that one was a hit…

Naughty Dog, the original Jak and Daxter team had a few plot ideas from drafts they were doing for Jak IV, but with the PS3 on the horizon and a team working on Uncharted it was decided to ditch it and work on a racing game instead, Jak X: Combat Racing, a surprisingly solid racing game that’s getting a PS4 remaster. So, let’s see how High Impact destroyed it as we take a look.

#25 Secret Agent Clank

Why do I always seem to be 5 out? Anyway this our 205th review

What, no banner? Oh...

Those of you who have followed me since my first review know that I love Ratchet and Clank, I love their colourful environments, inventive weaponry, creative storytelling and the overall fun you get out of playing them.

But like with every good franchise, there’s a black sheep in the family and that comes in the form of a title called Secret Agent Clank.

So, what’s history behind this infamous title? Sony, the owner of the rights to Ratchet and Clank wanted a Ratchet title for their fledgling console, the PSVita, however Insomniac Games, the usual Ratchet and Clank developers were busy working on the Ratchet and Resistance titles for the PS3. So the job was given to a company called High Impact Games. The company was made up of former employees of Insomniac Games so it would seem like the ideal company to make such a game, and they did with Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. It was a fun game in single player and also had a decent multiplayer mode but they had a second Ratchet and Clank title in the works.

Secret Agent Clank was released in 2008 to a decent, if slightly more mixed  reaction. So why do I hate it? Let’s take a closer look.