It is cause for celebration that we are about to receive Ratchet & Clank: A Dimension Apart on PS5, being the new installment of a saga with a lot of tradition within (almost) all PlayStation consoles. And we say “almost” because only the first PlayStation was lost , when it debuted on PS2 in 2002. Yes, almost two decades.
It was the other great platforms that PS2 had together with Jak & Daxter , although it currently wins by a landslide due to the high number of deliveries received since then with this couple created by Insomniac Games. Let’s see its evolution .
In search of the ideal mascot for the PS2 console
Although the time of pets sounds old at this point, it could be said that the first PlayStation was the last to join the bandwagon emulating Nintendo (Mario) and SEGA (Sonic) with the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, by Naughty Dog . There were quite a few suitors at that time , even from Sony itself (Kuro y Toro; in Japan), but there is consensus when talking about Crash as that icon.
However, each Sony console was changing its mascot in a certain way, although the figure of “mascot” as such no longer had the same impact or claim as in the nineties, the one of its greatest apogee. And in relation to PS2, said dispute was held by the aforementioned couples between Jak & Daxter (2001) and Ratchet & Clank (2002). It’s funny, because they had a very similar journey: shared prominence and five chapters each on PS2. There was only one experiment after the Jak & Daxter trilogy, the fourth chapter being a speed game ( Jak X: Combat Racing ). But let’s go back to the duo of Ratchet and Clank on PS2.
The first video game of this couple created by Insomniac Games surprised by moving away from traditional 3D platforms by introducing elements of third-person shooter . Knowing the studio, it was not something strange, since his debut was an FPS (Disruptor) and his previous pet (Spyro the Dragon) “shot” fire from his mouth as a dragon. So Ratchet was the logical step.
On the one hand we had a feline humanoid of the Lombax race, who was also mechanical (important fact, as there are many nuts and bolts used as a bargaining chip throughout the saga); and on the other side a tiny robot (Clank). One provides agility and strength, while the other provides brain. Something that has been emphasized and polished throughout successive deliveries.
Its sequel, under the name Ratchet & Clank: Totalmente a Tope en España, took only a year to come out and surpassed its predecessor in everything, especially in the significant increase in the number of weapons or in the minigames available.
Insomniac Games was at a game rate per year, seeing how Ratchet & Clank 3 came out in 2004 to continue spreading the legend of this couple, where their villains and secondary characters began to gain more weight, such as Doctor Nefarius or Captain Qwark. In addition, the possibility of improving weapons by using them continued to be promoted, which resulted in the most addictive.
Only Ratchet: Gladiator (2005) was a slight disappointment for a certain sector of the public, by betting on a darker tonality, in part to emphasize more if possible its shooter game component, without so much presence for the classic platforms. Now, Sony was very interested in growing the saga and from there came Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters on PSP in 2007, with a subsequent conversion to PS2 in 2008. It was the first Ratchet & Clank for a portable console of Sony, being appreciated that the joint protagonism between both characters was maintained, unlike Ready at Dawn when it picked up the baton from Naughty Dog to create Daxter on PSP in 2006, in search of Jak. Of course, High Impact Games did not miss the opportunity to star Clank in that 2008 Secret Agent Clank on PSP, James Bond style.
PS3 gave rise to a great variety of Ratchet & Clank
The generational change would occur in 2007 thanks to the potential of PS3. But Ratchet & Clank: Armed to the Teeth did not accompany the new outgoing console (PS3 debuted in late 2006), instead it came out just a year later. And luckily it was a notable leap between generations, despite that first period in which Sony opted for the SIXAXIS remote control. Although it did not take long for this Ratchet & Clank to be compatible with the more complete DualShock 3, already with vibration.
Insomniac Games’ stage with PS3 was extremely productive , contributing six installments of Ratchet & Clank, skipped with the birth of another IP (Resistance). The problem is that with so much video game the quality of the saga was diminishing little by little until it needed a break after the Ratchet & Clank: Nexus of 2013, the year where it coincided with Fuse, another experiment of the study.
To put it in perspective, Insomniac Games threw itself fully into the competition ( it had always worked almost exclusively for Sony ), giving a new generational handover through Sunset Overdrive in 2014 for Xbox One. A fun, colorful and vindictive game that sounds strong now at Sony, ironically.
But going back to Ratchet & Clank , from 2007 to 2013 it had six installments for PS3 in which the exhaustion of the saga began to be noticed by not providing interesting ideas, without being bad games per se . Only Ratchet & Clank: Trapped in Time (2009) managed to stand out above all, without being a revolution in terms of mechanics, where Ratchet & Clank: All for One (2011) took the worst part, although at least they enjoyed cooperative for four people.
Ratchet & Clank: In Search of Treasure (2008) and Ratchet & Clank: QForce (2012), the latter also on PS Vita, failed to shine even though they had their moments of great fun. It’s funny, because the saga had an important name dizziness between regions. Without going any further, QForce was known in the United States as Full Frontal Assault, while the first installment on PS3 was called Tools of Destruction, which is not translated by the “Armed to the Teeth” seen here.
Let’s not forget, in any case, that PS3 also featured the remastering of the first PS2 trilogy, also arriving on PS Vita two years later.
A remake as a reboot and an optimistic future
After exploiting the saga in just over a decade with a dozen games (not counting mobile phones and the aforementioned remastering), as much as some were not the work of Insomniac Games, such as its debut on PSP thanks to the High Impact Games studio, the saga would return with great force in 2016 through PS4 thanks to a remake as a reboot in which it returned to its origins . His name was already a declaration of intent, simply calling himself Ratchet & Clank.
Moreover, this exciting release, whose quality was undeniable , was accompanied by a homonymous film that same year. Although the video game was far superior, of course. At the graphic level, it represented another generational change, appearing to be facing cinematics in motion. But it is that at the playable level it was another important leap compared to the first Ratchet & Clank , which has not aged as well as it should, especially due to the use of the camera. And it had many extras.
Unfortunately, his stage on PS4 was very short-lived , as that was his only game. But we hope that this trend will change radically after the release of Ratchet & Clank: A Dimension Apart on PS5, which looks tremendous.
- PS3
- PS2
- Adventure – Platforms
- PS4
- PS5
