- Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
- Available on: PSP - PS2
- More information: wikipedia
- Cover scans: mobygames - thecoverproject
- FAQ's/cheats: gamefaqs
- Press reviews: ign - gamespot - gamespy - gametrailers
Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.
Animated blood: An crab-like enemy on the first level explodes into a moderate amount of green goo when you destroy them. The goo disappears in under a minute, and all enemy bodies disappear in a few seconds. Beyond this, there are only colorful firework-like particle effects when you hit or shoot an enemy.
Fantasy violence: (This game is set between 1 and 2 of the series) After defeating Drek (main villain in first game), and saving the galaxy, Ratchet (the main character, who resembles a cat, with ears similar to the Star Wars character, Yoda) and Clank (his side-kick: a small robot with a personality/appearance that falls somewhere between C3PO and R2-D2 from Star Wars) are in need of a little vacation. While they lounge on the beach, a little girl named Luna approaches Ratchet, and asks if she can get input from him, as she's writing a school reports on heroes, specifically Ratchet. After he agrees, Luna is soon captured by a forgotten race of beings known as the Technomites. These Technomites were once thought to be a myth; parents told children they were responisble for establishing (and making) all the technology in the galaxy. It turns out they're very real, and they're angry that people haven't been giving them credit for all their work. Time to save Luna, and stop the Technomites...
The story itself is full of silly and clever humor. For example: While speaking to Luna, Clank notices Qwark spying on them in the distance. Clank approaches Qwark and says, "Qwark?!" Qwark replies, "Clank! What a coincidence! What are you doing here?!" Clank replies, "I am trailing Ratchet and Clank, to see what they are doing, so I can join them on their next adventure." Qwark then responds, "Hey! That's what I'm doing!" So, compared to the other games in the series, the story's tone is far less sarcastic, and leans more towards silly, making it (in this respect) the most kid friendly of the bunch.
The violence is very fantastical, with mass explosions, crashes, constant fire from the enemy, and pretty much utter mayhem and frantic chaos. Although you fight a variety of wild creatures, the majority of your enemy consists of many different types of robots. Ratchet will be fighting these enemies with a couple dozen (and fully upgradeable) weapons. The majority of these weapons have exaggerated and ridiculous fire-power, like a flamethrower, a rocket launcher, a gun that sucks in enemies like a vacuum, and even a gun that turns enemies into cows. Ratchet can also attack enemies with his wrench. When Ratchet disposes of an enemy, it will explode into a cloud of bolts (the game's currency), metal (if a robot), colorful firework-like particle effects, and/or puffs of smoke. Beyond this, the overall tone of violence is pretty mild, the cutscenes' action is comparable to Looney Toon's over-the-top antics, and the actual gameplay is more mild than the sometimes chaotic and moderately violent cartoons kids watch today.
Content-wise: Kids 7+ could maybe play around in one of the early levels, and they could also watch an older sibling play it, no problem. But, other than this, the controls, camera, enemies, and overall gameplay are far too hard for this age group.
Difficulty-wise: The base formula in every Ratchet and Clank game is: land on a planet, destroy all enemies in your way, get to the other end of the planet, watch a cutscene, find a clue about what planet to go to next, and repeat. During these missions you'll mostly be shooting and hitting things, but you'll also be jumping and hovering (with the help of Clank) from platform to platform, collecting bolts (the game's currency), grinding on rails, walking on magnetized walls, swimming, flying, and many other things during the course of the game.
The default controls consist of circle button to shoot, X button to jump (tap X twice for double jump, and hold it to hover), square button to swing your wrench, hold triangle button for quick weapon select, left-stick to move, L & R triggers to move camera left/right, D-pad to strafe, and select for first-person view (where you can't move, but you can look up and down in this mode--you can't do this in third-person). Ratchet can also high jump and long jump. These are the base controls, and change slightly during the swimming and flying portions.
