Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP) review

Before the series made its leap to the PS3, a company called High Impact Games, founded by former members of Insomniac Games, developed an installment in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, the first being on a handheld. How well did High Impact Games succeed in developing this game? Let’s find out.

Story

The story starts with Ratchet and Clank on vacation in Pokitaru. While relaxing, they meet a little girl named Luna who is doing a report on heroes. They agree to help her, but she gets kidnapped by robots. A hint of where she might have been taken was from an artifact they left behind which was made by Technomites, though Ratchet refuses to believe that, as he thinks the Technomites are just a fairy tale. Regardless, they set out to rescue her. They also run into Captain Qwark who is trying to find out who his parents were.

The story isn’t that spectacular, but it does have some interesting plot twists and it continues to deliver its trademark comedy, though I can't remember many funny moments other than Ratchet screaming "THERE ARE NO TECHNOMITES!"

Gameplay

The gameplay remains similar to its predecessors. You can purchase weapons and gadgets by collecting bolts, the game’s main currency. Your weapons and health can be upgraded by collecting experience points from defeated enemies. A new addition to the series are collectible armor pieces scattered throughout the game. Once you collect some armor pieces, you can customize them in the pause menu. Certain combinations can create some cool effects which can benefit the player as they progress.

Clank’s gameplay remains the same as he can still control Gadgebots and give them various commands such as following, waiting, attacking, and entering small holes to open doors.

The grinding sections return, but a little different from its predecessors. Early on in the game, Ratchet is given a shrink ray that allows him to shrink himself to grind and open doors.

There are various types of mini-games like the Skyboard races and the demolition matches with Clank (kind of like the gladiator battles from the previous installments). The demolition matches are okay, but I did not like the Skyboard races. They remind me a bit of the Hoverboard races from the first game, but only less fun with stiff controls. There’s also a rail-shooter mini-game where Giant Clank goes into space shooting at targets. Unfortunately, this is the only time this aspect appears in the game.

Only one Giant Clank section... might as well have been none.

The Titanium Bolts from Up Your Arsenal and Skill Points also make a return. Collecting Titanium Bolts will unlock skins for the player and completing a number of Skill Points will unlock cheats.

This is also the third game in the series to feature multiplayer, with three game modes: Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, and Iron Lombax. I would love to go into more detail about the multiplayer, but I’ve never played it and the online servers shut down last year.

One thing I really like to comment on are the controls and button layouts. For starters, you can turn the camera by pressing both the shoulder buttons, which seems okay and not too troublesome. I was afraid of having a difficult time strafing since there are no L2 or R2 buttons and I found strafing with the D-Pad to be very stiff and it easily hurts your fingers. Thankfully, you can strafe with the analog stick with ease by switching the control options in the pause menu.

Graphics, Level Design, and Sound

I can’t comment much about the level designs, other than that the game looks good overall. I’ll give praise to the Dreamtime stage due to its obvious, dream-like and sometimes trippy nature.

David Bergeaud once again returns to compose the music for the game. As usual, they are really upbeat and still keep the same distinctive musical style that we’ve heard in previous games. The in-game sound effects, on the other hand, were pretty dull, especially in the menus.

Conclusion

Overall, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is a pretty good installment and I have to congratulate High Impact Games for the series’ smooth transition to the PSP. It has the familiar elements we’ve seen in previous installments, but still keeping it fresh and new. Now, I’ve never played the PS2 port, but from what I’ve heard, it’s not worth buying due to glitches and camera problems, hence why the original version makes it worth owning a PSP for.