Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

"Size really does matter!"

Ratchet and Clank Size Matters is our favorite duo's first outing on the PSP. Does the game manage to emulate the series console counterpart? In short, kind of. The game has some of the best values of Ratchet and Clank while also does terrible things due to the awkward control scheme available on the PSP.

Story: 9/10 (its short but sweet)
The story of our heroes starts out as they are on vacation, relaxing on the beach. They meet Luna, a girl who is interested in seeing our heroes in action. Eventually, she is kidnapped by mysterious beings known as technomites and from there, our heroes search in vain for the girl. The story, while not exactly original, is still quite enjoyable. Like past Ratchet and Clank game's, the game manages to keep the game funny.

Gameplay: 9/10 (its alright)
In case you didn't notice, the PSP is missing certain things from the PS2 controller, such as L2 and R2 buttons, as well as another analog stick. However High Impact games managed to make a control scheme that works on the PSP. You can strafe by customizing the controls, in this reviewers case, I used the analog nub as a strafe button, which works really well. The camera is controlled by the and R buttons and does its job, but it'll never be as good as another analog nub could have been. The X button is used to jump, while O button is used for shooting.

The gameplay is exactly like past Ratchet and Clank installments, where you kill enemies and collect bolts while upgrading your weapons into destructive killing machines. By the way, the weapon selection is like past Ratchet games, you've got your Concussion gun, lacerator, and acid bomb glove, and even more weapons. They've kept the awesome leveling weapons system. They also have the armor system, where in this case, players collect pieces of armors in a set, and when they do, the armor has cool extra effects.

The only thing I did not like in the the game's levels is the difficulty and terrible designs near the end of the game. For example, there is this one level where players are expected to wall jump while bullets are coming down, players are supposed to jump onto the bullets in order to gain extra height. This was extremely difficult to do due to just timing and the screen size. Also when one failed and fell all the way down, they would be forced into doing the whole climb again which aggravated me even more. There's also the second to final boss battle, where players had to go through four VERY long sequences and if they died in the process had to do them all over again. That means if they died during the boss battle itself, they'd have to do it again (the sequences part). I do not know why High Impact Games designed the levels like that but I do hope they learn from their mistakes.

I also wanted to mention that there aren't any arena's for Ratchet to fight in this game. Instead the challenges are more towards Clank. There are hoverboard races however with the control scheme on the PSP, it felt terrible to move and made it quite difficult to win in the races.

Sound: 10/10
The sound is excellent, almost exactly like the system counterparts which is quite impressive. All the guns go “boom” and make the sounds they should. The voice actors all return and sound great.

Graphics: 10/10
The graphics are beautiful and really impressive. It looks like the original Ratchet and Clank game and it really showcases the power the PSP can produce.

Replay value: N/A
Upon beating the game, players can do a sort of new game plus where they have a bolt multiplier and can earn money faster than before in order to enhance their weapons to the maximum stage. They can also by the RHYNO. The Platinum bolts are also in the game so you can spend your time finding and collecting those as well. Overall, if you're into that kind of stuff, then you'll love this game. However the game is pretty short and can only last you for so long.

Final Words: 9/10 (not an average)
Ratchet and Clank Size Matters is a great game. If you're a Ratchet and Clank fan and you own a PSP, you owe it to yourself to buy this game. While it is very short, the game is worth owning and can be found quite cheap in the stores. While this is probably the weakest game in the Ratchet and Clank series, I recommend this to very PSP owner. Also I want to point out, you can find this game ported to the PS2 but you should definitely buy the game on the PSP.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/15/09

Game Release: Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (US, 02/13/07)