PS2 Ratchet and Clank Megathread!

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Deadlocked is becoming my favorite Ratchet PS2 game but I'm not sure if I'll be able to look past the reuse of levels. The first game is superb and the sequels pretty good.

Eh. I’m fine with level reuse if they justify it well. I look at it from the perspective of a dev, where the ability to reuse assets helps make the development easier. And, if they can justify it in the game’s own world, I’ll turn a blind eye.

Love me some Deadlocked. It’s one of those games that makes you realize how much Ratchet as a series benefits from having some bite to it. And it’s done much more maturely than game 1 (love ya’ Ratchet 1. No shade.)

 

[Iracunda]

Going from modern Ratchet and Clank, (ps4/ps5) to Deadlocked was like a slap in the face. I got so much nostalgia for a game I didn't get to play as a kid. It felt new, but like a classic R&C idk.

 

[BigNerdSam]

Just got my Retrotink, loaded up my Ratchet Deadlocked save from 2010 (which now says 2000 because the CMOS died) and we are so back.

No I will not play on any difficulty below the hardest. We die in two hits with max nanotech like men.

 

[Your_Homie_Gale]

I LOVE Ratchet and Clank on the PS2. I had all 3 games plus Deadlocked, and for about 2 years of my childhood it was all I played on the PS2. I especially loved that each sequel gave you bonus content for having a save file from the previous game, like new weapons or a discount. The humor was something that flew over my head as a kid, but when I replayed them as an adult I could not stop laughing. Up Your Arsenal and Deadlocked are tied for my favorite gameplay and mechanics, Going Commando has my favorite side characters and levels, and the original has my favorite moments plus writing. I sadly never got into the PS3 games because I missed out on them, plus I always had bad experiences with the PS3 (I've had 3 PS3s that experienced hardware failure). Kinda wish I finished Tools of Destruction as I was beginning to enjoy it.

I did also play and platinum the reboot for PS4. I thought it was fun gameplay wise, but man was I disappointed with the story. It felt like a watered down Ratchet and Clank even if I replayed it like 3 times. Don't regret going for the Platinum as I did enjoy my time.

 

[Deleted member 257420]

 

[Deleted member 526220]

A huge open world of Rachet and Clank that would be great

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24's icon TamagotchiTamaHero24 TamagotchiTamaHero24]

A huge open world of Rachet and Clank that would be great

Maybe not “HUGE” but there have been some pretty big levels in the series and that’s been good enough for me!

Post automatically merged: May 6, 2025

Ratchet is my “fast movement stim” game. I spent so much of my game time doing long jumps to get around faster lol

 

[Iracunda]

A huge open world of Rachet and Clank that would be great

If I remember correctly the closest thing we got to that was flying around to different planets manually in "A Crack in Time". Shoulda let us fly upside down. But I can see a kind of No Mans Sky type of thing in R&C.

 

[Bomberman]

I like the original PS2 trilogy a lot. Replayed on PS3 years ago but never played Deadlocked.

The PS3 and PS4/PS5 games have the gameplay down but are lacking tonally with the greatness of the OG trilogy.

I also miss the old art direction but the new one isn't necessarily bad just pixar esque

 

[JusticeAvenger]

I like the original PS2 trilogy a lot. Replayed on PS3 years ago but never played Deadlocked.

The PS3 and PS4/PS5 games have the gameplay down but are lacking tonally with the greatness of the OG trilogy.

I also miss the old art direction but the new one isn't necessarily bad just pixar esque

I agree wholeheartedly. Seen many fans express that online. We'll always have the classics! Four awesome PS2 games is more than most.

 

[Spyrone]

I love the Ratchet & Clank series. It's consistently been my favorite platformer series since the first released, and it's one of two platformers I consistently go back and play through a chunk of the series yearly (1-3 + Size Matters, the other franchise being my namesake). My favorites are probably Going Commando and A Crack In Time. I haven't played Rift Apart yet, but I've got it wishlisted on Steam. I also love that the series is basically a cyberpunk dystopia with atompunk aesthetics, with a corporate war being mentioned in the backstory of Going Commando and central galactic government in Up Your Arsenal only appearing after Drek Industries started a galactic war that destroyed several planets and invaded Gadgetron's HQ and flooded it.

I recommend Deadlocked! It's very different but very fun and has a lot more of that biting satire that Ratchet 1 has, which is sadly not as present through the rest of the series. I had to come to accept that fact, but also it helped me appreciate the games that had it even more while allowing me enjoy the ones that didn't.

Y'know, I honestly have avoided that one for the longest time because of it being an arena shooter. I remember playing a demo of it back when it first released, when I was in elementary school, and thinking "what the hell, this is just the arena levels turned it to the whole game, what a bunch of bull". But, now that you've mentioned the satire from the first game is present, I'm probably going to check it out. That's the one thing most of the other parts of the series is missing- all the other mechanics (and the other characters, Dr. Nefarious and Qwark in particular being consistently great) consistently improved but Ratchet became such a lame hero cliche.

 

[Iracunda]

I like the original PS2 trilogy a lot. Replayed on PS3 years ago but never played Deadlocked.

The PS3 and PS4/PS5 games have the gameplay down but are lacking tonally with the greatness of the OG trilogy.

I also miss the old art direction but the new one isn't necessarily bad just pixar esque

I just want them to bring the original composer back. All the music after the original ps2 games is so forgettable.

 

[KittenLikeYou007]

Ah, Ratchet & Clank! I really loved this series. I first discovered it back in the day with the very first game, Ratchet & Clank 1, thanks to a playable demo in PlayStation 2 Magazine, which included a compilation of demos on disc. Later, I bought the complete collection of all the Ratchet games for PlayStation 2. My favorite is the first one, out of nostalgia, but the best is definitely the third, which I absolutely loved.

 

[Spyrone]

I've been a fan of the series for a very long time, and I recently picked up Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart for the PC on Steam. I have to say it is now my favorite for the series. It has the tightest gunplay out of all the Ratchet & Clank games, the funniest story (I've enjoyed Dr. Nefarious as always, but new characters like Emperor Nefarious, Junkbot, Glitch, Rivet and Kit are a welcome addition). Emperor Nefarious being actually competent and British-accented but still villianous douchebag was great, Glitch is like a homage to the Tachikomas from GiTS, Rivet gives me major Krystal vibes (the female vixen from Star Fox) in a good way, Junkbot's banter and relationship with Juice is pretty disturbing and funny, and Kit's extreme neuroticism are all well-done. I've also enjoyed the soundtrack and the amount of crazy homages to other Sony and/or Insomniac titles from Sly Cooper and Jak and Daxter to Uncharted and Sunset Overdrive. It's too bad Universal owns the Spyro and Crash copyrights, because I feel that the Morts and Trudi were aching for a crossover with those franchises. The guns are all still great- there's returning favorites like the Warmonger and the Agents of Doom and new stuff like the Topiary Sprinkler and Mr. Fungi glove (I guess the only place left to go for that category of weaponry was plant and fungal based weapons, since sheep, chickens and everything else has already been done). I'm really enjoying it.

I'm also replaying Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando at the same time, which remains my favorite out of the old ones. It's kinda funny that it's space dogfights are far deeper and more well done than A Crack In Time's for the PS3.

 

[TacoMeister]

One of my first PS2 games was Ratchet & Clank and I loved it!

The world is beautifully crafted, the weapons were fun to use, the platforming is tight and I love the humor.

 

[NisenWasTaken (NWT)]

Ratchet & Clank for the PS4 is my favorite.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Tools of Destruction is my favorite overall. Up Your Arsenal is a very close second.

I like some of the others ones too like R&C Future Quest for Booty (love those pirates!). R&C: Into the Nexus. All 4 one is a surprisingly good one. It's like a Ratchet and Clank arcade game. I wish I could play it in an arcade cabinet. Deadlocked is also great as a different take on the formula.

I guess you could say those are my favorite installments.

 

[reakain]

I love Ratchet and Clank. We picked it up because of the commercials they ran for the original game, which were incredibly silly. (Specifically the chicken converter and suck cannon commercials) I think the original is still my favorite, but I don't think I've ever played a bad ratchet and clank?

 

[Maximecool]

Ah, Ratchet & Clank!!! truly one of the biggest highlights of my childhood!

The original trilogy was amazing, and while I have a lot of nostalgia for the first game, I still can’t decide whether I prefer the second or the third.

Honestly.. Insomniac made the right choice moving on from Spyro (even though they originally created it on PS1). For me, Ratchet & Clank was the perfect evolution.

I haven’t played the latest entry since I didn’t own a PS5, and even now that it’s available on Steam, I’m a bit hesitant. I’m afraid I might be disappointed if they’ve added too many “modern” elements that change the spirit of the original games. Rivet is cute, sure but that’s not the main thing I’m looking for in a Ratchet game.

 

[Danieru-Emanyueru]

I like this game I can still remember when the PS3 version came out I was really excited about the graphics.

 

[Kamomedan]

The Ratchet & Clank series is a childhood favorite of mine and so many memories were made while I grew up with them. My favorite is Going Commando but I love just about every game in the franchise. Rivet is very cute :)

 

[Ibbie]

Ratchet & Clank, my beloved.

I remember when the Ratchet & Clank Trilogy collection came out, me and a close friend of mine was so psyched that we got to play the original games on modern consoles. It was a sight to behold, like kids entering the candy store. We booted up and wanted to play Up Your Arsenal first because that's how we mostly grew fonder with the series together. We always kept making fun of the fact that the helmet was a lot bigger and was floating on Ratchet's head. We made the assumption of either he needed extra protection on his head or that he got extra IQ that allows him to make it levitate.

 

[ThunderBoy]

 

[thetwaz]

When I was a student, at home for Christmas in about 2006, I once put 12 hours in a day into Ratchet and Clank when I should have been writing an essay. It's fantastically good fun. My hot take is that I think it's a better 3D platformer than Mario 64, but that may be nostalgia goggles talking. What I think make particularly the PS2 games great is that Ratchet feels really kinetic and responsive to control; there's just something about the combination of control mechanism, movement distance and animation that they really nailed with these games.

 

[Nickakyoin]

I really want to get into the series. I did tried the PS4 remake of the original one, but people suggested me to get into the original PS2 classic. And I was thinking to play it with an used copy on real hardware.
I'm kinda scared to get another Jak an Daxter whiplash so, I'm gonna ask bluntly: are these games's plots good and cohesive? Especially for the first games.