	Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
	Developer: High Impact Games Publisher: SCEE Release Date: Out Now Players: 1	Words By:
Ratchet and Clank first appeared on the PS2 circuit to rejuvenate the frankly tired platform genre, which was dominated by cutesy animal figures and dumbed-down so that only kids could stomach them. At the time, despite the reviews I still wasn’t convinced but after years of avoiding them like the plague R&C: Size Matters has converted me back to platform games… The story isn’t Shakespeare but it’s still good enough to keep adults interested, and the kids will love it. The key is the humour, which R&C has in heaps and anyone with a sense of humour will get. The game is set across several planets, unlocking new ones to fly to as the story progresses. Each planet, as well as the story progression, has other challenges and secrets to unlock, which you can go back to and find later on in the game if you want. The secrets can range from hidden weapons and armour to giant bolts, which give you a huge resource bonus to buy new items. The main sets of challenges are Hoverboard races and Clank Arena challenges. The races start off being quite simple and only yield small prizes, but the further you advance you’ll have to deal with magnetic bombs, speed traps and boosts, multiple routes and all manner of tricky stuff. The Clank Arena provides some of the best parts of the game, with a range of mini games from a Destruction Derby arena to a Lemmings sim. The challenges are never really tough, as the target is still the younger audience, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had playing through the challenges. The weapons as usual are spot-on with variety and humour and each time you find or buy one you wonder how much more ridiculous the next one will be. After the dubiously named suck-cannon, which sucks in enemies and throws them out as projectiles, the Mootator is probably the silliest weapon, which literally turns enemies into cows. The armour system is also quite ingenious; if you complete a set of a certain type of armour you get a bonus and also your attacks have more power, meaning you’ll spend the time looking for that elusive set of Crystallix boots to complete the set. Usually they’re awarded for the hardest challenges, so it helps the game along nicely. The control system is very easy to use considering the amount of weapons you have to juggle between, and if you map the camera to the shoulder buttons it’s pretty much a perfect setup, even with only one analogue stick. There isn’t a lot of jumping gaps from one platform to another as it’s a bit more combat-based (as it should be given the time spent on weapons) with a few simple puzzles along the way. Ratchett and Clank: Size Matters is exactly what you want in a platform game: good controls, a co-operative camera and fun gameplay that’ll appeal to all ages, not just kids. It’s also makes for a great PSP game because you can dip in and out for as long as you like and you’ll know exactly where you left off. If you have a PSP and have been looking for some light-hearted fun I highly recommend this, even if previously you haven’t had much luck with platformers.

Best Bits
- Stacks of humour
- Great weapons
- Controls and camera work properly
- Not too easy

Worst Bits
- You could end up missing your stop playing this
- Or never come out of the loo…


by: Crazypunk