From the Top: Ratchet & Clank (2002)

As the year inexorably begins anew and I desperately try to catch up on releases, I often find myself tiring of whatever the current trend is, be it chest-high walls, open world shenanigans, or roguelite rumblings. Whenever this happens, I tend to look back on my youth and pick up a retro game to replay! While I originally planned on playing through the Spyro trilogy, I instead gravitated (pun intended) toward Insomniac Games’ PlayStation 2 franchise, Ratchet & Clank!

While there was no specific reason for the switcheroo, I think last year's The Knightling is a big factor in why I eschewed the fifth console generation. As I mentioned in my review, the game feels like an intentional homage to the era of gaming in which Ratchet & Clank was forged. So, join me as I go through all the mainline games, pondering how the series has evolved, how I felt during each playthrough, and other fun asides as we take it From the Top!

The story picks up as a machine churning out giant death robots malfunctions, spitting out a teeny tiny little guy. The minuscule mechanical man learns of a dastardly plot and escapes to find help, crashing in the backyard of a bipedal lion-lynx hybrid named Ratchet.

After some back and forth, the two realise they need each other, with the newly named robot, Clank, needing help taking the information to the authorities, and Ratchet requiring a robot to start his spaceship due to plot shenanigans. Teaming up to travel to the stars, the duo leave in search of the one hero who could stop the incoming evil, Captain Qwark!

From there, we get into the core loop of the gameplay. Much like Insmoniac Games’ previous trilogy, the game is split into multiple levels, though this time around, the portals are planets, in addition to there being no central hub. The levels usually consist of one or more linear paths leading to the macguffin de jure to unlock the next level, with some combat, puzzles, and platforming sprinkled in. As each world is, well, a completely different ecosystem, the game does a good job with both enemy and level variety!

In addition to changes in scenery, some planets also offer unique scenarios for the duo to challenge. For example, the deadly atmosphere of Orxon makes breathing impossible, forcing Clank to take the stage as Ratchet waits in the ship, whereas Blackwater City revolves around multiple puzzles involving altering the water level of areas. Some stages also offer minigames to try out, such as hoverboard races.

Ratchet’s main weapon is his trusty (and bulky) wrench, which he can wield like a club.
While an effective weapon in itself, more often than not, enemies are not kind enough to waltz into bonking range, which brings us to one of Ratchet & Clank's big selling points: the guns.

At the outset, the player is only given the choice between a blaster and throwable bombs. However, as the game progresses, more armaments are provided by Gadgetron, the local supplier for the galaxy. What starts as more flavours of pistol soon evolves into a vacuum-powered cannon that can suck up enemies (using them as ammo), a remote-controlled missile, and even deployable balloons to act as bait!

The varying weapons are great fun, adding a lot of variety to the gameplay, though there is some amount of power creep, with later weapons making earlier armaments feel weak or useless. Some of my favourites were the Walloper, a boxing glove that had Ratchet lunge forward for a melee strike; the Glove of Doom, which could be used to spawn little attack robots; and The Devastator, a straight-up rocket launcher.

It should be noted that this is also where two series staples make their first appearances! The Morp-o-Ray, which turned enemies into chickens, and the R.Y.N.O. (Rip Ya a New One), a rapid-fire missile launcher plus the most powerful weapon in the game. We’ll be seeing new renditions of these later down the road.

In addition to tools of destruction, our heroic duo also gain several Gadgets that allow them to solve the many puzzles and uncover the secrets of the varying planets. Some are purely movement-based, such as the Grind Boots or Swingshot; others are used passively, such as the O2 mask; with some being used to gain ingress into locked areas via a short minigame, like the Trespasser.

A final piece of the Ratchet & Clank puzzle, beyond impressive armaments or colourful levels, is the humour. There’s a constant air of tongue-in-cheek satire in the cutscenes and events of the game, with the themes of consumerism, environmental destruction, and corporate greed often being in the limelight. The big bad of the game? Basically, a slimy businessman who is destroying planets to create a new home for his people because they ruined their old one, only to start polluting the new planetary body to start the process all over again!

The humour can also be seen in the characters themselves. The eponymous duo of Ratchet and Clank have a great buddy cop dynamic, where they play off of each other well. Captain Qwark, the aforementioned “hero”, turns out to be a bumbling corporate shill working for the big bad. We also meet a few other series staples, such as the Plumber, who is a sardonic blue-collar worker turning up in the most improbable places, in addition to the technologically gifted, but socially inept, Al.

Coming back to the first game in the series always causes a bit of whiplash for me, as the depictions of our main leads are pretty different from what we’d come to know further down the line. Ratchet is not a hero, not at all. He’s selfish, arrogant, and narrow-minded for a lot of the game. He doesn’t continue on for the sake of others, but to first meet his icon, Captain Qwark, then get revenge on the same for a betrayal later in the plot.

Clank is a bit closer to his “final” personality, though he comes off as very naive and stubborn; I’m guessing the developers were going for a Blue Oni, Red Oni dynamic with the two. While it does work, the duo spend a surprising amount of the game actively feuding or bickering rather than working together.

The fascinating thing about Ratchet & Clank is how its rough characters and dark humour worked so well at the time, but probably would not be given the green light even a few years later. Considering how careful big-name publishers are not to leave anyone out or have overtly toxic characters, I firmly believe Ratchet at least would have been made to be much more likeable and heroic (something we well prove or disprove with the movie-based remake).

The benefit to our hero’s abrasive personality, however, is that he has the chance to grow during the story, which he most certainly does. He starts off eager and starstruck upon leaving his home, only to become bitter once he’s betrayed by Qwark. He then slowly learns how his personal vengeance is less important than the big picture, even finding some humility while he’s at it, thanks in no small part to Clank’s logical and duty-bound influence. It’s a good arc, even if it is rough.

Speaking of, the word “rough” sums up the first entry in the franchise surprisingly well. The gunplay, mechanics, combat, and even characters definitely have some pointy edges to improve upon, with aiming during fights and weapon balance being a pretty big abrasive bit. However, even with this roughness, I was honestly surprised to see how much of what I consider to be the core of Ratchet & Clank was there from the very beginning!

I could very much see the blueprints of the later titles here, just waiting to be realised.

All in all, Ratchet & Clank is a fun continuation of Spyro. You can definitely see hints of the purple dragon here and there in the design, but Insomniac managed to forge a completely new IP for a new console generation. Revisiting the game was refreshing, and I have a newfound respect for both it and the games to follow… though I’m in no hurry to start it up again.

Join me next time, as I hop into the first Ratchet & Clank game I played when I was young, Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando! So begins the honoured tradition of double entendre titles.