Ratchet & Clank series
From Ratchet & Clank wiki
The Ratchet & Clank series are 3D platform/third-person shooter video games developed by Insomniac Games and High Impact Games and published by Sony.
The series' two main characters are Ratchet, a Lombax mechanic, and Clank, a robot that was originally designed for destruction, but due to an error, does the opposite of his originally intended purpose.
Ratchet is controlled by the player for the majority of the game series, using a variety of weapons, to eliminate opponents. At times, Clank becomes playable for short sequences.
The currency of the game's worlds are bolts, and the health unit is Nanotech. There are also space combat levels.
The series is incredibly diverse, rocketing from planet to planet, and galaxy to galaxy. The series is incredibly colorful and dramatic, on some planets the sky looks nothing like the sky of the real world as you can see many planets and other features of space from the surface you're on.
The duos main goals are to defend the universe from evil. In every game, there is an evil mastermind who tries to either dominate or destroy the galaxy.
All of the PlayStation 2 games run on a modified version of the Jak and Daxter engine.[1]
The eight Ratchet & Clank games (Going Mobile does not count) have combined to sell over 25 million copies worldwide.[2]
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[edit] Main series
[edit] Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet & Clank was released on November 4, 2002 in North America and Europe on the PlayStation 2. In the game, Chairman Drek plans to take pieces of different planets across the Solana Galaxy and create one planet for his people, the Blarg. Aside from the two protagonists, the game also introduces Captain Qwark, who appears in most of the following games.
Ratchet & Clank was the first Western game to be bundled in with the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
The sequel, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (Locked and Loaded or Ratchet & Clank 2 in the UK and Europe), was released on November 11, 2003 in North America on the PlayStation 2. There are many improvements over the first game, in that weapons, and also Ratchet's spaceship, can be modified. Going Commando also introduced strafing to gameplay. The game takes place in a different setting than the first game, this time in the Bogon Galaxy.
Ratchet's personality is drastically different in Going Commando, since many people complained about his attitude in the first game.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
The third game in the series, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (Ratchet & Clank 3 in the UK and Europe) was released on November 2, 2004 in North America on the PlayStation 2. UYA improves on Going Commando by adding more weapons and mods. In UYA, Ratchet and Clank take on Dr. Nefarious in his plan to turn all of the Solana Galaxy population into robots.
Up Your Arsenal is also the first game in the series to offer online competitive multiplayer.
[edit] Ratchet: Deadlocked
Released on October 25, 2005 for the PlayStation 2, Ratchet: Deadlocked (Ratchet: Gladiator in the UK and Europe). In Deadlocked, Ratchet and Clank are captured and forced to compete in an underground sport called "DreadZone" in a remote section of the Solana Galaxy known as the "Shadow Sector", run by the media mogul Gleeman Vox. Deadlocked supports online play and a cooperative mode.
In Deadlocked, Clank is reduced to a unplayabale, supporting character, reflecting the game's title.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
Another Ratchet & Clank game, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. Now available for both the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable this time however developed by High Impact Games, a company composed of former Insomniac Games employees. The game picks up where Deadlocked stopped. Ratchet and Clank are having a well-earned vacation on Pokitaru when a little girl named Luna is kidnapped and the duo are lured into a scheme plotted out by an ancient race of Technomites.
[edit] Secret Agent Clank
Secret Agent Clank is the first game focused on Clank, who goes on a mission to rescue Ratchet after he is found guilty for a crime he didn't commit. It is then up to Clank to prove his innocence. This game takes place after Size Matters and before Tools of Destruction. It was released on the PlayStation Portable worldwide by High Impact Games and on the PlayStation 2 in America only by Sanzaru Games.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank Future series
The Ratchet & Clank Future series currently consists of three games.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
The first Ratchet & Clank game for the PS3 was released October 23, 2007. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was developed once again by Insomniac Games for the PlayStation 3. It is also the first game to be set in the Polaris Galaxy. Ratchet learns about the Lombax Secret, and that he is the only Lombax that remains in the universe. Meanwhile, Emperor Percival Tachyon tries to bring back the Cragmites from Banishment, which involves finding the Lombax Secret as well. There are many gameplay and graphical improvments from PS2 titles and it has been highly praised.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty is the first game to be downloadable content from the PlayStation Network, in Europe it was released on Blu-Ray disc as well, both for the PS3. It is the eighth installment in the Ratchet & Clank series, and takes place after Tools of Destruction. It sees Ratchet trying to track down Clank, after the Zoni took him away at the end of Tools of Destruction. It was released on the PlayStation Network on August 21, 2008.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is the latest game in the Ratchet & Clank Future series. It was released for the PS3 on October 27, 2009. The game takes place after the events of Quest for Booty and is focused on Nefarious returning, with Ratchet and Clank still separated, but nevertheless co-operating remotely.
In A Crack in Time, Ratchet meets a Lombax named Alister Azimuth who serves as a mentor.
[edit] Mobile phone spin-offs
[edit] Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile
Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile was released in November 2005 only for mobile phones. A 2D platformer, it was not developed by Insomniac, but by the company Handheld Games. Ratchet & Clank are transported into your mobile phone and have to fight their way back out. There are seven weapons available, and twelve levels (including an Arena). Finally, they have to defeat Maximillian, Secret Agent Clank's nemesis.
Going Mobile is the first 2D Ratchet & Clank installment, specially made for mobile phones.
[edit] Ratchet & Clank: Clone Home
Ratchet & Clank: Clone Home, is, so far, the only Ratchet & Clank game that has been cancelled. It was decided to be released only for mobile phones. Clone Home would have continued where Going Mobile ends, although the storyline of Size Matters interfered.
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Similarities to other series
[edit] Spyro
The same developer created both of the series, both have similarities. Here they are:
- Both have Dan Johnson references.
- Both involve some sort of flame attack (like the Pyrociter from the first Ratchet & Clank game).
- Both have platforming elements.
[edit] Jak and Daxter
Since two developers (which were friends) made the series, Jak and Daxter have made several appearances and have several similarities (after the first Jak and Daxter). Here they are:
- Both have weapons.
- Both games have made an appearance in each other.
- Both are set in futuristic-looking environments.
- Both developers have made a fourth game (Ratchet: Deadlocked of the Ratchet & Clank series and Jak X: Combat Racing of the Jak and Daxter games) which was not a platformer, and featured multiplayer.
- Both have humorous elements.
- Both have had a game made or is in production by High Impact Games.
- Both have had a whole game featuring the sidekick as the main character (Secret Agent Clank of the Ratchet & Clank series and Daxter of the Jak and Daxter games).
