Hey gamers


I've had my eye on the Ratchet & Clank series for a while now, and I've also had a strong urge to revisit my PS2 games from when I was a kid. So I decided to play Size Matters to kick-start both. Man, this game blows.


It is so hard, but in a cheap way. Instead of being a fun challenge where you have to strategize and use your arsenal to its fullest extent, Size Matters instead opts to handicap the player. The controls feel stiff, the camera fights against you, and Ratchet's damage output and health are incredibly small. Low-level grunts can kill you in 3 hits, yet they can tank 10 point-blank blasts from your shotgun. Plus, enemies are only staggered by your attacks when they feel like it, making your weapons feel even weaker than they already are. Call me crazy but I don't think enemies should be allowed to charge at you while you're blasting them with a fully upgraded flamethrower. There's no strategy in choosing which weapons to use; once you reach a certain point, you're basically funneled into using the shock rocket and nothing else.


The final boss is just plain cruel. His attack hitboxes are jank, he has an overwhelming amount of health, he uses shields, and he has some attacks that can kill you in one hit. One hit. If you run out of bolts, you're screwed and you'll have to leave and go farm more. Once I found out that it can cost upwards of 15000 bolts per attempt using the PDA, and the best way of farming bolts is by playing the awful skyboard races and Clank minigames, which are also where you earn the missing armour pieces, I gave up.

(Update: I came back 2 weeks later, farmed more bolts, and beat him on the third try. Whole process took 20 minutes lol)


The story feels like it was written in an hour with no revision. I could not care less about what was going on at all. The title gimmick, the shrink ray, is treated like a pre-established gadget that has been used in prior games. It's similar to how lightsabers are treated in The Empire Strikes Back, if that makes any sense - already established, already used, and the characters aren't wowed by its capabilities in the slightest. Ratchet shrinks himself to enter miniature Technomite cities, but they look and act just like normal cities, so there's no point in it at all. I was expecting to use it during gameplay to help with fights or exploration, kind of like Ant-Man, but nope.


I do like the music though, and the grind lock sections are pretty cool.

As a huge Ratchet and Clank fan, I always thought this one got a bit of a bad rap. Don't get me wrong, it's got a lot of faults! However, for what High Impact Games were trying to do by bringing Ratchet and Clank to the PSP, they did a fair job.

It's your standard Ratchet game. You got an arsenal of weapons and you shoot the bad guys, except this time it's in portable form. Though this game doesn't pull it's punches. Enemies are very bullet spongey and hit like trucks. This can make the final few levels fairly difficult if you are not prepared. Especially the final boss. Beware...

I think the music in this game is actually some of the best in Ratchet history. I had no idea they brought David Bergeaud back to do the soundtrack for this one, so I was pleasantly surprised!

The story is fairly forgettable and Ratchet feels fairly out of character in this one. I think the plot they were going for here was interesting, but it falls flat on it's face.

In the end if you're looking for more Ratchet and Clank games to play after finishing the mainline titles, give this one a shot. It's got some neat ideas and you may just like it.

One of the first "Collectathon" style games I ever played and it was an absolute banger! So many weapons, so many planets, it blew my mind that this much 3D game could happen on such a small device. The PSP definitely had that Sony IP magic and this title shines because of it. Some mechanics are left a bit unpolished with the most glaring being lack of camera control on a platforming game. However, what it did well, like most R&C games it completely crushed. Fun humor (for teens) and a somewhat compelling if cliche storyline that moves at breakneck pace. I felt that the game keeps a good loop of visiting a new area, gaining some new gun or gadget and then being given a reason to go back to an earlier location and grind out those collectables. I also felt that the upgrades themselves were creative and well implemented. The vast majority of guns and gadgets get used in multiple situations making them feel like real objects rather than Checkov's Guns implemented for the sake of one plotline or moment. There are of course some guns that are more suited to puzzle platforming than direct combat but you usually run out of ammo at one point or another and have to really on a less ideal gun for the situation. This leads to a lot of play driven discovery and helps the player not just stick with the standard gun all the way through which I'm sure is possible but is much less rewarding. The characterization read well although these two suffer heavily from the furry franchise mascot craze of the early 2000's and even into the 2010's. Seriously, is anyone confused how we got so many furries??? This one definitely deserves all the praise it gets but honestly it's very much a one and done game. Once you've completed the story, unless you're a plat trophy fiend, there's not much else there for you. However, that did not stop me from picking it up every now and again just to shoot some stuff and have fun.

Honestly didn't expect to beat this whole thing in two sittings, but here we are. It is actually pretty good at giving the ratchet and clank experience on the PSP. All the cool weapons and things are there, the wacky cutscenes and dialogue is there, and the platformin we all know and love is there. Only reason why I can't exactly strongly reccomend it is because it can be kind of glitchy at times, especially with the hoverboard racing minigames. If you like ratchet and clank though, I'd say go for it. Not sure why this game gets hated on so much tbh. I have heard the PS2 port isn't that good so maybe avoid it but I haven't played it so im not sure how bad it is.