Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters begins with the lombax and robot on vacation after their last adventure. Their rest from hero duty is short lived once they meet Luna, a curious young girl who has a knack for getting into trouble. Luna wishes to take some photos of Ratchet doing what he does best, but ends up being kidnapped by robots in the process, thus beginning another planet hopping adventure, which just happens to incorporate a lot of size changing. While it might sound simple at first, Size Matters’ plot quickly becomes a lot more interesting when the duo meets a race of genius inventors called the Technomites, and find themselves in the midst of yet another dangerous scheme.
What the heck is a lombax, anyway?
The move to the portable format has not harmed Ratchet & Clank in the slightest. The core gameplay remains the same as the first three games; that is that players take the pair of protagonists from planet to planet, destroying bad guys, collecting bolts and finding bigger and badder weapons along the way. Of course, all of these weapons, and Ratchet himself, can be levelled up along the way, turning into even more lethal tools of destruction. There’s an overwhelming sense of familiarity with these weapons, but what they lack in newness is more than made up for with destructive power, and/or hilarity. Despite some fancy and wacky weapons available for use, players will find themselves sticking to a core group of more functional weapons. The game does handle reasonably well, control-wise, but as we mentioned earlier, the lower button count of the PSP has resulted in many functions being mapped to the shoulder buttons, or onto other odd places (strafing is handled by the D-Pad, for example).
Level design is always a highlight in the Ratchet & Clank games, and High Impact has done quite a good job of keeping up with Insomniac on this front, with plenty of tricky platforming sections, high speed grind rail sections and a bit of shrinking on the side. On top of the standard platforming/combat-based action, Size Matters incorporates a number of mini games, also a Ratchet & Clank series staple. Of course, these are a little variable in terms of quality – the Star Fox-like shooter sections are particularly good, while the hoverboard race sections are quite substandard, due mainly to loose controls and poor course design. The single player game clocks in at about 8 hours, which does not seem anywhere near as long as previous Ratchet & Clank games. Fortunately, the multiplayer component of the game (Iron Lombax) is quite competent and playable in infrastructure mode, as well as locally. It’s nothing you haven’t already seen before, but it could prove to be fun while taking a break from other online games.
Clank can do the Kessels run in less than 12 parsecs
Size Matters is certainly no slouch in the graphics department, showing just how much power Sony’s portable has under the bonnet. While it’s not the absolute best looking game on the system, it certainly does a good job of replicating the quality and scale we saw in the PlayStation 2 games, without too many compromises, though the frame rate is not quite as silky smooth as it was in previous titles. The camera is a bit problematic, as it is generally quite close to the action and can often get caught on the scenery – the PSP also makes it quite difficult to handle the camera at times, which becomes quite irritating. The usual voice acting crew returns to voice the cast, and once again do a fine job. The soundtrack is competent, and the sound is always a treat, though one should probably play with headphones for the best experience.
New developer High Impact Games was charged with the development duty for Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and they’ve done reasonably well, given that this is their maiden effort. The game manages to keep most of the technical prowess of the PlayStation 2 game, and doesn’t at all compromise on the gameplay. It does, however, suffer from the limited controls available on the PSP – having only one analogue stick means that camera controls need to be pushed onto the shoulder buttons, which end up being over mapped and thus make camera control a little difficult. These issues aside, Size Matters is a highly competent platforming/action title, and should be considered a vital addition to any PSP fan’s library.
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