Size Kings - Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters Review

Developer: High Moon Studios | Platform: PS5 (PSP) | Playtime: 6:10 | Platinum: 10:20 (12:40*)

For a while, I had considered cancelling my subscription to PS+ Premium, thinking I wasn’t getting my money’s worth out of the service. Trust Sony to then reveal their hand and offer classics that I actually want to play, including but not limited to the main PSP game I played, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. An old favourite, years on the internet would have you think this one was as awful as they get. Thankfully after playing, my opinions on the game hold strong.

A big boon that the series had that was prior to the Future Saga (Tools of Destruction through to Nexus), the games were fairly standalone – you didn’t need to have played the previous title nor have a wellspring of knowledge about the franchise to enjoy them. In that same breath, there was always something for the fans to latch onto from a previous title. Take for example on of my favourite lines, spoilers for Deadlock/Gladiator – after escaping from Dreadzone, Ratchet and the other heroes get a call from Captain Qwark regarding the rumours of heroes being kidnapped for sport. He dismisses them, if they’re kidnapping heroes, why not him! For someone whos only played Gladiator, it makes no sense. For fans who have played the previous games, that’s a hilarious bit. I bring this up because Size Matters starts us on Planet Pokitaru, a planetwide resort where heroes Ratchet and Clank are relaxing. A little girl by the name of Luna recognises Ratchet and wants pictures for her class project. Ratchet being a little bit of a show off, agrees. After this, Luna is kidnapped by robots and the chase is on to save her. This is accompanied by a B Plot (as much as a PSP 3D platformer can have a B Plot) revolves around series staple Captain Qwark, who is on a quest to find his parentage. I don’t know if this fits as well with the main plot but I suppose a spinoff is as good a time as any for it.

Gameplay as it follows then is classic Ratchet and Clank – follow a main path and maybe a side path to unlock new planets to explore and gadgets to navigate them. The games never really focus on a gimmick as such – one on the one hand you could argue that makes them “samey” but on the other hand they’re remarkably consistent and allow for development of systems. Despite the limited hardware and controls, Size Matters still plays very close to those that came before it, albeit a touch stiffer and marginally less responsive feeling.

I tell a lie, there is a gimmick. Somewhat. As the games title implies there’s an element to size in the games story and gameplay which comes in the form of the games villains, the Technomites. These are a race of tiny beings who are mad that the credit for their work is stolen (I suppose somewhat like the Whomp King from Super Mario 64, now that I think about it). They exist in tiny cities that Ratchet must use his new gadget – the Shrink Ray to access. Nothing is different about these levels really, you’re small and the city becomes big, so it’s a normal level. The other slightly more prevalent use is in unlocking doors. Every Ratchet and Clank game has at least one gadget with minigame associated with opening doors. Here Ratchet shrinks down for a grindboot section to open the doors. The story focuses around then Technomites as they’re the ones who steal Luna away in the beginning, despite Ratchet not believing they exist (Again rather amusingly, a plot element repeated with the Zoni in the next main R&C game).

Clank too of course gets his time in the sun, as is tradition. Early on there’s a Clank puzzle section in which he must guide Gagdetbots to a goal. This is fairly short lived but seemingly replaced with the two arenas Clank can participate in. Across these two arena’s there are three lots of challenges – Bot Toss which is a weird basketball/netball hybrid, Destruction Derby which should be familiar to any Robot Wars fans and finally the Gadgetbot challenges (of which I forget the name) in which you guide them to the goal ala Lemmings. Easily the most fun mode of the three and a good substitute to not having a longer or additional Clank selection. Only the first Destruction Derby challenge is mandatory for story progression but I wager you’ll want to try them all. Less exciting are the Giant Clank space segments – on rail shooter bits. Thankfully there’s only two of these and one of them is optional but they’re easily the low point of the game.

As is also tradition, there is a racing mode in the form of the Skyboarding races. There are two of these courses in the game each with 4 races. These are slower paced than say the racing in Ratchet and Clank 2 but are more vertical based, allowing for multi level racing. It’s not terribly exciting honestly. Passable.

The series is often known for its bombastic weapons, yet Size Matters roster of guns is a little bit on the weaker side. You have your classic gun, bomb, shotgun equivalents sure, while more exotic guns didn’t really appear until later games, Size Matters still lacks more interesting options like The Bouncer or Spider-Bomb Glove. Maybe technical limitations, who knows? On the flip side, Armour is more exciting than it usually is now thanks to the new system. Instead of buying it at the vender, throughout the world and as a reward for challenges, Ratchet can collect individual parts of an armour set – Helm, Armour, Gloves and Leggings. There are seven full sets, equipping each part gives upgraded damage negation and a full set grants a bonus. Collecting all of the first set – Wildfire, lights Ratchet’s weapon on fire. There’s special secret combinations of some sets that create new exciting combinations.

Nothing can save the bosses though, they’re just a slog with too much health and not enough in the way of interesting movesets. Even with fully upgraded weapons, the handful of bosses just take a while. Honestly the best in the game is probably Clank’s fight against Smasher-Bot in the arenas. Enemies are alright, well designed and fairly varied per planet.

The extra two hours of my playtime came from a pretty nasty realisation. The trophy isn’t for collecting all 20 Platinum Bolts (the secret collectible) but having 20 on your person. For a laugh I used some bolts on a character skin I didn’t wear, which meant I had to run through the game on a new save for 20 bolts. Honestly a fun little challenge but I wish I didn’t have to do it.

Is this the best Ratchet and Clank game? No. Not by a long shot. I never claimed it to be though, I will say it’s a solid outing in a series with 10+ games to choose from. It shouldn’t be your first pick to get into the series but it’s not to be avoided either, especially considering it’s downsides can be linked to it being a portable outing. Solid game, nothing special, worth it for series fans.