Ratchet & Clank Collection

Ratchet & Clank Collection brought the opening trio of adventures starring the mechanic Ratchet and his robotic sidekick Clank to the PS Vita. The original games were made for PlayStation 2 and were already regarded back then as a showcase of how to combine platforming with shooting so that neither element suffers. The player travels between planets, completes tasks for the local inhabitants, collects bolts as currency, and spends them on an increasingly wild arsenal. Weapons are the true star of the whole series, since alongside ordinary pistols you'll find inventions that turn enemies into sheep or summon a dancing holographic decoy.

The structure is clear and addictive. Every planet offers several tasks, hidden collectibles, and usually some obstacle you can only overcome once you've acquired new gear, which makes revisiting worthwhile. The second and third entries added weapon upgrades through use, turning ordinary firefights into an investment in the future, plus spaceship battles and larger arenas. The Vita version preserves the original design and adapts the controls to the smaller controller without major compromises; small touch shortcuts mainly serve for weapon selection. The smaller screen suits the collection well, since the colorful stylization looks very crisp on it.

The atmosphere leans on good-natured humor, comic-book-styled alien worlds, and the endless playfulness with which the game treats technology. The voice acting and music keep a light, adventurous tone, and the series never slips into excessive seriousness. Contemporary reception of the trio was very good, with the second entry in particular often cited as the moment the series found its ideal balance. Its influence on the genre is visible in how collecting and gradually unlocking weapons became a standard of action platformers. Today the collection is a pleasant return that has aged better than one might expect.