Secret Agent Clank

Secret Agent Clank is a spin-off of the Ratchet & Clank series in which the roles are reversed for the first time – the main character isn't the lombax Ratchet, but his robotic sidekick Clank, this time cast as a secret agent investigating who framed his friend for a crime and sent him to prison. The game was developed by High Impact Games exclusively for the PlayStation Portable, and largely because of that it differs significantly from the main series on home PlayStation consoles – instead of extensive weapon arsenals and more open planets, it offers shorter, platforming-focused levels suited to gaming on the go, shorter play sessions, and the handheld's smaller screen. Ratchet himself briefly appears in the game too, along with the supporting character Qwark, though mostly in flashback sequences that remind the player what the story is about and how Clank actually ended up in his current predicament.

As an agent, Clank relies mainly on acrobatics, stealth sections, and combat sequences alongside hired combat robots that the player can bring along on a mission and control directly – a mechanic that hadn't appeared in the main series before. Besides classic platforming levels, the game also offers rhythm minigames and chase sequences in the style of a light action film, shifting the tone noticeably away from the main series' sci-fi humor toward a parody of spy films and agents like James Bond. It's more of a genre experiment and a smaller side offering for series fans than a full-fledged continuation of the main Ratchet & Clank story, which is reflected in its noticeably shorter playtime compared to the entries on home PlayStation consoles. The controls are also designed with the assumption that the player will often pause the game and return to it later, so the levels are broken into short, easily completable segments.

Why play it: For Ratchet & Clank fans who want to see Clank in the lead role and don't mind a shorter game tailored to the PSP that's built more around platforming acrobatics and stealth than the shooting and weapon arsenal of the main series.