Every Ratchet & Clank Game, Ranked Worst to Best
Created nearly 20 years ago by Insomniac Games, the combat-laced buddy platformer franchise Ratchet & Clank has been charming gamers on Sony platforms ever since with its mix of humor, heart, story development, and over-the-top, cartoon-style action spanning multiple genres, outliving its main rival, Naughty Dog's similar Jak and Daxter series.
In the gallery on this page, we rank every* Ratchet & Clank game to date by Metascore, from worst- to best-reviewed. Some R&C games were issued on multiple platforms, and rather than clutter our list with countless versions of the same game, we limited our selection as follows:
• In general, the first release of each title is included.
• If a title was released simultaneously on multiple platforms, we only included the version that received the highest quantity of reviews from professional critics.
• If a title was later ported to other platforms, those ports are not included ...
• ... but if a title was substantially remade for another later-generation platform, the remake is treated as a separate game and included in our rankings. (We're looking at you, PS4 version of Ratchet & Clank.)
* We have omitted the 2005 cellphone (but not smartphone) game Going Mobile, which was not covered on Metacritic. (GameSpot has a review if you are curious.)
All photos courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment unless otherwise indicated.
iOS, 2013
The first and only Ratchet & Clank title released for smartphones (2005's Going Mobile was made for cellphones), Before the Nexus is easily the worst-reviewed game in the franchise. It's a spinoff from the PS3 title Into the Nexus, but while that game was received warmly as a return to form for the franchise, Before the Nexus was dismissed as a below-average endless runner marred by poor controls.
“Before the Nexus is a typical endless running game with a couple of issues as well as a couple of smile-worthy surprises. If you're into the Ratchet and Clank universe, or if you just like collecting endless runners, you'll enjoy this. If you've had it with the genre, or if you've sworn only to touch the very best it offers, feel free to skip ahead to Into the Nexus.” —Gamezebo