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.
PlayStation 2, 2002
also on PlayStation 3 (2012)
The game that launched the franchise, this PS2-exclusive 3D platformer arrived at the tail end of 2002 to mostly rave reviews. Developer Insomniac Games had previously developed four titles for the original PlayStation console (most notably, the Spyro the Dragon trilogy), but Ratchet & Clank would ultimately become their best-known and longest-running series. This first chapter introduced numerous R&C staples including the titular Lombax mechanic Ratchet and his robot companion Clank, nonplayable characters Captain Qwark and The Plumber, racing, minigame, and space combat components, and a big collection of wacky weapons to find and/or purchase.
A (terrible) feature film adaptation as well as a (definitely not terrible) PS4 "re-imagining" of the game followed 14 years later.
“The perfect example of what a game should be. With its rich cast of characters, deep gameplay, gorgeous graphics and wonderful soundtrack, R&C packs the ingredients to a perfect platformer and combines them perfectly.” —TotalPlayStation