4.5/5 ★ – Mason_D's review of Ratchet & Clank.

Replaying Ratchet and Clank was a legitimately invigorating experience. I had a concern that this would be less of a good time than I remembered, especially since the nostalgia of getting this game for my ninth birthday was definitely something on my mind. The game itself is still pretty fantastic, the environments are imaginative and full of detail, the arsenal of weapons is varied and offers up plenty of fun and creative ways to tackle challenges and the entire experience is oozing with charm. The game still feels massive, especially for a 2002 release with plenty of planets to explore, weapons to play with and collectibles to find as well as interactive environments and a great variety of enemies. It really feels like Insomniac took full advantage of the PlayStation 2’s hardware to deliver something that was truly expansive and big for the time and it mostly holds up. I’ll admit some of the Clank and puzzle segments were tedious, the cost of weapons and ammo weighed against the money you can earn feels a little unbalanced and the aiming is a little finnicky (it feels like third person aiming still hadn’t quite been worked out yet by 2002), but those are all small complaints. The moment to moment gameplay is fun as hell, the level variety is incredibly satisfying, theres a sense of charm and irreverence that still works for me and the art design and music are all strong. Ratchet and Clank is a game about exploring new places and blowing shit up and it’s still a great time and one of the great action platformers of the sixth console generation.