Ten years ago, Insomniac Games — then best known for the Spyro the Dragon series on PlayStation One — released its first PlayStation 2 title, Ratchet & Clank. The rest, as they say, is history. Over the course of three sequels, the Lombax and his robot side-kick became veritable mascots for the system, alongside Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter and Sucker Punch’s Sly Cooper.
In honor of the duo’s tenth anniversary, Sony and Insomniac Games have announced The Ratchet & Clank Collection. Comprised of the first three (and some would say best) Ratchet and Clank games, the collection is due this Fall.
The Ratchet & Clank Collection is being handled Idol Minds, best known for the PlayStation Network game PAIN, under the close supervision of Insomniac Games. All three games — Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal — are being carefully remastered and will arrive on PS3 sporting 1080P visuals, with 720P stereoscopic 3D for players who have the necessary set up. Trophies have been added, and the online multiplayer from Up Your Arsenal will be fully supported.
Check out the first screenshots from The Ratchet & Clank Collection to see just how nice the HD remastering looks.
The Ratchet & Clank Collection is just one part of the Ratchet & Clank 10th Anniversary Celebration. What are the other parts? We don’t know yet. We do know that the game’s Fall release in North America is tied to a forthcoming Anniversary Celebration announcement. The Collection is actually slated for European release on May 16th. What could be worth waiting several extra months for? Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price doesn’t give anything away.
“I know it’s a little bit later than the Spring European release, but it’s because we have something very special planned for our North American fans to celebrate the 10th anniversary, and we’ll share all the details very soon.”
Ratchet and Clank have certainly been well represented on PlayStation 3, having appeared in five games: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, the downloadable Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time, multiplayer effort Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and best forgotten Move showpiece PlayStation Move Heroes. Still, there is something special about the pair’s earlier games, especially Going Commando, in which the series’ best known feature — weapons that upgrade as you use them — made its debut.
Players who only know Ratchet and Clank from their PlayStation 3 games are in for a real treat with The Ratchet & Clank Collection, though they might be surprised by how challenging those early games, particularly the first one, can be.
Ranters, are you looking forward to The Ratchet & Clank Collection? What’s your favorite Ratchet and Clank game?
The Ratchet & Clank Collection releases this Fall in North America, May 16th in Europe, for PlayStation 3.
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Follow me on Twitter @HakenGaken
Source: PlayStation Blog
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What are you talking about? The first game wasn’t challenging at all. You could use your wrench 99% of the time and have no problems.
Now Tools of Destruction, that’s another story.
Mother of god… I was talking about this the other day.
I’m so glad it’s finally happening because my PS2 doesn’t work anymore and I can finally relive some of my favorite games.
I have the first 4 for PS2 and still play them. Dead Locked and Up Your Arsenal are the best ones out of the original bunch.
dude i grew up on these games! definatley gonna get them!
I thought Deadlocked was the worst of the first four. Out of all of them, my rankings go…
1. A Crack In Time (Amazing story, innovative time-traveling platforming)
2. Up Your Arsenal (Good villain, cool side-scrolling mini-game)
3. Ratchet & Clank (Good story, the first in a great franchise)
4. Going Commando (Introduced upgrades, weak story & villain dragged it down)
5. Tools of Destruction (Crappy checkpoint system mixed with hard difficulty dragged game down)
6. Quest For Booty (Solid platforming)
7. Deadlocked (Kinda generic and forgettable)
I haven’t played any of the ones on PS3.
But I loved all the arena challenge matches from GC and UYA, so Deadlocked really was perfect for me. Going Commando and onward also set the standard. While the original was great is wasn’t too original compared to some of the other games of the same type. Going Commando is where it really came into it’s own. The humor through out the series was great. It can be enjoyed by any age. The upgrading weapons and health bar, and the “New Game+” modes were just flawless.
Wish to hell and back I could get my hands on a PS3 and continue the series.
I find it interesting no mention is made of All Four One in your list;)
sorry i meant to reply on mikes comment. I have played almost every Rachet and Clank game, including size matters. I have not been able to Up your Arsenal or Quest for Booty which I hear both are amazing titles, I think I will get the collection just to see when Dr Nefarious was first introduced. And forget the first game being Going Commando was insane, it took me forever to beat that final boss
My fave is the original game, and this wait for us north americans, we better be getting deadlocked, secret agent clank and Size matters includes free.