Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, titled as 'Ratchet & Clank 5: Gekitotsu! Dodeka Ginga no MiriMiri Gundan' in Japan, was the fifth game in the Ratchet & Clank series, that was originally designed for the PlayStation Portable, but was later released on the PlayStation 2 as well. It was the first Ratchet & Clank game on the PlayStation handheld. Size Matters was developed by High Impact Games, a company spawning from the original Ratchet and Clank developer, Insomniac Games. It was the first Ratchet & Clank game to get an E10+ rating by the ESRB and +7 by PEGI. The original PlayStation Portable version was released on February 14, 2007 in North America, and the PlayStation 2 port was released on March 11, 2008.

Gameplay
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters had most of the basic gameplay elements from the other Ratchet & Clank games. The weapons were similar from previous games in the series except for the R.Y.N.O. Weapons were able to gain experience, and mods that were similar to the ones in Up Your Arsenal which were purchased for weapons. Several locked doors required Ratchet to use a shrink ray and then complete a "grind lock" course, dodging mines on the rails and hitting switches with your wrench to safely pass through doors.

Through the game, Ratchet collected armor pieces for seven different sets of armor, including two sets exclusive to "challenge mode". While Ratchet could mix and match any of the four parts (helmet, body armor, gloves and boots) between any of the sets of armor, collecting and wearing each piece of armor in a set gave Ratchet an additional advantage; for example, using the full Wildfire suit, Ratchet's wrench set his enemies on fire for additional damage including the additional feature of 28% less damage taken. Certain combinations can also create new sets of armor with unique effects, as well as a boosted defense.

Mini-games included Skyboard Races, demolition matches with Clank vehicles, a basketball-like robot throwing competition, and a robot control game very much like in concept to Lemmings. Also, there were parts when you only played clank for a specific purpose.

Plot
While on a vacation in Pokitaru, Ratchet and Clank met a little girl named Luna, who was writing a school report on heroes (or heroths' in Luna's case). Shortly after meeting Luna she was kidnapped by mysterious robots. After chasing and fighting robots, Clank then stumbled upon a mysterious technomite artifact from an ancient race. Ratchet said the technomites story was false. Ratchet and Clank then set out to save Luna. In the process, they discovered a forgotten race of smart, but diminutive, inventors known as the Technomites. They traced the artifact that Luna dropped when she was captured all the way to Ryllus. They find a map room there and find the coordinates to Kalidon.

Ratchet and Clank finally catch up with Luna after defeating Mungo, she turns on them, ordering robots to knock Ratchet out and send Clank off to fight for his life in a robot battle arena. Clank escaped and made his way to find Ratchet. Ratchet had a dream about 2 Qwarks (seen were doctors having to kill Ratchet with a chainsaw), the Nightmare Clank (who resembled Klunk) appeared, and Ratchet finally woke. Clank freed Ratchet, and the two destroy the station, and determined that Luna herself was just a robot used by the Technomites specifically to lure Ratchet into a trap, all controlled by the Technomite leader, Emperor Otto. They eventually killed Luna and found Otto's goal, which was to create an army of Ratchet clones, using the DNA he was able to extract, then grow them to full size as to capture the most intelligent people in the galaxy and use a brain transference machine to gain their intelligence for himself. However, Ratchet and Clank were able to stop his plan, and thanks to the help of a rather confused Captain Qwark, they were able to reduce Otto's intelligence down to that of a chimp, rendering him non-threatening. Peace was once again restored to Solana Galaxy.



Characters

 * Clank
 * Cognito, Slim
 * Destruct, Otto
 * Luna
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Ratchet

Weapons



 * OmniWrench 10K
 * Lacerator
 * Acid Bomb Glove
 * Concussion Gun
 * Agents of Doom
 * Scorcher
 * Bee Mine Glove
 * Suck Cannon
 * Sniper Mine
 * Mootator
 * Shock Rocket
 * Static Barrier
 * Laser Tracer
 * RYNO

Gadgets



 * Hypershot
 * Sprout-O-Matic
 * Polarizer
 * PDA
 * Shrink Ray
 * Bolt Grabber
 * Box Breaker
 * Map-o-Matic

Skins

 * Ratchet
 * Tropical Vacation
 * Plumbering Pirate Captain
 * Ratchetzilla
 * Snowman Skin
 * Hot Bot
 * Qwark
 * Vacationing Robot
 * Nurse Bot
 * Otto Destruct
 * Dan

Planets and locations



 * Pokitaru - Jowai Resort
 * Ryllus - Vetega Jungle
 * Kalidon - Mechanoid Factory
 * Metalis - Junkyard LXIV
 * Dreamtime
 * Medical Outpost Omega - Surgical Facility
 * Challax - Technomite City
 * Dayni Moon - Farming Cooperative
 * Inside Clank
 * Quodrona - Clone Factory
 * California - HIG Treehouse

Trivia

 * One of the Clank challenges description says The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, which is a reference to the internet flash comic of the same name.
 * Size Matters was developed by High Impact Games, a company spawning off the original developer, Insomniac Games.
 * The Description of the Triple Wave Armor in the Armor Info section mentions, "as one Gadgetron Research Scientist famously reported, 'It's Over Nine Thousaaand!!!'" This being a reference to the character Vegeta. Vegeta's infamous line in the anime Dragon Ball Z, "It's Over Nine Thousaaaaand!"

Reception
PSP Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters PSP received overall positive reviews. Game Informer rated it 9 out of 10 and awarded it the "Handheld Game of the Month" for April 2007. Metacritic has it rated at 85 out of 100 with users ratings at 9.3 out of 10.

PS2 Size Matters PS2 received lower scores, with IGN only giving it a score of 6, due to its poor graphics, glitches, and difficulty.