Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, titled as 'Ratchet & Clank 5: Gekitotsu! Dodeka Ginga no MiriMiri Gundan' in Japan, is 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 is the first Ratchet & Clank game on the PlayStation Portable. Size Matters was developed by High Impact Games, a company spawning from the original Ratchet & Clank developer, Insomniac Games. It is 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. It was also released for download to the PlayStation Portable through the PlayStation Store in April 2009.

Gameplay
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters has most of the basic gameplay elements from the other Ratchet & Clank games. The weapons are similar from previous games in the series except for the R.Y.N.O. Weapons can gain experience, and mods that are similar to the ones in Up Your Arsenal can be purchased for weapons. Several locked doors require 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 will collect armor pieces for seven different sets of armor, including two sets exclusive to "challenge mode". While Ratchet can 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 gives Ratchet an additional advantage; for example, using the full Wildfire suit, Ratchet's wrench will 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 include 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 are parts when you only played Clank for a specific purpose.

Plot
After the events of Deadlocked, Ratchet decided to have a break and went on vacation to the tropical planet of Pokitaru. However, while they were relaxing, the duo met a little girl named Luna, who was writing a school report on heroes. Ratchet agreed to do some stuff for her, but shortly after, Luna was kidnapped by robots. After chasing and fighting robots, Clank then stumbled upon a mysterious Technomite Artifact from an ancient race. Ratchet denied a that the artifact was made from Technomites, but ignored it and continued. 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. After some advice Qwark (who had followed them to Ryllus, wanting to find his lost family), they attacked their way through the enemies and reached the mysterious building. They found a Technomite map room there and find the coordinates to Kalidon. Meanwhile, Qwark had looked up his family tree on a suspicious website and decided to find his family.

Ratchet met a Skyboarder on Kalidon, who gave him a Shrink Ray for beating him at a race. They entered the building on Kalidon and defeated Mungo. The duo caught up with Luna, however to find out she had turned on them. Ratchet was knocked out by the robots, and sent to a space station, for testing, while Clank was sent to fight against other robots alone, on an arid planet, namely Metalis. Clank escaped and made his way to find Ratchet.

On the space station, Ratchet had a strange dream, after lying in a deep sleep. In the dream, he encountered past characters and events, including Giant Clank. Clank woke Ratchet up, and freed him. Ratchet went on to destroy the space station he was on, and found out that Luna was simply a robot the Technomites used (lead by Emperor Otto), to lure Ratchet into a trap. The duo arrived on Dayni Moon, and killed Luna in a boss-fight. Clank however, was disabled and Ratchet had to shrink himself to enter Clank's body and fix him. After this, they found Otto's goal, which was to create an army of Ratchet clones, through the DNA testing on the space station. Otto desired that the army would capture intelligent beings, so that he could transfer their knowledge to him. On Quodrona, Ratchet fought off the army of clones, and thanks to a confused Captain Qwark (who was set-up by Faux-Family.com into thinking Emperor Otto was his father), they neutralised Otto, and were able to reduce Otto's intelligence to a chimp, with Skrunch becoming super-intelligent. At the end, Qwark found out his real family were in fact great superheroes in their time, but were killed in an accident. Later, in Clank's apartment in Megapolis, Ratchet and Clank relax and watch a commercial about the Ratchet clones Otto created as a tiny Qwark tries to show off in front of miniature Ratchet clones.



Characters

 * Clank
 * Clank's security backup
 * Cognito, Slim
 * Destruct, Otto
 * Luna
 * Professor Sprout
 * Qwark, Copernicus Leslie
 * Ratchet
 * Skrunch
 * Skyboarder

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

PSP
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters on the 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 50 reviews taken into account. IGN gave the game a 9.0 out of 10 particularly praising the gameplay and graphics.

PS2
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters on the PS2 received lower scores, with IGN only giving it a score of 6.0 out of 10, due to its poor graphics, glitches, and difficulty. On Metacritic the game only reached 62 out of 100 based on 35 reviews.

Trivia

 * One of the Clank Challenges has a description which 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 is "It's Over Nine Thousaaaaand!".
 * In the movie The Invasion, Oliver (a main character), is seen playing Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters while his waiting his ride home.