In 2002, the first Ratchet and Clank game for the Playstation 2 was released.
It was a 3D action platformer that followed the adventures of an anthropomorphic creature
named Ratchet – a Lombax, a fictional feline based humanoid) and a sentient robot named
Clank as they travelled the universe defending it from evil forces.
Since then, the series has become a franchise, and even has it’s own comic and feature
film.
With over 15 years worth of awesome games, it should come as no shock that there’s
a lot to learn about the franchise, so today we’re counting down the top 10 ratchet and
clank surprising facts.
10 Development It took a while for developers Insomniac Games
to settle on premise for the game that would eventually become Ratchet and Clank.
The game went into planning prior to the release of their last Sypro the Dragon game, Spyro
Year of the Dragon.
Not wanting to continue with that franchise, they were in search of a new character and
story, and had come up with an idea that incorporated Tomb Raider, Legend of Zelda and Girl with
a Stick.
This didn’t get the team overly excited though, nor did it manage to enchant Sony.
Instead, the idea of a reptilian creature flying through space was proposed by Brian
Hastings, which then morphed into a cave man, and then morphed into a mechanic accompanied
by a robot.
9 Ratchet Colour Test In the early days when the game was being
developed, Insomniac wasn’t sure what colour their main protagonist should be.
So of course, they did a colour test.
While some of them are neat, I think most fans would be satisfied not playing as an
entirely green or purple Ratchet.
8 The Games There are 14 games in total in the Ratchet
and Clank franchise.
They’ve sold over 26 million copies worldwide, with the fastest selling game being the 2016
PS4 Ratchet and Clank.
The highest rated Ratchet and Clank game is Up Your Arsenal, with an average rating of
91% on most gaming review sites.
The lowest rated?
Full Frontal Arsenal, with an average of 64%.
7 Ratchet’s Personality While the games have received generally positive
reviews, their lead character didn’t get a lot of love right off the bat.
Ratchet’s initial reception praised voice actor Mikey Kelly’s performance, but criticized
the character’s personality, calling him bland, rude and immature.
By the time Going Commando came out, Ratchet got a bit of a makeover – IGN noted that
he was “no longer an angry selfish teenage furry” and instead wiser and more forgiving.
6 Developers Insomnia Games are the only developers to
work on a Ratchet and Clank game.
While Sony has consistently had the rights to publishing, there have been 6 other developers
besides Insomniac to take up the franchise’s helm.
This includes High Impact Games, Sanzaru Games, Nihilistic Software, Idol Minds, Tin Giant
and Mass Media.
These developers were primarily responsible for developing the games on different consoles
– like the PS Vita – or in different continents - like the European releases of the games
– OR for other Sony games that include the title characters, like Playstation Move Heroes.
5 Ninja Sword While Ratchet has some pretty cool weapons
at his disposal, there’s one cheat you can use in Ratchet and Clank 3 that will give
you a ninja sword.
If you pause the game – doesn’t matter where or when – and hit the buttons circle
square circle square up down left left, your wrench will disappear and be replaced with
a ninja sword that’s basically a lightsaber.
4 The Sewer Labyrinth The Ratchet and Clank games are filled with
Easter Eggs to discover and explore.
One of which is the sewers in Up Your Arsenal.
The sewer level first appears as just another level in which you have to fight off enemies
and advance through.
But once you’ve done that, you can actually go back and explore the sewers more once you
have the gravity boots.
Turns out there is a whole sewer labyrinth down there that you don’t travel through
in that level, and contains other enemies and sewer crystals.
If you’re playing in challenge mode and collect 101 sewer crystals, you’ll get 2
million bolts.
3 Titillation In the first Ratchet and Clank video game,
there’s a woman that you can speak to who is advertising a hoverboard race you can join
in on to get some bolts.
But apparently that’s not all she does.
Turns out, if you do backflips in front of her continuously, her breasts inflate.
They’ll eventually hit a limit though.
2 Dan Johnson Dan Johnson, one of the level designers for
Insomniac Games, has appeared in almost all of the Ratchet and Clank games.
How so?
He appears as an easter egg in all of the games in different ways.
In the first game, he’s on a computer monitor that you can find in Blarg Station when you
go into first person mode.
In Nexus, you can find a secret gold statue of him.
In 2008’s Quest for Booty, you can find an action figure of him.
And In the 2016 Ps4 version of the game, he’s once more an action figure you can find on
top of a crate in the Insomniac museum, and can even equip it and become him in the appearance
settings if you have enough gold bolts.
He’s also available as a skin in multiple games.
1 Concept Art Levels Speaking of the Insomniac Museum, did you
know that most of the games have secret levels that are dedicated to exhibiting concept art
or assets that were removed from the finished game?
In the PS4 Ratchet and Clank, it’s The Insomniac Museum located in a hangar.
In Size Matters, it’s in a tree house.
And in Up Your Arsenal, it’s also referred to as the Insomniac Museum, the 2004 version,
and has a very different look, and contains mini games, like driving around in a Turbo
Slider.
There we have it friends!
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I’ve been Kelly Paoli and this has been top 10 gaming.
Catch you all in the next one!