Ah, the halcyon days of gaming where furry mascots hopped across and fell off platforms. Among many of its kind stood Ratchet & Clank, a game that started a franchise that continues to this day. For the curious, here are all the Ratchet & Clank games in release order.
I’m not saying you should play every Ratchet & Clank game, in order or otherwise. But you should at least look into the franchise if you enjoy platforming, shooting, and general space-faring hijinks. You’ll get all those things, plus several games in which the titles are clear innuendos so dorks like me can giggle every time we recommend them.
Every Ratchet & Clank mainline game in release order
Naturally, we’ll start at the very beginning of the franchise: Ratchet & Clank, which starred a furry cat alien and his talking metal backpack. There are nine mainline Ratchet & Clank games, and here they are in release order.
Ratchet & Clank – PlayStation 2 (2002)
Ratchet & Clank was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2, a year after the platform’s launch. Starring Ratchet, a furry Lombax, and his minuscule robot partner, Clank, the duo fight against an alien menace that was rampaging across the galaxy.
Ratchet & Clank set the tone for its eventual successors. Goofy humor ran throughout the game, which introduced quirky characters like Captain Qwark. It also set the foundation for the series’ upgradable weapon system, as well as the ability to travel to multiple, diverse planets and locales. Ratchet & Clank was a major success for developer Insomniac Games, and it set the stage for a well-loved series yet to come.
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando – PlayStation 2 (2003)
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando was the first of many games in the series to include some kind of innuendo in its title. But apparently not everyone appreciated the tongue-in-cheek humor, as the second game in the franchise went as Locked in Loaded in the UK and Australia and Ratchet & Clank 2 in Japan. Some folks just can’t appreciate a good nudity joke. Anyway, Going Commando continued the journey of the (now famous) eponymous duo as they’re joined by Angela Cross. Together, they take on the mercenary group Thugs-4-Less and villainous MegaCorp to end a dastardly plot that threatens the galaxy once more.
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal – PlayStation 2 (2004)
See? Innuendos. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal is the third game in the franchise to hit the PlayStation 2 in the early aughts, but not the last. Up Your Arsenal shook things up a bit for the franchise by being the first to offer a separate online mode. Many single-player games around this era experimented with multiplayer features, likely to increase longevity. Some pulled it off, like with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and its superb Spies vs. Mercs mode. Up Your Arsenal‘s take on multiplayer was successful as well, and the mode stayed online until 2012.
The plot for Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal takes the duo to Ratchet’s home planet, which was being besieged by the monstrous Tyhrranoids. Ratchet soon finds himself swept up in another galactic conspiracy, in which he and Clank hop from planet to planet trying to stop the one who set the Tyhrranoid threat in motion.
Ratchet: Deadlocked – PlayStation 2 (2005), PlayStation 3 (remastered 2013)
Ah, damn it. “Deadlocked” isn’t a secret innuendo for something, is it? Oh, well. Just going by the name, Ratchet: Deadlocked certainly doesn’t sound like a typical game in the franchise. You’d be correct. The final game in the series on the PlayStation 2 only allowed you to play as Ratchet, who gets captured and forced to compete in an intergalactic blood sport. Deadlocked was all about action, enhancing the gameplay with powerful weapon mods and deadly vehicles.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction – PlayStation 3 (2007)
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was the first game in the franchise to appear on the PlayStation 3. Despite having “Future” in the name, Tools of Destruction doesn’t really evolve the classic Ratchet & Clank formula by much. You shoot, jump, and shoot some more across several locations using crazy tools and weapons. It does make use of the SIXAXIS controller, but it’s still a typical R&C game through and through. Unlike Deadlocked, it returns with the platforming and puzzle-solving elements that helped define the original trilogy.
The major change is hinted at by the game’s title: It’s the first in the Future trilogy and features the boys zipping through time to stop a new plot.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty – PlayStation 3 (2008)
“Quest for Booty” isn’t arguably an innuendo as it is a double entendre, but I’ll take it. We’re back! Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty follows up its predecessor by tasking Ratchet with rescuing Clank, who was kidnapped at the end of Tools of Destruction. Talwyn Apogee, who made her appearance in the prior game, joins Ratchet in his chase. As you may have surmised from the title, the game features themes about… pirates (get your head out of the gutter).
Ratchet and Talwyn find themselves hunting the space pirate Captain Angstrom Darkwater. The game was a quick romp, coming in at only about four hours. It mostly seems to exist to set up the next, final game in the saga.
Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time – PlayStation 3 (2009)
We’re done with the silly titles in the mainline series now, and the world feels ever colder for it. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time is the last in the Future trilogy. It follows up Quest for Booty with Ratchet still on the hunt for his robot buddy. Clank is in the hands of Dr. Nefarious, who believes there’s some secret locked deep inside the bot’s memories.
A Crack in Time is heavy on the plot, with Ratchet and company hopping around planets and zipping through time to stop Nefarious once and for all. Ratchet gets some much-needed closure, and the game ends on an emotional note. For some fans, A Crack in Time might have felt like the final game in the franchise, but they’d be wrong.
Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus – PlayStation 3 (2013)
A personal favorite of mine, Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus took place after the events of the Future games and the spin-off Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault. Ah, an innuendo! I knew we weren’t done with those yet. So, they hid them in the spin-off games. Sneaky.
Into the Nexus stars the duo after they joined the ranks of the Polaris Defense Force. The shorter, more tightly focused game has the boys hopping dimensions and manipulating gravity in the hunt to once again take down the Thugs-4-Less mercenaries led by Vendra and Neftin Prog.
Ratchet & Clank – PlayStation 4 (remake 2016)
Technically, Ratchet & Clank (2016) puts the list of mainline games up to 10, but it’s also a remake of the original and this is my list so it sits here in a weird spot between Into the Nexus and Rift Apart. The remake launched on the PlayStation 4 and exists as the only Ratchet & Clank game made for the platform. Insomniac Games had been busy with Sunset Overdrive and a couple of other games before exploding back onto the scene with the amazing (and spectacular) Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018.
Ratchet & Clank (2016) re-imagines the 2002 original, while also acting as a bit of an advertisement for the animated movie that was in development alongside the game. It featured some clips from the film as well while sharing art and models.
It would be unfair to call the remake a simple tie-in for the film. Ratchet & Clank was a solid game in its own right, reworking the classic gameplay to suit modern audiences. It was a hit among critics and fans, unlike the movie which launched the same year to a middling response.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – PlayStation 5 (2021), PC (2023)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the first mainline game in the series in roughly a decade, but it was worth the wait. The duo returns on PlayStation 5, using the platform’s might to charge new gameplay elements. Manipulating “rifts” is the primary gameplay conceit, letting players solve platforming challenges and fly through dimensions nearly instantaneously.
The story has Ratchet hopping from dimension to dimension, hunting down Clank who was taken by an “Into the Ratchet-verse” Lombax named Rivet. Players get to explore the game’s worlds as both Rivet and Ratchet. And though the two are different, they play almost exactly the same. Despite this, Rift Apart went on to become a critical success. Hopefully, we see more of the Ratchet and Clank team in the future.
Every Ratchet & Clank spin-off game in release order
If you think the franchise only included nine (arguably 10) games, you’d be mistaken. The Ratchet & Clank series includes six spin-off games across consoles and handheld devices. And a couple of them might have been good!
Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile – Mobile phone (2005)
Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile was developed by Sony Pictures Mobile in 2005, and launched for mobile phones around the same time as Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal. The two games shared some art, but their stories never crossed. In Going Mobile, Ratchet and Clank are sucked into the confines of a mobile phone on the hunt for the pieces of a mystical thing that will set them free. It tickles me that the item is called a “MCGuFIN.” A sequel called Ratchet & Clank: Clone Home was planned but canceled.
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters – PlayStation Portable (2007), PlayStation 2 (ported 2008)
Ah, the ill-fated PlayStation Portable (PSP). Despite its inability to knock Nintendo’s portable devices off their lofty perch, the PSP did have a rather solid library. One such shining example is Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters by High Impact Games in 2007. Size Matters, which is indeed an innuendo (it didn’t escape my eyes), proved that the classic Ratchet & Clank formula could succeed even in a more compact setting. It offered everything fans loved about the series. You had gadgets, upgradable weapons, puzzles, platforming, and more. It also didn’t skimp on content, coming in at around eight hours.
Secret Agent Clank – PlayStation Portable (2008)
I have not played Secret Agent Clank, but I am aware of it. The game starred mostly Clank in a James Bond-esque adventure complete with gag tools and weapons like Cuff Link Bombs and a Tie-a-Rang. It also included vehicles to drive and, unlike Ratchet, Clank could deploy martial arts moves and finishers against foes. Secret Agent Clank derived from the other games, and performed moderately well. But it couldn’t quite recapture the success of its predecessor.
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One – PlayStation 3 (2011)
Following their PSP iterations, Ratchet and Clank continued their spin-off adventure back on console. The boys were back under the care of Insomniac Games with Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, a spin-off that took place sometime after the end of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time.
Ratchet and Clank are joined by Captain Qwark and, in a twist, their age-long nemesis Dr. Nefarious. The four-player co-op adventure had the unusual team fight against an even-worse foe. All 4 One was primarily a multiplayer game, where you faced off against bots in online play.
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault – PlayStation 3 (2012), PlayStation Vita (ported 2013)
I’m glad we can have this one final innuendo (yes, I’m counting it). Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault is the series’ last spin-off game on console, having launched for the PlayStation 3 in 2012. It was followed up by a PS Vita port in 2013, but that didn’t do the game any favors. Full Frontal Assault was a tower defense game set in the Ratchet & Clank universe, and it launched to above-average scores.
Ratchet & Clank: Before the Nexus – Mobile devices (2013)
Launched as a promotional game for Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus, Before the Nexus is an endless runner for iOS and Android devices. The game has you as Ratchet hopping on grindrails and collecting bolts to trade for upgrades. You can also gather Raritanium, a material that can be used in Into the Nexus. The game is still downloadable on the iOS and Android stores under the name Ratchet & Clank: BTN if you’re curious.
