Insomniac’s trademark weaponry is on full display throughout the collection, including crazy guns that blast lava, transform enemies into sheep, and create matter-consuming black holes. The hacking minigames sprinkled throughout the series become repetitive and annoying, but never last too long. One of my favorite situations involves exploring a small, Mario Galaxy-style planet and arranging laser arrays to power a satellite. The series is filled with fun acrobatics like swinging across vast chasms, wall jumping, and using gravity boots to walk down the sides of buildings. The gameplay of each title is a well-portioned mix of platforming, shooting, and various minigames. The character models and facial animations haven’t aged as well, but the in-engine cinematics are too few to mar the overall look. Ratchet visits crisp, colorful locales like tropical jungles, sprawling desert dunes, and even a Hollywood-like film studio planet.

Each level begins with a stunning, lay-of-the-land view of the bustling location you’re about to explore. The Ratchet & Clank games were gorgeous for their time, and this high-definition collection updates their beauty. I found myself chuckling at bits like an intergalactic mercenary offering a pizza party for Ratchet’s capture. The goofy tone and characters calls to mind Pixar’s films. During the adventures they interact with colorful characters like a narcissistic, cowardly superhero and an evil, robotic Britney Spears lookalike. The furry protagonist Ratchet and his tiny robotic friend, Clank, are tasked with saving the galaxy across all three titles.

I missed these games during their heyday, but playing this HD collection felt like reuniting with an old friend. Unbeknownst to me, the lighthearted, charming soul of Spyro was transplanted into the Ratchet & Clank series. Several shoddy non-Insomniac entries eventually corrupted the series during its transition to the PlayStation 2 era, and I mourned the loss. During the late ‘90s, when I had a ravenous hunger for 3D platformers, I whetted my appetite with Insomniac’s Spyro the Dragon trilogy.

Ratchet and clank collection ps4