Ratchet & Clank

Since we're learning about platform games this week in my class, I asked Chris if he had a modern version of a platform game. His answer was Ratchet & Clank, another of my favorites to watch being played. This time, I was in the driver's seat which gave me a new perspective.

Ratchet and Clank takes place in an alternate universe that is about to be taken over. Ratchet is the Han-Solo type mechanic/pilot and Clank is a tiny robot who can help power the ships. They are trying to

After clicking through so much dialog in Okami and Trace Memory. It was refreshing to watch the story unfold. Ratchet and Clank has movie scenes in between game levels which seemed to move more quickly. I also started playing more quickly, although it was more difficult to figure out how to make the required moves.

Once I had the moves memorized, the game was pretty fun. Ratchet uses various different weapons to dispatch the enemy. The weapons get larger and more ridiculous as the levels advance. I seem to remember some kind of gun that turns anything it shoots into chickens.

Ratchet and Clank, as a platform game, is so much more interesting to me than Donkey Kong ever was. I know that Donkey Kong was the first widely played platform game, and I remember how obsessed my cousins were with this game. Donkey Kong just never appealed to me. Maybe it was the story, because I always wondered what a plumber, a princess and a gorilla could possibly have in common. Ratchet and Clank has an interesting story, and at least in the beginning, the climbing up and climbing down is de-emphasized. Being a 3d game completely changes the platform genre. In fact, it makes me really wonder just how viable "platform" still is as a genre. The whole premise of a platform game is based on the fact that you are sticking to a certain axis of movement for gameplay, but having a game in a 3d environment implies that restrictions on an axis of movement are no longer applicable.