Both Sega and Nintendo are probably best known for their platformers and their respective famous mascots. However, 2002 has been quite the Sony year, as not one, but two excellent platform-type games have been released for the PlayStation 2 over the past few months. First Sly Cooper and the Thievious Racoonus and now Ratchet And Clank.

Ratchet And Clank was developed by Insomniac Games, who are best known for the original PSX Spyro the Dragon games. Insomniac took a heavily tweaked version of Naughty Dog's impressive Jak and Daxter engine, and put together a thoroughly fun to play platformer that does pretty much everything right.

The game follows Ratchet, a wise-cracking alien mechanic with a craving for adventure, and Clank, an innocent little robot whom meets up with Ratchet by mere coincidence. Chairman Drek of Belchworld is looking to build a new homeplanet, because the one he currently runs has become seriously polluted. But instead of nicely moving to a new area, he decides to steal the best pieces of other planets, and merge them into a brand new one. Ratchet And Clank begin their quest by seeking out the famed superhero, Captain Quark, to alert him of this danger.

The game's dialog is fully voiced, with numerous cut scenes and more than a fair share of funny anecdotal humor and satire. Ratchet is more of the "extreme" teenager type would would rather hoverboard all day, whereas Clank, being a machine without emotions, is still trying to get a grasp on how organic beings think. Clank also keeps Ratchet in check, and frequently reminds him of the importance of their mission. Some gamers don't seem to like Ratchet all that much, but I think the duo works well with one another. The voice acting for major and minor characters both, is of high quality and the same can be said for the script itself.

Ratchet And Clank is not your typical run and jump platformer. Insomniac threw in a little twist to the formula, and various weaponry and gadgets factor into the game heavily. The goals and sub-goals of each planet is usually unique, but usually requires first tracking down an infobot, which will open up other planets and goals. After that, a goal can consist of exploring a new structure, or locating a new gadget/weapon, or racing a hoverboard, or even shooting down spaceships with a giant cannon. Occasionally, even Clank will even be used seperately for some strategy and puzzle solving. Along their journey R&C; can collect bolts, which are used to purchase new weapons and ammo, but the game is absolutely not based on item collection. The game plays as solid as you would hope for, and has next to no serious camera issues.

There are a large number of futuristic weapons and gadgets that Ratchet can wield, some extremely powerful, while others just being humorous. The variety is pretty large, and most are useful in more than a few situations. Besides standard blasters, or bombs, weapons can include the Glove of Doom which sends several tiny smartbomb robots toward enemies (my overall favorite), the Walloper 3000, which is a super powerful robotic boxing glove, or the R.Y.N.O. (rip you a new one), a tremendous multimissle launcher. Ratchet also is always equipped with a Wrench, which is used for close combat and some puzzle eleemnts, and Clank also doubles as a helipak. Gadgets are the key to traversing new areas, and the game makes it very obvious when and where a gadget is needed. Items such as Magnaboots or Grind Boots are needed for walking on (or up) certain surfaces, and an O2 mask is a must when visiting certain planets with a hazardous atmosphere. Ratchet can obtain a hoverboard as a gadget, and then even find upgrades for that. There's really a lot to see and do while playing through the game, and not all of is is required.

Ratchet And Clank might have some of the most impressive environments yet in a game of this type. The planets are full of huge detailed structures and seem very much alive. Hovercars and huge freighter ships zoom all around, and various plant and animal life go on doing their own thing. What's even more impressive, is that nearly every piece of the large environments, even those that at first seem to be part of a background, can be explored. All that detail, along with a very clean display and a good level of effects and lighting, running at a perfect 60 fps framerate. I can't think of any PlayStation 2 adventure game which is better looking in this regard. The animation, just like what was found in Jak and Daxter, is also top notch and as smooth and transition-less as can be.

Unlike Sly Cooper, Ratchet And Clank is a fairly long game; One which could probably not be finished off in a sitting or two. It very rarely became especially difficult or annoying, and was mostly purely enjoyable right through to the end. Ratchet & Clank bridges a few gaps, but should really appeal to gamers craving a solid platformer, a lengthy game, and blowing things up. The smart humor and sweet visuals don't hurt either. Ratchet And Clank is definitely within the top three games of the genre this year, and should not be overlooked.