Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters

Weaponry has always been a bastion of the series, and it's the same as ever in Size Matters. Weapons level up and get better as they are used and more, bigger boomers can be picked up as bolts are collected. It's as shockingly familiar as could be expected, but it does a job and remains interesting. A number of different armours are also collectable, each one providing different effects. This is less interesting though.

The series has always been one driven by the story - even if most people ignore it - and Size Matters is of the same breed. The game is littered with beautifully animated cutscenes setting the tale, as a young girl is kidnapped and our dynamic double rush to the rescue. The scenes are forgettable, but do offer a few smirks here and there - they're not unwarranted additions, at least.

As mentioned before, the game looks lovely - on a par with the already-lovely PS2 versions, bar some draw distance issues. The frame rate holds up and everything flows, though there is the ubiquitous PSP-o-blur. Sound does a job, though it isn't going to induce any comas through sheer impressiveness, and the other technical things that are supposed to be covered in a review - which I've forgotten - are all fine, I'm sure.

Loading times, a pain in the arse on PSP, are reasonable - they're covered by scenes of Ratchet's spaceship in transit though (as they always have been) and this takes away some of the anguish that extended loading times bring with them.

Multiplayer is alright, but really this isn't a game to be bought for multiplayer anyway - and the core experience provides more than enough to warrant a purchase. It isn't the longest game in the world, but it's a handheld game so it doesn't have to be. Size Matters provides a fine distraction for six or so hours - who has a bus ride that long?