Games Like Ratchet and Clank

What Made Ratchet and Clank Work

Ratchet and Clank is a platformer whose progression is an armoury — every weapon levels up as you use it, and the fun is cycling through all of them rather than finding the best one. Insomniac has never made a boring gun. Platformers without an arsenal are not the same experience.

Ratchet and Clank is Insomniac Games' 2002 PlayStation 2 platformer about a Lombax mechanic, Ratchet, and a small robot, Clank, travelling between planets to stop a corporation destroying them. Weapons and gadgets are bought from vendors, and from the 2003 sequel Going Commando onward they level up with use. The series continues through Rift Apart on PS5. Fans usually want the same blend of platforming and a large, inventive arsenal.

9 Games Like Ratchet and Clank

1. Ra

   1.Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart(2021)

   The best-looking and best-feeling entry, and the weapons are the star.

   Why it fits: Insomniac's 2021 PS5 game introduces Rivet, a second Lombax, and uses near-instant dimension-hopping as a showcase for the console's SSD.

   What is different: It is the same series, so the gap is technical: faster, prettier and with dimension rifts, but fewer planets than the older games.

   Where to play it: PS5 and PC.

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2. Ja

   2.Jak and Daxter(2001)

   The other PS2 mascot series, and Jak II adds the guns.

   Why it fits: Naughty Dog's 2001 PS2 platformer started the series whose 2003 sequel, Jak II, added guns and an open city.

   What is different: The first game has no guns; it is a pure collectathon platformer. Jak II is the one that turns into a shooter.

   Where to play it: PS2; remastered for PS3 and PS Vita, and on PS4.

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3. Su

   3.Sunset Overdrive(2014)

   Insomniac again, with the same weapon design philosophy.

   Why it fits: Insomniac's 2014 Xbox One open-world shooter has creative weapons and movement built on grinding and bouncing.

   What is different: An open city and grind-rail movement instead of planets, and the humour is louder and more adult.

   Where to play it: Xbox One and PC.

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4. Re

   4.Resistance: Fall of Man(2006)

   Insomniac's shooter, and its arsenal is unusually inventive.

   Why it fits: Insomniac's 2006 PS3 shooter carries the studio's weapon inventiveness into an alternate-history war against the Chimera.

   What is different: A first-person war shooter with a grim tone; the weapon ideas are there, the comedy and platforming are not.

   Where to play it: PS3.

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5. As

   5.Astro Bot(2024)

   The current best 3D platformer, and full of one-off gadgets.

   Why it fits: Team Asobi's 2024 PS5 platformer uses gadgets like a jetpack, a punching glove and a sponge to change how each level plays.

   What is different: No weapon shop and no bolts to spend; gadgets are handed to you per level, and there is no story to speak of.

   Where to play it: PS5.

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6. Sl

   6.Sly Cooper(2002)

   The third of the PS2 trio, if you want stealth instead of guns.

   Why it fits: Sucker Punch Productions' 2002 PS2 game is a stealth-platformer about a raccoon master thief, part of the same PS2 mascot generation.

   What is different: Stealth and sneaking instead of shooting; Sly mostly avoids fights that Ratchet would blast through.

   Where to play it: PS2; remastered in The Sly Collection for PS3 and PS Vita.

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7. Ps

   7.Psychonauts 2(2021)

   Powers as a toolkit in a platformer, with better writing.

   Why it fits: Double Fine's 2021 platformer gives you a toolkit of psychic powers — telekinesis, pyrokinesis, time bubbles — used for both combat and puzzles.

   What is different: Psychic powers instead of a weapon wheel, and the levels are built around characters' minds rather than planets.

   Where to play it: PC, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

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8. Co

   8.Conker's Bad Fur Day(2001)

   For the same cartoon-with-weapons combination.

   Why it fits: Rare's 2001 Nintendo 64 platformer combines cartoon visuals with weapons and a satirical, adult sense of humour.

   What is different: Crude, adult humour and a lot of parody; the shooting is a few set pieces rather than the whole game.

   Where to play it: Nintendo 64; also in Rare Replay on Xbox One.

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9. Ka

   9.Kao the Kangaroo(2022)

   A straightforward modern mascot platformer if you want more of the shape.

   Why it fits: Tate Multimedia's 2022 reboot of its 2000s series is a 3D platformer with boxing-glove combat and a straightforward mascot-platformer style.

   What is different: Smaller and simpler, with boxing gloves rather than guns, and no gadgets or upgrade shop.

   Where to play it: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Switch.

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Where to Start

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is the best next step on PS5. If you want the same weapon design in an open world, Sunset Overdrive is Insomniac's other game in this vein. For another PS2 classic, try Jak II, the sequel to Jak and Daxter.

How We Picked These Games

We looked for games that combine platforming with inventive weapons or gadgets, favouring Insomniac's own games and the PS2 platformers from the same moment. A couple of picks are here for the humour or the gadget-based progression rather than the guns.

Which One to Play, by What You Liked

If you liked Ratchet and Clank for levelling up the weapons, try Sunset Overdrive and Resistance: Fall of Man. Insomniac's other games, with the same imagination for guns.

If you liked Ratchet and Clank for the PS2 mascot rivalry, try Jak and Daxter and Sly Cooper. The other two-thirds of PlayStation's platformer trio.

If you liked Ratchet and Clank for gadgets that change how a level plays, try Astro Bot and Psychonauts 2. A new tool or power reshaping each stage.

If you liked Ratchet and Clank for the jokes, try Conker's Bad Fur Day. A cartoon platformer with weapons and a much ruder sense of humour.