Reviews// PS2 Platformer face-off: Jak III versus Ratchet & Clank III

The engines used to support both games are, quite simply, fantastic. As you might expect from Sony published PS2 exclusives, the technical foundations fit the vision perfectly. Graphically speaking, it could be argued that this is the top ebb of PS2 visuals. It’s not that they are the most impressive per se, but rather that they are both attractive and flawlessly functional. Unlike the 3D engine used for, say, San Andreas, it can accomplish what it needs to without any trouble. There’s very little pop-up, there’s very little glitching and there’s very little that doesn’t make you think “Cor, that looks really lovely…”. In other words, the graphics fit the games perfectly.

Both titles boast a light-hearted cartoon visual style, and although not a major step forward from their predecessors, the characters and environments all appear beautifully designed and crisply created. The animation in both is super slick and there are few occasions that leave you cursing the camera: a problem almost uniformly present to a greater or lesser extent in every 3D game bar the finest. The overall design ethos is also superb in both examples, with imaginative stories, endearing characters and well-planned game areas.

Although when Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank were first introduced to the Sony platform, we felt little affinity for them, by the end of these episodes they’re almost honorary members of the family. Just like our seasonal Q4 digit blisters, Jak and Ratchet continue to grow on us the more we play. This generation of consoles has mostly missed out on the usual spread of smiley creativity traditionally spear-headed by Nintendo or Sega, and for most, it’s the ‘moodier’, ‘grittier’ titles that have received the most acclaim. But both these titles boast vibrant, nicely thought-out characters that have that universal Disney-esque appeal.

Jak III is the slightly more maturely poised of the two, but in the same breath, it does have that colourful, childish charm to it. Although veering away from the dark twists of Jak II, introducing Light-Eco Jak to temper the shadows of Dark-Eco Jak, Ratchet and Clank is arguably still the cutesier option. But with various furry critters strapped up in mech suits and armed to the teeth with enormous pieces of artillery it should still hold interest to older gamers.