We’re not entirely sure why, but every time the publisher of a popular and long-running series announces its intentions to release a PSP version, we feel the need to fold our arms and humph – or make some other non-committal and vaguely derisory sound. There is a precedence of lazy PS2 ports, botched and compressed onto the PSP, but equally there are some damn fine portable versions of games, that are a perfect complement to their bigger, older brothers. Maybe it’s the pessimistic gut instinct that all games journalists feel about franchises that could potentially be stretched a little too thin, and it’s not as if we’re unjustified in our initial reaction, but in the case of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters – a PSP debut for the series – there was no need to take a dim view to begin with. Suffice to say, we quickly changed our minds.

When you consider Size Matters purely in terms of gameplay, it’s a fairly standard platformer with a few unusual elements thrown in to keep you on your toes, such as switching characters from Ratchet to Clank. This isn’t enough to secure Ratchet & Clank’s success on the PSP alone, and wasn’t enough when it was released on the PS2 in 2002. The key to marking Size Matters out from a clichéd and crowded genre has always been its sense of humour, evident in the plot, characters and animation. And this PSP version could charm its way into even the most hardcore gamer’s heart.

To say that it has a fairly lighthearted approach to the plot is a colossal understatement. We find Ratchet and Clank exchanging banter while sunning themselves on a beach, when a small girl appears and asks them if they’ll defeat some robots for her so that she can take some photos of the action for her school project. So that’s exactly what your first task is: gradually move through several waves of robot crabs, learning how to use your weapons and manipulate the controls to perform long and high jumps, while some precocious primary school kid with pigtails circles you, taking photos. At the end of this prologue, the kid is inexplicably snatched away by aliens, but drops a mysterious device that points the way to her captors.

As is traditional, Ratchet provides the comic relief while his robot partner Clank, in contrast, is dry and intelligent. Ratchet will be your main character for most of the game. He’s equipped with a number of useful devices and weapons, which include the Lacerator (a laser) and Acid Bomb Glove, the Hypershot (a grappling hook) and his chopper blades which are activated whenever you need to jump higher and further than Ratchet’s normal reach. Destroying enemies and boxes usually yields assorted nuts and bolts – the game’s currency – which allow you to buy other weapons, such as the Concussion Gun. You’ll also pick up gadgets like the Sprout-o-Matic when you reach key points in the game.

As a platform game, it’s diverse and interesting with enough in the way of unlockable and secret rewards to keep you on your toes. High Impact has obviously tried to break up any chance of the game becoming monotonous by interspersing the platform action with a variety of racing and shooting mini-games. This comes across as a bit contrived, but it does effectively detract from the fact that the core gameplay hasn’t exactly taken giant strides to revolutionise the ageing series. However, you’ll forgive this minor blip and for a while you’ll not even notice how linear the game is, and even when you do you’ll probably have been softened up so much by this titillating duo that you’ll forgive the game that too.

It’s this and the graphics that will endear Size Matters to you. Not only does High Impact depict the humour of Ratchet and Clank effectively in every animated cutscene as well as in the in-game animations that would rival a Pixar movie, but also the graphics themselves would look more than passable on PS2. That is to say, the visuals are amazing on the PSP. How the developer has squeezed this much juice out of the handheld is pretty damn incredible, seeing as many others have tried and succeeded with not nearly as attractive games as this.

The only flaw that we encountered that mars our experience of Size Matters is the control system. Though customisable to a certain degree, you’re restricted to using the analogue pad to move around, the shoulder buttons to control the camera and the D-pad to strafe. This can make fighting awkward and frustrating, and isn’t helped by the automatic camera option.

If this were a lesser game in general, we may well have been more damning of this clumsily conceived system, but Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters has charmed us. And if it’s got us going all soft and gooey over it, then kids, platform junkies and fans of this popular franchise are going to love it regardless.

Ben Biggs