Sony and Insomniac Studios are marking the twentieth anniversary of the Ratchet & Clank franchise with streaming re-releases of the Ratchet titles for the PlayStation 3 for PlayStation Plus Premium members and an article of remembrances from Insomniac staff.  Oh, and some free DLC nostalgia armor for last year's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.  Seems kind of lackluster, but it's poor fate that led to a landmark anniversary year falling just a year after the most recent game in the series released.  Maybe something larger will happen for the twenty-fifth anniversary.  Anyways, here's Insomniac President Ted Price remembering when he knew they had something big cooking with these characters.

"I remember a bunch of us crowded around an old CRT TV watching our first test cinematic. It was the ad for Al’s Roboshack where Captain Qwark (voiced by the great Jim Ward) states in his typically snarky tone “There’s nothing worse than staring down a Blargian Snagglebest…from the inside”. Even though I knew the script by heart, after watching the scene I laughed out loud. The lines, the delivery, the animation, the subtle social commentary – everything fit. To me, that ended up being the scene that set the comedic tone for the entire franchise.”

I came to the PS2 Ratchet titles late enough that I picked up all three used from GameStop after I bought my console and was immediately taken in by the strongly-written characters and explosive humor.  I've come back for more ever since.  If you've somehow missed out on these games, you absolutely have to try them.  While the PS2 trilogy (plus one, Deadlocked) was remade for the PS3, I'm surprised that the PS3 Future trilogy (also plus one, Into the Nexus) was not remade for PS4 or now PS5.  Still, there is that twenty-fifth anniversary coming up and I suppose it's never too late...