Ratchet & Clank
The buddy-platformer that paired Ratchet, a wrench-swinging lombax mechanic, with Clank, a small defective robot — and armed them with the most gleefully over-the-top arsenal on the PlayStation 2. Blowing up enemies with a Suck Cannon or a flamethrower was the whole point.
Ratchet & Clank arrived on the PlayStation 2 on November 6, 2002, developed by Insomniac Games (fresh off the Spyro series) and published by Sony. It followed Ratchet, a cat-like alien mechanic called a lombax, and Clank, a small robot who crash-lands on his world, as they set out to stop the villainous Chairman Drek.
What separated it from other platformers was the guns. Instead of just jumping and stomping, players wielded a rotating arsenal of dozens of absurd weapons and gadgets — the Suck Cannon, the Pyrocitor flamethrower, the Glove of Doom. Critics loved it (an 88 on Metacritic), and it sold millions, helping define the PS2's platforming golden age.
The series became one of Sony's most durable, with Insomniac developing every mainline entry from 2002 through 2021 — the PS3 "Future" trilogy, a 2016 remake (with a companion animated film), and the PS5 showcase Rift Apart. But it's the original PS2 games that a generation remembers renting and replaying.
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PlayStation 2
The black rectangle that invaded living rooms worldwide as an affordable DVD player and happened to pack the best game library ever assembled. With over 155 million sold—the best-selling console of all time—the PlayStation 2 didn't just dominate gaming; it became the era's default home entertainment hub.
Spyro the Dragon
A cocky little purple dragon gliding and flame-breathing through bright pastel worlds with his dragonfly sidekick Sparx. Spyro was the PlayStation's other mascot platformer alongside Crash — collect gems, free trapped dragons, charge headfirst into everything.
Crash Bandicoot
The spinning, crate-smashing marsupial who became the PlayStation's unofficial mascot and Mario's cheeky rival. Naughty Dog's 1996 platformer sent Crash bouncing through jungle levels and dodging boulders — and defined a generation's PS1 afternoons.
Gex
The wisecracking, TV-obsessed gecko who cracked one-liners while wall-crawling through the 'Media Dimension.' In the era of mascot wars — Mario, Sonic, Crash — Gex was the snarky one, voiced by an actual stand-up comedian. It's tail time.