Ok, so you've been letting your Sony PlayStation Portable collect dust for some time now. The UMD well has dried up and all of the interesting handheld games are being released for the Nintendo DS. What's a PSP owner to do? Revisit a PlayStation 2 franchise, that's what.

Ratchet and Clank are the loveable duo that appeared on the PS 2 way back in 2002. Published by Sony, the game that featured a fuzzy hero and his robotic sidekick became a success and spawned a fan-adored franchise. In the gaming industry this is really where the big bucks lie. You create a mascot and hope that it sticks with gamers so you can make sequel after sequel to keep the machine rolling. In total there have been four installments into the Ratchet & Clank series on the PlayStation 2 and if you ask me it's about time that the PSP got some attention.

Size Matters is the latest adventure of Ratchet and his robotic buddy. The game follows the heroes as they try to catch some R&R by taking a vacation on Pokitaru. There they meet Luna, who is writing a report on heroes, but she is kidnapped by a band of robots. It turns out that she's merely a pawn put in place by the microscopic Technomites to lure Ratchet into a devious trap.

Ok, so the story isn't anything fantastic when you get right down to it but Size Matters still offers the same great personality that previous installments did which is a saving grace in terms of plot development. The characters are as loveable as always and throughout this adventure you can expect to see more than one familiar face. As with other Ratchet & Clank games though it's the gameplay that keeps things interesting.

Gameplay:

Like many fans I too had reservations about Ratchet & Clank appearing on the PSP. Part of the joy that the PlayStation 2 experience offers for the franchise is the ability to control Ratchet with dual analog sticks; a must when it comes to FPS style combat. Considering the PSP only has one I was skeptical in regards to how faithful Size Matters would be to the rest of the series. I have suffered through my fair share of terrible PSP shooters so naturally I was a little worried. Fortunately the controls held up well, all things considered and High Impact Games was successful in rebuilding the engine.

Like you'd expect, you control Ratchet by using the analog stick and move the camera by using shoulder buttons. Things get a little tricky when you need to strafe in a tight environment but after some extended play with the title it will feel more natural. It's not a gameplay killer but it’s just an inevitable byproduct of losing the second analog stick. The rest of the controls from jumping to shooting and melee pan out intuitively if you have ever played another Ratchet & Clank game or 3D platformer in general.

Right from the start it's clear that Size Matters attempts to recreate the Ratchet & Clank experience in almost every regard. The game build may have been taken to task and reformulated for the PSP but longtime fans will hardly be able to tell the difference.

Apart from fluid controls another aspect to the franchise that has made Ratchet & Clank so popular is the variety of gameplay. Sure you'll be jumping from one platform to another and clobbering enemies along the way but the tedium is broken up by a variety of elements. These typically consist of vehicles of one degree or another and boss battles tossed in for good measure. The flow of the gameplay in this particular title follows suit from what we've come to expect from the series and to be honest the game doesn't skip a beat.

Weaponry has been another big component of the franchise and comes to the PSP in good form. You can collect bolts and experience points to upgrade armaments and throughout the adventure you'll find many more toys to play with. With the amount of customization and options at hand combat in Size Matters is a ton of fun. After all, who wouldn't want to launch a barrage of mechanical bees at their opponent? You can even unlock armor for Ratchet to give him extra abilities which is a definite plus.

There is a multiplayer component available for Size Matters by utilizing the PSP's Ad-Hoc. Sadly these modes feel like kind of a waste because they merely included standard experiences such as a Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. More variety would have been appreciated but the games work fairly well so if you enjoy the title and want to get some extended play you can find other gamers in a similar pinch.

If Size Matters has any flaw that hurts the gameplay it's the fact that the camera causes a lot of things to go wrong. It hangs a little too closely to Ratchet so many jumps that should be simple are made perilous thanks to awkward angles. Cheap hits plague the game as well considering you'll be taking damage from off-screen enemies you didn't even know were there. It's not enough to kill the experience by any means but it certainly does knock the game down a couple of notches.

Graphics:

Like the elements of gameplay I was initially skeptical about the way Size Matters was going to look when I first heard about the title. Shockingly enough it is very similar to the rest of the PlayStation 2 franchise with effects and graphical touches on par with the console. There are some jagged edges, a few spots where some clipping as noticeable, and some funny animations, but overall the game is rock solid.

With the PSP system gamers can typically expect lengthy load times and framerate issues but you'll find neither of those in this title. Even when you're flying through a stage blowing up enemy ship after enemy ship the game never skips a beat. I have to tip my hat to High Impact Games.

Sound:

Like previous Ratchet & Clank games Size Matters brings some fantastic voice acting to the table. Every character that is featured here has a great voiceover and personable dialogue to boot. The sound effects are relatively standard to the genre and franchise and the music is ultimately forgettable though so it's not a complete package. There's nothing bad here but I'd be hard-pressed to say that most of the content wasn't just mediocre. It goes without saying that the voice acting makes the biggest impression.

Final Thoughts:

If your PSP has gotten dusty from a lack of use then Size Matters may just be the game you're looking for. This is Ratchet & Clank in its truest form and though the system lacks the second analog stick, the control is spot on. The single play campaign is fun and fresh from start to finish though the multiplayer is a little too lackluster for my taste. An impressive presentation also helps to make this an all around package that is difficult to ignore.