The Mighty PS2 Platforming 3

[FMW]

How do these franchises not have topics yet? These were some of the absolute best games on the PS2. Here's what I have to say about each of them:

 

Sly: The gameplay in this one is just super duper tight. What makes it stand out though is what it did visually. The Sly trilogy were better looking than Jak/Ratchet managed, mostly due to some seriously stylish art driving it forward. The best was Sly 2, because I felt 3 was just sly 2 with some stuff piled on top of it. You'd think that this could only improve a game, but it's like an ice cream sundae - piles and piles of exotic toppings just aren't as good as hot fudge over vanilla.

 

Jak: Jak 2 is my favorite game of these three franchises. What makes this franchise interesting is how drastically it reinvented itself after the first game. The first game was really good, and there was definitely room to grow within that design. Naughty Dog didn't want to though, and instead made Jak 2. Jak 2 should have sucked. It's a sequel with a "darker, edgier" hero, they added cussing, they turned a platformer structured after Mario 64 into an open world game structured after GTA, they explained their story with time travel. This game had no business being good, and yet it was utterly fantastic. Too bad about 3 though, which did the Sly 3 thing and just kinda piled more on top of Jak 2.

 

Ratchet: Ratchet doesn't have the visual flair of Sly, and the franchise hasn't evolved structurally beyond the first game really. However, Ratchet is the only franchise that just kept getting better and better. I've played through Ratchet 3 more than any other game I own, bar none. The monster designs are crazy in a good way, the guns are crazy in a good way, and the story is crazy in a good way. I STILL watch the cutscenes in Ratchet games, they're just really really stinkin' funny. Dr. Nefarious, Courtney Gears, Quark, Secret Agent Clank... the cast is just great. There isn't quite as much to talk about Ratchet/Clank because the franchise is just so cohesive and high quality. The biggest dud was Deadlocked, and that was only a dud by Ratchet standards.

 

Since the PS2, these franchises have seen different fates. Jak got a few spin offs on the PSP that were... mediocre. Ratchet got a few PSP spin offs that were a little bit better, and also got a kick ass PS3 trilogy. Sly seemed to fade away into obscurity, but NO! Sly's coming back too! Sly 4 for the PS3 is (I think) official, and might as well be regardless.

 

So now the part where other people talk. How did you like these games? Which ones deserve to be put down, which deserve sequels? (hint, the correct answer is Jak 4 needs to happen)