Ratchet & Clank (PS2)

The feature that will strike you first is the terrific art direction. Set in a science fiction future, the game has a beautifully executed retro cartoon look (think old Warner Brothers). The attention lavished on every detail, from architecture to character design, makes for a world that feels complete and real. This extends to the cut scenes, which feature a variety of colourful characters given vivid life with excellent voice acting. Then there's the sheer size and level of interactivity of the environments; a particularly stunning moment came when our character was knocked off a skyscraper, but, instead of perishing, landed on a ledge and was able to seamlessly navigate a whole separate section of the game. Another moment of truth came when we aimed our blaster at one of the vehicles whizzing by in the sky. These vehicles were just pretty wallpaper, we thought, but no, the thing blew up. In fact, nearly every thing you see is destructible or responsive in some way: you can jump up trees, scuttle over walkways, smash boxes, and climb up ledges. And the control scheme is just complex enough to keep things interesting with multiple weapons and the like, without bogging down with too many features.

While the routine of finding and destroying enemy robots may get tedious after a while, Ratchet and Clank keeps things interesting with the many metamorphoses of Clank (who takes on forms that surprise even himself) and cool weapons like the "Glove of Doom", which unleashes armies of tiny Clanks, and shifting 1st-robot, 3rd-robot points of view. This deserves to be the bestselling platform action game of the year. --David Stoesz