History VideoGame / RatchetAndClank

** The gameplay is slower paced, with less emphasis on combat and more on platforming and puzzles. Due to the lack of strafing and the inability to upgrade weapons (barring buying the golden versions) and only having four hit points (which can be upgraded to eight), the game can be a bit harder to some.

** The art direction is substantially different from the later games, being much more cartoony, and nowhere near as slick or futuristic.
** The gameplay is slower paced and more platforming than combat oriented. Due to lack of strafing and the inability to upgrade weapons (barring buying the golden versions) and only having four hit points (which can be upgraded to eight), the game can be a bit harder to some.
** The weapons are much more simplistic and nowhere near as plentiful as they are in the sequels, and the enemies are likewise much less numerous and threatening than in the sequels. Also, at one point you gain a jetpack slam move that appears in none of the later games, and you have to earn your Helicopter, Thruster and Hydropack, O2 Mask, whereas those are equipped by default in the later games, and the magneboots force Ratchet to walk slowly, only use his wrench and won't allow him to jump.
** There are a handful of starfighter missions later in the game, that have substantially different play mechanics from the space missions in the sequel.

* BrickJoke: Hey, the plumber's back!

** Qwark is a competent villain that is FauxAffablyEvil unlike his later characterization as an DirtyCoward and {{Flanderization}} into a cowardly buffoon.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: If you played the later games then this, it might come off as this.

** The weapons are much more simplistic and nowhere near as plentiful as they are in the sequels, and the enemies are likewise much less numerous and threatening than in the sequels. Also, at one point you gain a jetpack slam move that appears in none of the later games, and you have to earn your Helicopter, Thruster and Hydropack, O2 Mask and Magneboots, whereas those are equipped by default in the later games, and the magneboots force Ratchet to walk slowly, only use his wrench and won't allow him to jump.

* {{Jerkass}}: Ratchet after [[spoiler:Qwark's betrayal]]. He gets better.

* BoringYetPractical: Some of the early weapons, such as the Bomb Glove, Pyrociter and Blaster, are nowhere near as powerful or impressive as later weaponry, but are still useful in certain situations. Even a couple of the later items, such as the Mine Glove and Drone Device, are helpful but otherwise unremarkable.

* BoringYetPractical: Some of the early weapons, such as the Bomb Glove, Pyrociter and Blaster, are nowhere near as powerful or impressive as later weaponry, but are still useful in certain situations. Even a couple of the later items, such as Drone Device, are helpful but otherwise unremarkable.

** Fortunately, the Devastator, a fast firing homing missile launcher, fills in that aforementioned handicap just fine.

* BoringYetPractical: Some of the early weapons, such as the Bomb Glove and Pyrociter, are nowhere near as useful or impressive as later weaponry, but are still useful in certain situations.

* JokeWeapon: The Taunter, an obnoxious noise-maker that can't even directly harm your opponents. However, certain situations such as an enemy between you and an electric force field (a situation where performing one instance will get you a skill point), and combining the Taunter with the Mine Glove weapon (which the Taunter can automatically activate and increase its range) turns it into a fairly useful LethalJokeWeapon.

* AwesomeYetPractical:

* BoringYetPractical: Some of the early weapons, such as the Bomb Glove, are nowhere near as useful or impressive as later weaponry, but are still useful in certain situations.

* AwesomeYetPractical: The Visibomb Gun, a weapon that can kill almost every enemy in the game from a safe distance. It's only real handicap is that Ratchet has to stand still while using it, which basically makes it useless for close-range combat--but the Devastator fills in that spot just fine. The Suck Cannon is also an ideal weapon for those wanting to save on ammo, since it uses common small enemies as it's ammunition, but even that gets beaten out by the Morph-O-Ray late in the game.

** Drek intended to pull this off on [[spoiler: Ratchet's homeworld, Veldin by using the Planet Buster bomb and eventually the Deplanetizer superlaser, although this ironically ended up happening to his own planet instead, [[HoiseByHisOwnPetard via the very weapon that was meant to destroy Veldin.]]]]

** While the game has a fairly large cast of characters, several of who would becoming recurring characters, many of them only appear briefly in the game, and Ratchet and Clank are largely on their own in this game, with only brief interactions with other NPC characters.

* AwesomeYetPractical: The Visibomb Gun, a weapon that can kill almost every enemy in the game from a safe distance. It's only real handicap is that Ratchet has to stand still while using it, which basically makes it useless for close-range combat--but the Devastator fills in that spot just fine. The Suck Cannon is also an ideal weapon for those wanting to save on ammo, since it uses common small enemies as it's ammunition.

* AwesomeYetPractical: The Visibomb Gun, a weapon that can kill almost every enemy in the game from a safe distance. It's only real handicap is that Ratchet has to stand still while using it, which basically makes it useless for close-range combat--but the Devastator fills in that spot just fine.

** The weapons are much more simplistic and nowhere near as plentiful as they are in the sequels, and the enemies are likewise much less numerous and threatening than in the sequels. Also, at one point you gain a jetpack slam move that appears in none of the later games, and you have to earn your Helicopter, Thruster and Hydropack, O2 Mask and Magneboots, whereas those are equipped by default in the later games, and the magneboots force Ratchet to walk slowly and won't allow him to jump in this game.

* FailOSuckyname: Chairman ''Drek''.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Blarg

* BigBad: Chairman Drek

* FauxAffablyEvil: Chairman Drek.

** Ratchet's original voice is more like a surfer dude and comes off as a case of TheOtherDarrin. He is also much more selfish in this game as well. Also, Ratchet wears nothing except pants and a strap, as opposed to full body armor and helmets in the sequels.

** The art direction is substantially different from the later games, being much more cartoony.

** The weapons are much more simplistic and nowhere near as plentiful as they are in the sequels, and the enemies are likewise much less numerous and threatening than in the sequels. Also, at one point you gain a jetpack slam move that appears in none of the later games, and you have to earn your O2 mask, Hydropack and Magneboots, whereas those are equipped by default in the later games, and the magneboots force Ratchet to walk slowly and won't allow him to jump in this game.

** The gameplay is slower paced and more platforming than combat oriented. Due to lack of strafing and the inability to upgrade weapons (barring buying the golden versions) and only having four to eight hit points, the game can be a bit harder to some.
** The weapons are much more simplistic and nowhere near as plentiful as they are in the sequels. Also, at one point you gain a jetpack slam move that appears in none of the later games, and you have to earn your O2 mask and Hydropack, whereas those are equipped by default in the later games.

** Ratchet's original voice is more like a surfer dude and comes off as a case of TheOtherDarrin. He is also much more selfish in this game as well.