Portable games used to be the "lite" versions of the stuff you actually wanted to play. In the early 2000s, if you bought a handheld tie-in, you usually got a 2D side-scroller that felt like a cheap knockoff of the console big brother. Then came Ratchet & Clank Size Matters PSP. It wasn’t a spinoff in the way people expected; it was an attempt to cram a full-blown PlayStation 2 epic into a device that basically fit in your back pocket.
Honestly, looking back at it in 2026, it’s wild how well High Impact Games pulled this off. They weren't Insomniac Games—the original creators—but a team made up of former Insomniac and Naughty Dog employees. They knew the DNA of the series. They understood that a Ratchet game without absurd weapons and massive bolts flying everywhere just wouldn't work. It’s a game that defined the PSP’s middle years, proving that the little handheld could punch way above its weight class.
The Technical Wizardry of High Impact Games
How do you fit a universe onto a UMD? That’s the question that defines Ratchet & Clank Size Matters PSP. The PSP didn't have a second analog stick. If you’ve played any modern shooter, you know that’s a recipe for a control nightmare. High Impact solved this by leaning heavily into the "strafe" mechanics. You used the shoulder buttons to lock your view, turning the face buttons into your primary movement tools. It was clunky for about five minutes, then it became second nature.
The graphics were another story. While the PS2 versions were pushing the limits of 480p, the PSP was rocking a 480x272 resolution. Yet, if you squint, Size Matters looks nearly identical to Going Commando. They kept the particle effects. They kept the dense enemy counts. They even kept the massive, sprawling vistas that made the series famous. You'd be standing on a platform in Pokitaru, looking out at the ocean, and it actually felt like a real place.
Most people forget that this was the first time the series left Insomniac's hands. There was a lot of anxiety back in 2007. Fans thought the "size" in the title was a meta-joke about the game being short or small. It wasn't. It featured a full upgrade system, armor sets that actually changed your stats, and a story that felt like a Saturday morning cartoon on steroids.
Why the Armor System Was Actually Better Than the Main Games
In the main console games, armor was mostly linear. You bought the expensive suit, you got a percentage damage reduction, and you moved on. Ratchet & Clank Size Matters PSP did something much cooler. It introduced a modular armor system. You found pieces—helmets, chests, gloves, boots—hidden in crates or behind platforming challenges.
If you wore a full set of the "Crystallix" armor, you got a specific bonus. But the real magic happened when you mixed and matched. Combining a piece of the "Stalker" set with "Wildfire" pieces could trigger secret elemental buffs. It turned the game into a bit of a loot-hunter. You weren't just playing for the ending; you were playing to see what kind of crazy glowing aura your armor would produce if you found that last hidden piece on Ryllus.
It’s the kind of depth that modern mobile games usually skip in favor of microtransactions. Here, it was just... there. Part of the challenge. It rewarded exploration in a way that felt meaningful, especially on a portable screen where you might only be playing for fifteen minutes at a time.
The Shrinking Mechanic and Level Design
The plot revolves around a mysterious girl named Luna and a forgotten race called the Technomites. It’s classic Ratchet: a bit of corporate satire mixed with galaxy-ending stakes. But the gameplay hook was the "shrinking." Ratchet would enter these micro-worlds, turning a regular workbench or a small room into a massive platforming level.
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This was a clever way to handle the PSP's memory limitations. By creating "interior" levels that were technically just tiny parts of a larger map, the developers could load in high-detail assets without crashing the system. It made the game feel dense. One minute you’re dodging giant (to you) robotic ants, and the next you’re back in the cockpit of a ship for a space combat sequence.
The variety was staggering. You had:
- Standard third-person shooting.
- Clank-only puzzle sections (which were actually fun for once).
- Giant Clank space battles that felt like a low-budget Gundam episode.
- Hoverboard races that were surprisingly tight.
- Lemmings-style Gadgebot sequences.
Not everything landed perfectly. Some of the racing sections felt like they were fighting the PSP's frame rate, and the difficulty spike near the end of the game—specifically the final boss fight against Otto Destruct—is legendary for being absolutely brutal. If you didn't spend time grinding your weapon levels up to V4 or V5, you were going to have a bad time.
The Legend of the R.Y.N.O. in Your Pocket
You can't talk about Ratchet & Clank Size Matters PSP without the weapons. The series lives and dies by its arsenal. Size Matters brought back some classics but added its own flavor. The "Agents of Doom" returned, which were essential for the PSP because they did the aiming for you. When you’re dealing with a single analog stick, having a swarm of tiny robots blow up your enemies is a godsend.
Then there’s the R.Y.N.O. (Rip You a New One). In this game, it was the R.Y.N.O. 4. Getting it required a massive amount of bolts, usually forcing a second playthrough in "Challenge Mode." But once you had it, the game transformed. The screen would fill with white light and heat-seeking missiles, and even the toughest enemies would evaporate in seconds. It was a power trip that felt earned.
The weapon leveling system followed the Going Commando blueprint. Use a gun, it gets XP, it evolves. It’s a simple loop, but it’s addictive. Watching the "Lacerator" turn into the "Dual Lacerators" gave you that hit of dopamine that kept you glued to the tiny screen until your battery light started blinking red.
The Port Nobody Talks About
A year after the PSP release, Sony ported the game to the PlayStation 2. It’s... an interesting artifact. Because the game was built from the ground up for the PSP's specific hardware quirks, the PS2 version felt a bit empty. The textures were stretched, and the lack of a proper second stick implementation (it mostly just mapped the PSP buttons to the right stick) felt lazy.
If you want to experience this game, the original PSP version (or playing it via the PlayStation Plus Classics Catalog on PS5) is the way to go. The game was designed for that small screen. The UI, the character models, and the pacing were all tuned for handheld play. On a big 4K TV, the cracks show. On a handheld, it’s a masterpiece of optimization.
Misconceptions and the "Spinoff" Label
There’s a weird tendency for gamers to dismiss Size Matters as "not a real Ratchet game." That’s mostly because it wasn't made by Insomniac. But if you look at the credits, the fingerprints of the original trilogy are all over it. It fits perfectly into the timeline, taking place after Up Your Arsenal and before Tools of Destruction.
It’s a bridge between the PS2 era and the "Future" saga on PS3. It maintained the edgy, slightly cynical humor of the early games—before the series became a bit more "Pixar-fied" in later years. Ratchet was still a bit of a jerk sometimes, and Qwark was at his bumbling, delusional peak.
Why You Should Care in 2026
We’re in an era where "portable" means a Steam Deck or a powerful smartphone. We take high-fidelity mobile gaming for granted. But Ratchet & Clank Size Matters PSP represents a moment in time where developers had to be incredibly creative to overcome hardware limits.
It’s a lesson in game design. It shows that if the core loop—the shooting, the collecting, the upgrading—is solid, the hardware doesn't matter as much as you think. It’s still fun. The humor still hits. The armor sets are still some of the best in the entire franchise.
How to Get the Most Out of Size Matters Today
If you’re diving back in, keep these points in mind to avoid frustration:
- Don't skip the armor: Use the "Wildfire" set early on. The fire damage over time is a lifesaver against the swarms of enemies on the medical station level.
- Abuse the Strafe: Go into the settings and make sure your controls are set to the "Lock-on" style. Trying to play this like a traditional shooter will only lead to hand cramps.
- Focus on the Lacerator: It’s your workhorse. Get it to V5 as fast as possible. You’ll need the fire rate for the mid-game difficulty spikes.
- Challenge Mode is mandatory: The game is relatively short (about 7-8 hours). The real meat is in the second playthrough where you unlock the Titan weapon upgrades and the final armor sets.
- Check the Titanium Bolts: Many are hidden in the "shrinking" segments. If a room looks unnecessarily large, there’s probably a bolt hidden behind a giant piece of furniture.
The game is currently available on the PlayStation Store for modern consoles. It includes rewind features and save states, which, honestly, makes that final boss fight a lot more bearable. It’s a piece of gaming history that proves great things really do come in small packages.
To fully experience the technical evolution of the series, compare the Pokitaru level in this game to the version in the 2002 original; you'll see just how much High Impact Games managed to squeeze out of the PSP's limited RAM. Once you finish your first run, head straight into Challenge Mode—the multiplier system is where the real strategy begins, as taking a single hit resets your bolt bonus, making every encounter a high-stakes gamble.