Original Ratchet & Clank 2002 comes to PS5 with a new Platinum trophy

Sony has confirmed that the original Ratchet & Clank, the 2002 PlayStation 2 classic, will be added to the PS Plus Classics Catalog later this year, making it playable on both PS4 and PS5. The announcement was made during a State of Play broadcast, and it marks the first time the game that started the long-running platforming series will be officially available on modern consoles.

The re-release comes with a notable addition for trophy hunters. Insomniac’s communications veteran James Stevenson confirmed on social media that the PS5 version will include a brand-new Platinum Trophy to unlock. For players who have already earned the Platinum in the 2016 reimagining and the more recent Rift Apart, this will offer a chance to secure a third Platinum in the franchise’s history.

A slow rollout for the PS2 era

The arrival of the first game is somewhat belated, given that two PSP spin-offs — Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank — had already made their way to the Classics Catalog. Fans have been waiting for the original to join them, and its inclusion now raises hopes that the rest of the PS2-era entries will follow.

Sony’s track record with its other classic franchises suggests a gradual approach. The entire Jak and Daxter series took seven years to reach current-gen consoles, beginning with the original trilogy in 2017 and concluding with the PSP spin-off Daxter in 2024. Similarly, the Sly Cooper sequels Band of Thieves and Honor Among Thieves arrived four months after the first game was added. Given that pattern, it would be a surprise if Going Commando, Up Your Arsenal, and Deadlocked — the remaining PS2 Ratchet & Clank titles — did not eventually make the jump as well.

The absence of these games has been a long-standing gap. The PS3-era entries such as Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time remain available only through streaming, and there is no sign yet of a proper PS3 emulator that would allow them to run natively on PS5. The arrival of the original game is a step forward, but it leaves the middle of the series in limbo.

Why the 2002 original still matters

For players who came to the franchise through Rift Apart or the 2016 reimagining, the 2002 original offers a markedly different experience. The gameplay is stiffer by modern standards — there is no strafing, for example — but the tone is sharper. Ratchet has more bite in his dialogue, and the villain Chairman Drek is not overshadowed by Dr Nefarious, who has appeared frequently in later entries. The story carries a snarky, early-2000s skater culture energy, right down to characters like Skid McMarx and the hoverboard races.

The original also contains a charm that the 2016 reimagining lost. Its Y2K angst, the sleazy version of Captain Qwark, and planets that were left out of the remake are all reasons to revisit it. Rift Apart drew heavily on the PS2 classics for inspiration, and playing the source material makes those homages more apparent. The voice work is another point of distinction, with Mikey Kelley providing Ratchet’s voice before he was recast in the sequel.

More classics on the way

Ratchet & Clank is not the only retro addition to PS Plus in 2026. Mega Man X: Command Mission and Dino Crisis 2 are also scheduled to join the service. The full line-up suggests Sony is continuing to mine its back catalogue, and the inclusion of the original Ratchet & Clank may signal that the rest of the PS2 library is on the horizon.

The exact release date for the game has not been announced beyond the “later this year” window given during the State of Play. The Platinum Trophy confirmation, however, gives completionists a concrete reason to clear their schedules when it does arrive. Whether the other PS2 Ratchet & Clank games follow quickly or take the slow route seen with Jak and Daxter remains to be seen, but the door is now open.