Really conflicted about this collection. While it's easily my favorite way to play the original Ratchet & Clank trilogy, it also has a lot of problems that frustrate me to no end as someone who grew up with this series.
These games look absolutely incredible in HD. They were some of the best-looking titles on the PS2 and graphically they still hold up really well. The colors pop in a way they never did in standard definition, making the levels look far more interesting. The wider FOV from implementing true 16:9 makes the games much easier to play - not only can you now see just about everything in front of you at all times, the weapons seem to have a larger and more consistent lock-on radius as well. The frame rate is also far smoother than it was on the PS2, though there are still a couple of moments where the FPS plummets in each game (and weirdly enough, they're places that had no issues originally).
Unfortunately, these remasters have a lot of audio/visual bugs, and I mean A LOT. They're relatively minor and new players probably won't notice most of them, but they're so omnipresent that, as a huge fan since childhood, I cannot help but feel annoyed constantly while playing. The music doesn't loop properly, HUD elements are misaligned and remain on-screen permanently when they shouldn't, helmets are too large, sound effects lag or play for too long, FMVs stutter every other second, in-level dialogue doesn't play, textures are the wrong color, the list goes on. None of these things impact gameplay directly but they really add up and become obnoxious when you know how things are supposed to look/sound.
Overall, having revisited the original versions and remasters of these games back to back, I've settled on this collection as my preferred way to play them because I think the enhancements outweigh the downgrades. Unfortunately, there is no perfect way to enjoy the original Ratchet & Clank trilogy in 2020, and I hope someday Sony decides they're worth another crack at remastering.
These games look absolutely incredible in HD. They were some of the best-looking titles on the PS2 and graphically they still hold up really well. The colors pop in a way they never did in standard definition, making the levels look far more interesting. The wider FOV from implementing true 16:9 makes the games much easier to play - not only can you now see just about everything in front of you at all times, the weapons seem to have a larger and more consistent lock-on radius as well. The frame rate is also far smoother than it was on the PS2, though there are still a couple of moments where the FPS plummets in each game (and weirdly enough, they're places that had no issues originally).
Unfortunately, these remasters have a lot of audio/visual bugs, and I mean A LOT. They're relatively minor and new players probably won't notice most of them, but they're so omnipresent that, as a huge fan since childhood, I cannot help but feel annoyed constantly while playing. The music doesn't loop properly, HUD elements are misaligned and remain on-screen permanently when they shouldn't, helmets are too large, sound effects lag or play for too long, FMVs stutter every other second, in-level dialogue doesn't play, textures are the wrong color, the list goes on. None of these things impact gameplay directly but they really add up and become obnoxious when you know how things are supposed to look/sound.
Overall, having revisited the original versions and remasters of these games back to back, I've settled on this collection as my preferred way to play them because I think the enhancements outweigh the downgrades. Unfortunately, there is no perfect way to enjoy the original Ratchet & Clank trilogy in 2020, and I hope someday Sony decides they're worth another crack at remastering.