40 Fun Facts About Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Which French novella's cover helped inspire the tiny spherical worlds Ratchet walks around in Going Commando?

The Little Prince was cited by programmer Brian Hastings, who said its cover partly inspired the idea. Building the spherical worlds meant changing about 50,000 lines of the game's code.

In Going Commando's final twist, which returning first-game character has been impersonating Megacorp boss Fizzwidget?

Captain Qwark shut the real Fizzwidget away and stole his identity, hoping to stage a crisis he could solve to win back his fame. The plan ends with him swallowed by a giant monster.

The Going Commando skill point Try to Sleep is earned by using which weapon on sixteen mutant squirrels?

The Sheepinator fires a beam that converts enemies into sheep, which makes the skill point a counting-sheep gag. With enough use it upgrades into a version whose sheep explode.

Going Commando's skill point Clank Needs a New Pair of Shoes is earned at Maktar Resort by winning 300 bolts from what?

A slot machine at the resort pays out 300 bolts when three jackpot symbols line up. Many of them land on explosion symbols and blow themselves up before that can happen.

Prehistoric Rampage, a Going Commando skill point on Oozla, is earned by shooting down four of which flying creatures?

Pterodactyls circle slowly in the skies above the swamp, which makes them easy targets. The same level hides a second skill point for smashing up the Megacorp store.

In Going Commando, Megacorp markets its violent blue fuzzball experiment under which cuddly product name?

The Protopet was engineered to be the perfect pet, but it is extremely violent and breeds at a rapid pace. It was known as Experiment #13 before it got a commercial name.

The Going Commando skill point Speed Demon is earned on Barlow by beating a 2:10 target time in which minigame?

Hoverbike racing returns later on Joba, where a second skill point demands a time under 2:27. On Barlow the key is to take every shortcut and keep boosting.

Going Commando takes Ratchet and Clank out of their home Solana Galaxy to which new galaxy dominated by Megacorp?

Bogon mixes gleaming cities like Megapolis with swamps, deserts and ice worlds. One corporation owns property on almost every planet the pair visit there.

Which former Megacorp scientist is unmasked as the thief Ratchet has been chasing through Going Commando?

Angela Cross is a Lombax like Ratchet, and she stole the experiment because she knew how dangerous it was. She had been fired after warning management about it.

Setting the console clock to 3:00 AM activates a Going Commando teleporter leading to which secret location?

The Insomniac Museum is a hidden gallery where eleven developers comment on material cut from the first two games. Its teleporter sits on the central fountain of Silver City, on Boldan.

Collecting all thirty skill points in Going Commando unlocks the final outfit cheat, which dresses Ratchet in what?

Swimming trunks and sandals are the reward, under the cheat name Beach Boy. The tuxedo arrives at seven skill points and the clown costume at twenty.

Ratchet begins Going Commando with the Gravity Bomb and which long-range Megacorp pistol as his default weapons?

The Lancer is standard issue for Megacorp commandos, so Ratchet gets it for free. With use it upgrades into the Heavy Lancer, a rifle with a rapid rate of fire.

Which mercenary outfit in Going Commando sells its protection to the highest bidder and switches sides mid-story?

Thugs-4-Less are first hired by the masked thief for protection, then bought out by Megacorp. Their boss ends up holding a personal vendetta against Ratchet and Clank.

Which Going Commando skill point is earned on Dobbo by beating every enemy with weapons from the first game?

Old Skool allows only first-game gear such as the Bomb Glove, Decoy Glove, Tesla Claw, Visibomb Gun and Walloper. Coming back after the story helps, because the enemy formations are weaker.

On which Going Commando planet does Ratchet smash the Snow Dan, a snowman with a developer's face, for a skill point?

Siberius tucks the Snow Dan around the back of a garage near the start of the level. Its face belongs to artist Dan Johnson, whose cameos were tucked into many of the studio's games as an inside joke.

Which rare collectible, forty of them hidden across Going Commando, pays for weapon mods from a black market dealer?

Platinum bolts are the rarest currency in the galaxy, tucked into secret areas or handed out as prizes. Early builds of the game still used the first game's gold bolts instead.

After the credits, which Going Commando replay option keeps Ratchet's weapons and adds a bolt multiplier?

Challenge mode also sells Mega versions of weapons, which can then level up again into Ultra forms. Its bolt multiplier grows with each enemy beaten without Ratchet taking damage.

Which missile-spraying Going Commando super-weapon costs one million bolts from the Help Matron on Barlow?

The RYNO II fires immensely powerful missiles at every enemy available and cannot be upgraded. Its price means most players can only afford it much later in the game.

Where is the real Abercrombie Fizzwidget found at the end of Going Commando, after an impostor ran Megacorp?

A supply closet at Megacorp headquarters held the company's founder for the whole adventure. Once freed, he thanks Ratchet and Clank for their hard work.

Which Ratchet & Clank game followed Going Commando a year later as the third entry in the series?

Up Your Arsenal arrived in 2004. Its high-definition remaster was later bundled with the first two games in a single collection.

The first Wrench Ninja skill point in Going Commando means beating which Maktar Resort arena boss with only the wrench?

Chainblade fights with two long extending blades and went undefeated in five hundred straight matches. Coming back with the strongest wrench lets Ratchet finish him in only a few hits.

Going Commando's Heal Your Chi skill point is earned on the desert planet Tabora by finding all one hundred of what?

Crystals are scattered across Tabora's open mining area, and the mining vehicle is a quick way to hunt down the last few. With the Mapper gadget, every uncollected one shows on the map.

The Going Commando skill point Operate Heavy Machinery asks Ratchet to destroy ten robots in Megapolis using what?

A crane can drop a metal box on sweeper bots, or pick up a laser bot and turn its beam on the others. Dying on purpose resets the room if the count falls short.

Which mineral, mined on Tabora or won in space combat, pays for upgrades to Ratchet's ship in Going Commando?

Raritanium is traded at a black market ship shack, and fully upgrading the ship earns the skill point Nice Ride. Cosmetic changes cost the mineral without counting toward it.

Which weapons maker from the first Ratchet & Clank game was driven out of Going Commando's galaxy by Megacorp?

Gadgetron left an abandoned factory on Barlow, where one vendor still sells its gear. A save file from the first game unlocks five of its old weapons there for free.

Which voice actor took over as Ratchet in Going Commando, replacing Mikey Kelley for a more mature sound?

James Arnold Taylor was brought in as part of a wider effort to make Ratchet friendlier and not so cocky as in the first game. Clank kept his original voice actor.

Going Commando's Lava Gun sprays a stream of molten rock until it upgrades with use into which weapon?

The Meteor Gun fires meteors instead of a continuous stream, the one upgrade that heavily changes how a weapon works. Eurogamer praised the upgrade system but criticized this path.

Which item does Ratchet win by beating a second swamp monster on Oozla in Going Commando?

The Box Breaker lets one hyper-strike destroy every breakable object nearby. It turns skill points such as Smash and Grab and Vandalize into a quick lap of each level.

Which top-tier Going Commando armor costs a million bolts and fully encases Ratchet's head, ears and tail?

Carbonox armor blocks 90 percent of damage and first goes on sale on Grelbin. The game's armor suits were designed by fashion experts from the planet Endako.

Which gadget in Going Commando misfires because its batteries were put in backwards, creating the giant final boss?

The Helix-o-morph was invented to cure the creatures' violent streak, but it mutated the original into a giant instead. Once Clank spots the fault, the repaired device pacifies them all.

Going Commando opens with Ratchet and Clank, now celebrities, being interviewed on which holovision show?

Behind the Hero returns for three more episodes that play on the screen of Ratchet's ship. Its host admits that much of the content is baseless speculation.

While Ratchet trains as a commando in Going Commando, Megacorp gives Clank an apartment and which desk job?

Head accountant is Clank's title while he lives in the city of Megapolis on Endako. The quiet life ends when the masked thief kidnaps him to scare Ratchet off the mission.

Which bomblet-scattering Going Commando weapon was revived at the last minute to replace the overpowered Rift Inducer?

The Bouncer had been prototyped and cut before it was brought back, and GameSpy later singled it out for praise. It launches a large bomb that bursts into smaller ones on impact.

Which weapon, pitched for Going Commando under a rainbow-afro name, was cut for memory reasons and debuted years later?

The Groovitron forces enemies to dance, and the PlayStation 2 did not have the memory to handle all those animations. It finally appeared in Tools of Destruction.

Which composer wrote Going Commando's soundtrack, leaning further into orchestral strings than the first game's score?

David Bergeaud, a French composer and multi-instrumentalist, scored the series from 2002 to 2008. Additional music for this game came from Niels Bye Nielsen.

Going Commando's engine built on technology shared with which fellow PlayStation studio, makers of a rival platformer?

Naughty Dog had shared technology from its Jak and Daxter engine, which the team then heavily reworked. Critics went on to compare the finished game with Jak II, released the same year.

Under which subtitle was Going Commando sold as Ratchet & Clank 2 in Australia and most PAL countries?

Locked and Loaded was the name on European and Australian boxes. Japan got a third subtitle of its own, opening with the exclamation Gagaga!

Going Commando's skill points Midtown Insanity and No Shocking Developments both demand a damage-free ride on what?

A grind rail runs past electrified cables on Boldan and through hostile creatures on Damosel. A known glitch can cancel the Boldan skill point if Ratchet double-jumps onto the rail at the start.

Which televised Megacorp combat show films its arena battles at the Maktar Resort in Going Commando?

Galactic Gladiators is an annual event broadcast across the galaxy, and Ratchet's first win there earns him the Electrolyzer. Each of its two headline fighters has a skill point attached.

Which black market dealer in Going Commando sells weapon mods and ship upgrades while only ever showing his eyes?

Slim Cognito is summoned by pressing red buttons he has left on small stands around certain planets, after which his ship lands nearby. He is never fully seen in person.