Awesome Music / Ratchet & Clank

The Ratchet & Clank franchise has some cool, catchy, and intense music. Ratchet Galaxy has some of the franchise's music from the original up through A Crack in Time; check the music out here.

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Ratchet & Clank (2002)

• The theme on Veldin sets up the game - really, the entire series - very nicely, immediately establishing the moody, cyberpunk, yet whimsical tone of Ratchet and Clank.
• Eudora's main theme and alternate theme have a lighthearted, yet ominous feel to them.
• The Metropolis theme from Kerwan is possibly the most iconic theme from Ratchet & Clank, perfectly capturing the sense of wonder and adventure with somewhat sinister undertones.
• The Gemlik Base theme is a highlight of the game - a hauntingly desolate yet intense track, which is fitting for a climactic level set in in the ruins of a giant, abandoned space station.
• Qwark's boss theme is one of the darkest pieces in the series, leaning heavy into the industrial genre - perfectly encapsulating Ratchet's intent for vengeance.
• Quartu's theme is pretty catchy overall.
• The theme for Clank's visit to Orxon is one of the most unsettling tracks in the series, giving the impression that even beyond the toxic abandoned factories there is more to this world than meets the eye. The subsequent theme for Ratchet's portion of the level confirms the player's worst fears, giving off an ominous, twisted, and desolate vibe.
• Hoven's main theme is a funky tune that can easily get stuck in your head.
• Drek's boss theme, a fitting, intense track for the battle that will decide the fate of Veldin.

Going Commando

• The music that plays on your first run through Aranos is a great way to pump you up.
• And if that theme doesn't do the trick, then this one - the music for Oozla, the first real level of the game - definitely will.
• Maktar Nebula - Maktar Resort's theme is pompous and grand.
• The song that plays on the Thugs-4-Less Jamming Array is a nice, calm exploratory song. It also feels like a good casual song when it plays in Slim Cognito's Ship Shack.
• The arena battle and and boss battle music are great, intense pieces.
• The theme for Wupash Nebula and Hrugis Cloud give off a feeling of a desperate fight for survival.
• Vukovar Canyon has an ominous feel to it.
• Tabora's underground caverns have a theme that feels mysterious, vast, and lonely, which is fitting for exploring a mysterious and dangerous new environment.
• The song that plays once you get out of the caves and enter Tabora's desert is an awesome, upbeat song that's great to explore and find crystals to.
• Todano's theme is simply awesome. Perfect music for the point at which the game really starts to ratchet up the intensity. While sadly missing from the game proper due to a bug, this theme intended for Todano's interior areas is every bit as intense and epic as its outdoors counterpart.
• Feltzin System just sounds very dramatic.
• Snivelak's inhospitable, sinister nature fits well with this music.
• Smolg's theme has a grand feel to it, fitting for a factory in the clouds.
• Grelbin's theme goes well with the vast icy wasteland the level is set in.
• Grelbin - Inside the Factory's theme is quite ominous, with an alien-sounding effect playing in the background.
• The themes of Yeedil, both outside and inside are incredibly dark and epic, fitting pieces for the final level.
• Silver City, Boldan evokes a high-tech futuristic setting, and it's apt, as the level features things such as flying traffic, gravity-defying magnetic roads, and hordes of deadly robots. And a good thing the track is as good as it is, since you'll be hearing it a lot on your first playthrough!

Up Your Arsenal

• Veldin gets an entirely new theme this time around, one that immediately pumps you up and establishes this entry's increased focus on action.
• The Annihilation Nation death course music makes the obstacle courses feel that much more dramatic.
• Florana's theme is dense, wacky, catchy, and fitting for a dangerous jungle filled with tribal warriors.
• "Death to Squishies", Courtney Gears' song of declaration of war against organics is humorously peppy, yet dark.
• Aquatos' theme has a nice undercover vibe.
• Any segment of the game that involves the Tyhrranoids tends to have intense yet unconventionally off-kilter and strange tracks; case in point, the theme for their home planet, Tyhrranosis.
• The music for the fight against the Momma Tyhrranoid is quite intense.
• All three moons in the Zygan System's Obani network have awesome soundtracks.
  • Obani Gemini, the first moon, is an entrancingly soothing, ambient track that harkens back to the Maktar Jamming Array from Going Commando.
  • Zygan System - Obani Gemini Pollux builds off of the previous track and adds a more active, urgent layer. It has a Cyberpunk feel to it, and it is really catchy.
  • Finally, Obani Draco features the catchiest theme of the game, drawing heavily from EDM. Fitting for a giant kaleidoscopic, surreal sound system that ends with the fight against Courtney Gears.
• Clank's theme while filming his holo-film at Holostar Studios is one of the game's best tracks, a cosmic and utterly enjoyable parody of classic spy-film themes with a perfect mix of danger and intrigue. The song that plays during Ratchet's portion of Holostar Studios has a goofy and strange feel that somehow fits with the Tyhrranoid ambush.
• The theme of Zeldrin Starport sounds like something out of a spy flick, with an intensity that is bolstered by the unconventional 11/4 time signature.
• The music that plays during the auto-destruct sequence has a sense of urgency to it. Even better is that it's just under one minute, so you get that immediate sense of dread just before the whole thing blows up.
• The song that plays in Qwark's Hideout, which is hidden on an icy asteroid, sounds fittingly intense, mysterious, cold and desolate. Clank's theme for the level is wonderfully weird and catchy.
• Starship Phoenix Under Attack sounds very desperate, which fits the feeling of the level well.
• The theme of Koros sounds ominous, desperate, and gets you all raring to go stop the universe-destroying superweapon. The level's secondary theme, played while Ratchet infiltrates the command center, adds a very creepy intensity to the level.
• Mylon's theme is another great final level piece; rather than plunging directly into an immediately intense, dark mood like the final themes of the previous games and Koros, this one slowly builds up tension to an epic climax. One can even hear hints of what would become Tools of Destruction's Metropolis.
• Dr. Nefarious' boss fight theme, an appropriately awesome theme for an awesome boss fight. It hits hard on the intensity and never lets up.
• The Biobliterator boss fight may have been somewhat disappointing in execution, but the relentlessly chaotic and frenzied final boss music is anything but. It's also the credits theme!

Deadlocked

• The music that plays during the Marauder Tournament Advanced Qualifier sounds appropriate for a climb up the ranks.
• The general DreadZone Station theme is almost haunting, in a sense.
• The music that plays for the Energy Collector segment on Stygia has a desperate, yet hopeful feel to it.
• The themes that play when you're blowing up DreadZone Station (the East and West versions) are great for final level themes.
• The Gleeman Vox fight music sounds twisted, which fits the character nicely.
• The credits have quite a good score as well, especially starting at 3:11. It is one final hurrah for DreadZone, and the last soundtrack of the PS2 games.

Size Matters

• Say what you will about the quality of the game, but the soundtrack certainly lives up to the rest of the series. Special mention goes to the Clone Factory theme - which plays during the final level - and the Final Boss Otto Destruct's theme, both of which build up greatly towards the game's finale.

Tools of Destruction

• The very first song you hear in the game? This masterpiece, which plays as Metropolis is falling apart around you during an Alien Invasion. It's also heard when you highlight Tools of Destruction on the PS3's Cross Media Bar.
• The Groovitron themes (both worldwide and Japanese) are made specifically in-game to make you want to dance!
• The arena battle music is appropriately dramatic.
• "Let's Celebrate", a Daft Punk-inspired disco tune that plays during the credits sequence; although generally upbeat and optimistic, it's also slightly bittersweet given that it plays right after one of the most dramatic moments in the entire series (Clank's abduction by the Zoni). The song is so iconic to the series that some fans even expressed remorse that it wasn't chosen as the closing track to the 2016 movie.

A Crack In Time

• Need some good tunes to listen to while exploring the cosmos? The classic rock of Pirate Radio has you covered! Or would you rather feel some funk from the House Of Synth? Or do you wanna keep it ice cool with Deep Space Jams?
• The Groovitron themes for this game are more varied and even catchier than the last one. Special mention goes to "Flying to Space" and "Girl Rules" for having vocals.
• The RYNO V plays part of the finale of the "1812 Overture" when you fire it. Superweapons can't get much more awesome than this.
• "Heroes Collide", which plays during the final boss battle for the fate of the universe. Very appropriate.
• The credits theme has a "calm after the storm" feel to it.

Full Frontal Assault

• Regardless of whether or not the shift to a Tower Defense game is your cup of tea, it's impossible to deny how epic its main theme is.

Into the Nexus

• The RYNO VII gets some orchestral music to back its firing as well. This time, it's "Night on Bald Mountain".
• This game's Challenge Mode is hyped up in epic fashion by replacing the already great main theme with a retro version after the game is beaten once.
• Several tracks that try to nail the game's "spooky" vibe work very well, like Meero City and the Netherverse chase music.
• The electronic tune that plays when using the weapon vendor might just make you want to stay there for as long as possible.

Ratchet & Clank (2016)

• The music that plays while traversing the sewers of Blackwater City is simply amazing.

Rift Apart

With the soundtrack this time around being helmed by Mark Mothersbaugh of Thor: Ragnarok fame alongside Wataru Hokoyama, you can bet there'll be much more groovier tunes this time around.

• The main theme itself, "Rift Apart", starts off very ominous and foreboding, before shifting to a grandiose orchestra that emphasizes the grand scale of this adventure. The section at the 1:30 mark also plays whenever you highlight the game on the PlayStation 5's main menu, and it is beautiful when the soft choir comes in at the 1:57 mark.
• "Sweet Home Sargasso" is the ambient theme that plays throughout the titular level as it also scores Rivet's playable debut in this adventure. The track has undertones of somberness as it encapsulates Rivet's solitary nature as well as highlighting the beauty and vastness of Sargasso's jungle environment.
• "Blizar Prime'd and Ready" does an amazing job of making Blizar feel like a downright terrifying location as it is the end result of an Earth-Shattering Kaboom. At least initially, until you get into the final minute or two of the song and it kicks into high gear as it does a phenomenal job of scoring the final assault at the drill, with the tension being unreal as Rivet and Clank risk another potential catastrophe if they let the drill keep running.
• How do you score a really fun minigame as you blast viruses to pieces with Glitch? "Glitch in the System", of course! This is the track that you'll be hearing as you guide, well, Glitch on her quest to defeat the Master Virus!
• "A Late Arrival"... a real Bait-and-Switch if there ever was one. It starts out triumphant after Rivet manages to defeat Doctor Nefarious and then turns ominous and somewhat frightening as Emperor Nefarious asserts his dominance by casually defeating Ratchet and Clank themselves off-screen before taking the Dimensionator for himself as he prepares to raise hell across the Omniverse.
• "Join Me at the Top," the Nefarious' duet Villain Song that plays over the credits, is a infectiously catchy tune that perfectly captures the dynamic between the two. Not only does Robin Atkin Downes put in a surprisingly good vocal performance, but Armin Shimerman also enters the echelon of voice actors like Tom Kenny and Dan Povenmire with his ability to make a character like Dr. Nefarious who has such a bizarre, scratchy voice sound good while singing.

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