Ratchet vs Sly Cooper
- Who Would Win
The PlayStation 2 is considered by many to be the greatest
console ever created. While Cortana doesn’t agree you look as the consoles game
library and it’s easy to see why so many love PlayStation’s second console. Two
of the biggest mascots for the PS2 were Ratchet, the lombax from outer space
and Sly Cooper, one of many of the world famous Cooper clan, a clan of master
thieves. Who would win in a one on one fight to the death? There will be no
outside assistance meaning no help from Clank for Ratchet and assistance from
the rest of the Cooper gang for Sly. Let’s start with our favourite lombax.
Ratchet is as I said a lombax native to the planet Fastoon.
Ratchet is a bit of a hot head. He is described as being a shoot first ask
questions later and then shoot again kind of guy. Basically he’s not exactly
known for strategizing or highly intelligent manoeuvres. In fact his friend
Clank is far more intelligent than Ratchet. However Ratchet does most of the
heavy lifting with his weapons and gadgets.
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| The Wrench |
His signature weapon is his Wrench. It has been changed and
upgraded multiple times over the years but it has always been used as a club
type weapon for attacking at close range. He can swing it while standing, he can do a
jump slam attack and he can even use it like a boomerang by throwing it at and
enemy where it will always come back. However this is not his only melee weapon.
He also has a giant boxing glove that produces a temporary force field and
multiple whips, one made of plasma and one made of electricity and a wrist
mounted set of laser claws. So he is more than adequate at close range fighting
but he is far more suited to using his multitude of guns.
Sticking with the close range fighting he has a flamethrower
and a liquid nitrogen gun. He has multiple shot gun type weapons and a full
body shield that electrocutes his enemies if they get too close. Going at a
slightly further range he has a large number of machine guns that all have
bullets that ricochet off surfaces they hit such as his heavy Lancer and N90
hurricane. However since this is clearly not enough ways of killing things he
has multiple ways to fire discs at enemies that split into smaller discs such
as the multi disc launcher, he has a huge number of explosives that range from
standard(ish) rocket launchers such as the decimator and Judicator to homing
missiles with the HK22 gun or rockets he controls himself with the Visibomb gun
or laser guided missiles in the Raptor Launcher.
Right now you’re probably thinking that he has nowhere near
enough explosives. Don’t worry there are plenty more to go. Each game has some
kind of grenade launcher, whether it’s in the form of a gun or a glove. He has
multiple ways of throwing mines plus he also has more unique bomb weapons such
as the Groovibomb glove that throws an exploding disco ball or a personal favourite
the Bouncer which fires a bomb that explodes into many mini bombs which all
explode.
If this wasn’t enough then he has a multitude of sniper
rifles for long range enemies. He also has a gun that fires meteors, multiple
ways of firing electricity or a tempest. He also has many ways of making robots
help him, whether its turrets or robot helpers that fire at the enemy as well
as you guessed it, explode. He has an RC spider with a mounted turret and can
release a hive of venomous nano insects.
There’s the incredibly fun weapons that turn an enemy into a
cute animal, which range from the classic morph-o-ray that turns enemies into
the chickens to the appropriately names Black Sheep that turn the victim into
an exploding sheep. The Quackoblitzer turns an enemy into a flaming homing duck
while the Chimpositron turns enemies into chimps.
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| The Plasma Coil |
He has a gun that fires black holes with the Rift Ripper, a
gun that sucks up surrounding items as ammo in the Suck Cannon, a gun that
turns enemies on each other in the Infecto Bomb and a gun that shoots an orb of
plasma that not only inflicts massive damage but electrocutes passing enemies
with the Plasma Coil. So he has a lot of weapons that he somehow carries around
in that small 5 foot tall suit of armour and I haven’t even mentioned the most
powerful weapons yet.
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| The RYNO V |
Each game has its own version of the R.Y.N.O. This stands
for rip you a new one and they are the most powerful weapon in each game,
costing an absurd amount of the games currency, bolts. Both the original R.Y.N.O
and the R.Y.N.O are auto targeting missile launchers. The RYNOCIRATOR fired a barrage
of lasers that converge at a single point and turn all enemies on screen to
dust in a flash of white light. The R.Y.N.O 4-Ever fired homing lasers and is
according to the internet the most powerful weapon in the entire series.
Finally the RYNO V fired a number of rockets, hails of spraying bullets and a
single rocket from the centre. So quite a powerful assortment of weapons he
has.
Alongside his weapons he has a large number of gadgets. He
has rocket powered boots, boots that allow him to walk on magnetic surfaces and
boots that allow him to grind on rails so he can move around easily. He has a
mask that lets him breathe anywhere and gadgets to suck up or alter the state
of liquid. He has a hacking device, multiple disguises and a tractor beam so he’s
not lacking in the tech department either.
So what weaknesses does he have? He’s not exactly known for
his finesse. He goes into battles without any sort of plan and looks to power
his way out with his multitude of weapons. This is how he defeats the bosses he
fights in his games. This strength is also a weakness as you wonder how he
would fare with a more cunning and intelligent foe. He has matured but still
loves adventure and action and will often run straight into a fight.
Nevertheless Ratchet is a powerful foe not to be underestimated. Now to look at
his competition.
Sly Cooper is a racoon from a long line of master thieves,
the Cooper’s. He has learnt every technique from the Thievius Racconus, a book
of all the techniques the Coopers have developed over the years. Being a master
thief he is quick and agile. His main strength is stealth. He moves silently
and swiftly around his environments. He isn’t limited to the floor, he is a
master of scouting rooftops and odd environments. He has amazing balance and
reflexes meaning he can run on poles and tight ropes, climb poles, swing from
hooks and balance on sharp points all of this silently. He is also an expert in
parkour and gymnastics which he again does silently. He can also sneak attack his enemies to
instantly take them out or pickpocket them, both which after upgrading the
sneak attack are silent.
He isn’t anywhere near as versatile as Ratchet with his
offense but he does have his cane, a brown stick with a golden hook which he
uses in combat as well as for traversing the environment. He is highly skilled
with a variety of attacks including spins, jump and push attacks. In hand to
hand combat he is likely to out skill Ratchet with his mastery of melee combat.
On top of this he is extremely fast and difficult to catch. He also regularly dodges
bullets fires at him by his enemies.
He has a decent number of gadgets himself. He can make
enemies attack each other, he can electrocute enemies and he has multiple
distraction techniques such as an alarm clock. He has a music box to put
enemies to sleep and can create a decoy version of himself.
He has combat techniques such as the combat dodge, a dodging
move (Obviously) and knockout dive, a move that Sly dives forwards and knocks
out his opponent. He can also use his blue hat as a remote detonated mine and
he has an unlimited supply of parachutes.
When spotted he can use his smoke or flash bombs to blind or
stun him enemies or his stun attack where he hits the ground with his cane and
stuns nearby enemies. He also has his own set of rocket boots for a quick
getaway.
Perhaps his most impressive power ups however are his
ability to turn invisible while still being able to attack and use other power
ups but also he has the ability to speed up or slow down time, giving him a
huge advantage against any foe.
While Bentley makes the plans for Sly they often go wrong
and he has to improvise which he always does successfully. He is cunning, quick
witted and devious. He is always calm and collected and remains a rational
thinker in almost any situation. He can become flustered when his friends are
threatened but in a battle between him and Ratchet this is not relevant.
However he is extremely self-confident, almost dangerously so. He often risks
getting caught to taunt his enemy, in particular to flirt with police officer
Carmelita Fox. He is also surprisingly honourable, especially for a thief as he
only steals from the rich.
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| Clockwerk |
Obviously there is no guaranteed winner but I think the best
way to judge who would win is look at how they fight bosses in their respective
games. Ratchet uses brute force to overpower his enemies while Sly has to use
cunning and intelligence to take down enemies far more powerful than him. Both
games have their fair share of goofy villains but Sly has his serious and very
menacing villains, in particular Clockwerk who has become immortal by being
fuelled on pure hatred of the Coopers. Clockwerk is far more terrifying than
anything Ratchet has fought but Sly overcame his fears to defeat him.
Ratchet may be far more powerful but Sly has proven time and
time again that he can defeat more powerful enemies. He can slow down time to
dodge most of Ratchets attacks and can use smoke and flash bombs to escape his opponent.
Ratchets weapons are powerful but he can’t shoot and invisible foe and Sly is
capable of turning invisible at any time he wants. On top of this Sly can
either sneak attack him to seriously hurt Ratchet of pickpocket all his best
guns away giving Sly the advantage in both power and speed. Ratchet is strong
but he has no way to match the speed, agility and cunning of Sly Cooper who
could easily outsmart the lombax. Even the R.Y.N.O weapons can’t kill something
Ratchet can’t see without a lot of blind shots and Sly is capable of dodging
the homing attacks with his speed and slowing down time abilities. The victory
goes to Sly Cooper.
