Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the latest game in the long-running PlayStation series, and offers many brand new features and experiences for returning players and newcomers to the series. There are some details though that only fans of the classic action platformer will recognize, with callbacks and references to previous games dotted throughout Rift Apart.

These come in the form of returning characters, as well as small references within the games menu, or even armor sets that call back to classic characters from earlier titles in the series. For as much as Rift Apart is the perfect introduction to the series for newcomers, it still retains small details that only long-term fans will be able to notice.

10 Alternative Forms Of Characters

The dimension-hopping nature of Rift Apart means that a lot of classic characters return in alternative forms. Ratchet & Clank are the obvious ones, with Rivet & Kit acting as their dimensions form of the classic pair, but players also get the chance to meet Skidd McMarx’s alternative form, a resistance fighter known as ‘Phantom’ and appears to be a lot more competent than his original counterpart.

We don’t want to spoil all the alternative characters included in Rift Apart, but fans of Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty will be pleased to know the swashbuckling Rusty Pete returns with a new appearance and French accent.

9 Returning Planets

Fans of the series will recognize some of the planets featured in Rift Apart from previous games, Torren IV returns after originally appearing in A Crack in Time. Sargasso also makes an appearance, which makes sense considering it was the planet that the Dimensionator was discovered on, the weapon that is responsible for Rift Apart’s plotline.

All returning planets have been altered and changed in order to provide all players with a brand new experience, even for those who recognize them from playing other games in the series.

8 Weapon Reskins

The majority of weapons in Rift Apart are brand new to the series, with interesting new weapons such as the Richochet and Headhunter making their debuts. Some weapons are either returning from older games, like the buzz blades, or reskins of older weapons, such as Mr. Fungi which acts mechanically similar to Mr. Zurkon.

The Groovitron from Ratchet & Clank 2016 also makes a return of sorts, with Rift Apart’s Topiary Sprinkler working in an almost identical way by freezing enemies in place. Fans of the series will recognize these weapons, even if they’ve had visual alterations.

7 Drek Is Still A Sheep

Within the menus lies a rather clever reference to the Ratchet & Clank 2016 reboot in which the game’s villain, Chairman Drek gets zapped with the Sheepinator turning into a Sheep. Even seasoned fans may not have recognized this cameo at Zurkie’s bar, but confirmation is given within the games bio section.

The entry notes that Drek now spends his days staring into the void, chewing grass and muttering to himself. He even has a stool reserved at the bar, which some customers claim to have never seen him leave.

6 Captain Starshield’s Armor

Perhaps the oddest detail to older games in Rift Apart comes in the form of the Captain Starshield Armor. It’s an obvious reference to Captain Starshield who appears in Ratchet & Clank deadlocked, but this appearance is limited to the games opening cutscene in which the character is quickly killed.

It’s a neat nod to one of the classic games in the series, but we can’t help but wonder if there would have been a better choice of character to reference with an armor set. Nevertheless, this is a callback that even die-hard fans of the series might not recognize at first, but for those who do it’s awesome to see such a minor character being represented in Rift Apart.

5 Cheats Are A Series-Long Tradition

Back in the era in which Ratchet & Clank debuted, cheats in games were commonplace in nearly every major release. It may come as a shock to newcomers to the series, but long-term players are aware of Insomniac Games’ continued effort to ensure each new entry maintains the fun cheat options that have defined the series since its inception.

The cheats included in Rift Apart will be recognizable to older fans, with some returning rewards for Gold Bolt collecting including bolt replacements, infinite health/ammo and even the big head mode which leads to some hilarious interactions between characters.

4 The Lombax Lorbs Referencing Kaden

On the planet Savali, players are given the opportunity to learn more about the Lombax by finding the 12 Lorbs scattered around the planet. Fans of the series will recognize one name in particular that these audio logs reference, Ratchet’s father Kaden, who tasks a map maker called Mags with using the Dimensionator to find a new home for the Lombaxes.

Little is known of the lore that led to the near-extinction of the Lombaxes, with Kaden himself remaining a rather mysterious figure in the series. It’s a neat nod to long term fans though and offers new snippets of information that further expand the wider multi-verse the series is set within.

3 Carbonox Armor

Another armor set that series fans will instantly recognize is the reimagined Carbonox armor. Debuting in Going Commando, the Carbonox Armor is available as a pre-order bonus for Rift Apart and has undergone a graphical enhancement to bring the set into the next generation.

Both Ratchet and Rivet are able to use this armor set, and it can be unlocked through in-game challenges if players missed out on preordering. It’s a nice callback to the game which introduced armor to the series and is one of the best sets of armor in the game, granting players a boost in the number of bolts received from enemies.

2 Rift Apart Is A Sequel To Into The Nexus

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a sequel to 2013s Into the Nexus, and acts as a continuation of the storyline set up by the future series of games. Fans who played the 2013 game will recognize the Dimensionator as being the same weapon that Clank takes in the post-credit scene from Into the Nexus, which is why he presents it to Ratchet at the beginning of Rift Apart.

There was some confusion before the game launched over whether it would act as a continuation of the 2016 reboot, but this detail and several others we’ll avoid spoiling here clearly signal that Rift Apart continues the original series timeline, and moves away from the reboots slightly altered story.

1 CraiggerBears Are A Tribute To The Late Craig Goodman

CraiggerBears are one of several collectibles included in Rift Apart and are a tribute to the late Craig Goodman, an artist at Insomniac who players will recognize as working on every game in the Ratchet and Clank series before his untimely death in 2019.

Not many players will recognize this small reference, but for those who do, it’s a nice tribute to a man who played an active role in the visual direction in all of the games in the long-running series. Collecting all the CraiggerBears gives players the ‘UnBEARably Awesome’ trophy.

NEXT: Ratchet & Clank’s Arsenal Is Mighty, But Where The Heck Have The Melee Weapons Gone?