It’s not easy to create a lovable video game mascot that’s actually able to stick and connect with audiences, but the PlayStation experienced some real love with the Ratchet & Clank games. The action-adventure games introduced a unique new duo to gamers and the franchise has been able to persevere through the years and stay alive while its imitators have fallen.

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Ratchet and Clank have become an iconic video game duo, but they join a long history of powerful partners in the medium. Accordingly, here are 5 video game duos that Ratchet and Clank could beat in a fight and 5 that they couldn’t.

10 Could Beat: The Ice Climbers

Nintendo Super Smash Bros Ice Climbers Attack

No one’s disputing that Popo and Nana, Nintendo’s Ice Climbers, are an adorable team, but they’re not exactly an intimidating pair. The characters chart back to the original Nintendo Entertainment System, but their addition to Super Smash Bros. came as a surprise to many.

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The team has shown that they shouldn’t be underestimated and could freeze Ratchet and Clank in a pinch, but it also seems like the tech-savvy duo would defeat the parka-wearing pair before they even realize what’s happened to them. Ratchet and Clank may take pity on them, but it’s not going to win them the battle.

9 Couldn’t Beat: Billy And Jimmy Lee (Double Dragon)

During the earlier days of gaming, Billy and Jimmy Lee from the Double Dragon series were some of the most popular titles available. Video games and their protagonists have gotten much more exaggerated over the years, but Billy and Jimmy can still hold their own.

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Granted, Ratchet and Clank operate on a grander scale and could definitely outsmart the Double Dragons, but Billy and Jimmy have actual training and would dominate when it comes to physical combat. It’d be close, but the special skills of these brothers push them over the top.

8 Could Beat: Sam And Max

If it’s a contest between dry wit and clever pastiches to the film noir genre then Sam and Max of the popular LucasArts point-and-click adventure games would win, no contest. Sam and Max are police officers and they’re competent enough to solve some real mysteries, but they’re lacking in terms of special abilities. They’re no more powerful than real cops, which wouldn’t pose any sort of challenge to Ratchet and Clank. These are individuals who have super-powered weapons and can literally re-shape time. Pithy one-liners aren’t going to make a difference.

Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

The later titles in the Legend of Zelda series have taken bigger risks, both with its protagonist Link, and the helpers that he’s paired with through his adventures. Twilight Princess makes a major deviation by cursing Link to take the form of a wolf and saddles him to a powerful dark entity. It’s one of the memorable versions of Link and while he may be unstable in some ways, this only adds to his strength. Midna’s mastery of magic and Link’s surprising battle style would help them edge out Ratchet and Clank.

6 Could Beat: Ellie And Joel (The Last Of Us)

Ellie and Joel are arguably one of the most compelling and deep duos that have come along in the video game genre in years. They’re a team that can emotionally ruin their audience, but they’re also survivors at the end of their rope. Joel and Ellie can barely defend themselves in their apocalyptic setting and they’re just humans with limited means to defend themselves. The number of tools and tricks that Ratchet and Clank have at their disposal doesn’t even make this fight fair. Maybe they could show some sympathy and pull Joel and Ellie into a different time period.

5 Couldn’t Beat: Jak And Daxter

Jak And Daxter Precursor Legacy

Jak and Daxter actually aren't that different from Ratchet and Clank. They're both duos that go on trajectories that run parallel to each other and both deal with the physics of space and time and massive rebellions. The franchises even experience similar cool down and success periods. Jak and Daxter take on entire armies and supernatural forces in a way where many others falter. Ratchet and Clank's technology may be more advanced, but the duo proves that they're able to improvise and have often gotten themselves out of seemingly impossible situations.

4 Could Beat: Donkey Kong And Diddy Kong

Diddy and Donkey Kong in Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have come a long way from their origins and they’re far more than resourceful simians at this point. Diddy even has a set of pistols and a jetpack that he’s been able to fashion together with monkey science. Donkey and Diddy can defend their jungle in a pinch, but their tactics would be useless against Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet and Clank have real weapons and technology that would utterly confound the Kongs. This still isn’t a fair fight, even with some of their crazier Super Smash Bros. abilities at Donkey and Diddy’s disposal.

3 Couldn’t Beat: Sonic And Tails

An image of Sonic running and Tails flying at equally high speed

Sonic and Tails may look cute and rather unassuming, but what the team lacks in physical strength they more than make up in speed and intelligence. Ratchet and Clank have spanned galaxies and broken the physics of time, but despite their accomplishments, it still feels like they’d falter to Sonic’s intense speed. Sonic could just spin attack into them before they understand what’s going on and Tails can create inventions that rival Clank’s. This is all without Sonic even resorting to his Super Sonic powers, which would make this fight even more unbalanced.

2 Could Beat: Banjo And Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie’s bird and bear team have been out of the spotlight for a while, but Super Smash Bros. has helped bring them back in a very big way. These characters know how to use their best assets to assist each other and when they’ve got the magic of Mumbo Jumbo at their disposal, they can take on even more unusual and powerful forms. Banjo and Kazooie have defeated some powerful bosses, but they’re still too innocent to defeat a team like Ratchet and Clank. They’d come up with a brilliant strategy and knock out the bird and bear without hesitation.

1 Couldn’t Beat: Mario And Luigi

Nintendo Super Smash Bros Luigi Attacks Mario

Mario and Luigi could very easily be the most famous duo in the history of video games. Admittedly, Mario and Luigi can often have a stripped down skill set that really just comes down to jump skills. That being said, the expanded list of Mario games has given these two incredible abilities and seen them take down insurmountable threats that make Bowser look like a laugh. It may take Mario and Luigi some time to come up with the right strategy, but the many hats the team literally wears would give them the advantage.

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