The 3D Platformers Gallery
Three Sony mascots, one gecko, and the boxes that sold them.
In 2001 and 2002 the PlayStation 2 built its identity on three platforming teams: Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter, Insomniac's Ratchet and Clank, and Sucker Punch's Sly Cooper. Behind them stands the gecko who helped invent the wisecracking mascot a generation earlier, Crystal Dynamics' Gex. This gallery walks the four shelves in covers, Japanese beside American where a pair can be verified, and says plainly where a Japanese box is still a gap.
JAK AND DAXTER
Naughty Dog · PlayStation 2 · 2001
America · 2001
Jak stands before the Precursor planet with Daxter on his shoulder, all grin and goggles.
Japan · 2001
A completely different painting: the pair in mid leap over the village and the sea, under a large orange Japanese title.
The History
The History of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy: the seamless world with no loading, the GOAL language, and an early devkit carried into the country.
The Silent Hero
Why doesn't Jak talk? Jason Rubin's immersion rule, with Gex named as the cautionary example.
The Dark Sequel
Why did Jak II go dark? A maturing audience, Grand Theft Auto III, and a planning retreat in the mountains.
RATCHET AND CLANK
Insomniac · PlayStation 2 · 2002
SLY COOPER
Sucker Punch · PlayStation 2 · 2002 / Japan 2003
America · 2002
The boldest box of the three: no hero at all, just the title over Sly's mask in moonlight.
Japan · Kaitou Sly Cooper · Cover Gap
Japan's edition is documented: Kaitou Sly Cooper, released March 6, 2003, with fully animated opening and ending scenes the Western versions did not have. The Library has not yet verified a clean scan of its box at working size, so this tile stands in for it rather than borrowing an unchecked image.
GEX
Crystal Dynamics · 3DO 1995 · 3D from 1998
America · Enter the Gecko · 1998
The 3D sequel's box: Gex in a tuxedo, remote in hand, playing the secret agent his television habit made him.
Japan · Spin Tail · Cover Gap
Japan's edition of Enter the Gecko is documented: Spin Tail, published by Bandai on September 10, 1998, with the hero renamed Reno and box art the record describes as very different from the Western releases. No verified scan was found in this pass, so this tile stands in for it.