Jak and Daxter
PlayStation 2
For my original review, click
It's simple: because of my kid. I had tried showing him this game back in July, but he was only mildly interested in it, and we ended up moving onto other things. He settled on Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure, which he played for months and months on end. Finally, he started to get sick of the game and wanted to move onto something else. That's when I decided to come back and revisit Jak and Daxter with him.
While he wasn't interested in the game the first time around, he dived right in this time. I think he just wasn't used to 3D platformers the first time around, and he didn't know how to handle the controls. But all those months of playing Ice Age paid off. He quickly adjusted to the 3D controls, and it wasn't long before he actually became quite adept at playing this game.
For a good portion of our first playthrough, I had to do most of the difficult sections myself, like the zoomer sections and anything requiring precision jumping. Then he would take the controller back and keep playing. We ended up beating the game in less than a week. He immediately wanted to come back and play again. So we started up a new game. And then another. And then another. And then another. We must have played through this at least 7 or 8 times.
We were initially playing the version on the PS3 trilogy collection disc. I got the platinum for this version of the game a long time ago. But then I noticed there was a downloadable version of the game on the PS4, complete with a new trophy list. I decided to download this version of the game and play through it myself, just to add another platinum to my collection.
So my playthrough, combined with all the other times I played through this with my son, made me say hey, it is time to come back and re-review this game. So that's where we are.
In my July 2025 review, I didn't beat the game to 100%. I just did what I needed to do to beat the game, and then moved on. But let me say, that was a mistake. I gave the game an A-. If I had played through it to completion, that score would have risen to an A. There is so much to see and do in this game. I didn't even play the Spider Cave last time around, and that is one of the best levels. What was I thinking!?
Having played through this game so many additional times, I have a newfound appreciation for it. I've always liked the game, but now I really like the game. Seeing the light in my son's eyes as he played this is something I wouldn't change for the world. We meticulously scoured essentially every square inch of the game on our various playthroughs. I feel like I now know the game like the back of my hand.
And you know what? After all those playthroughs, I am still not sick of the game. Heck, I could fire it up for a 10th time right now, and still have a good time with it. To me, that is the mark of a truly great game.
I want to give this game an A+ on my re-review, but I think that might be a little too high. It's not a perfect game or a flawless game. It's excellent, but not perfect. So I think an A will do.
To anyone out there with small kids: please introduce them to Jak and Daxter. Not only will they love it, they'll make you fall back in love with it, too. I just can't say enough good things about this game. It's one of the best 3D platformers available on the PS2.
And for anyone wondering, my kid had now moved onto the Spyro: Reignited Trilogy. I last played this game back in November of 2019. Don't be shocked to see me re-reviewing that at some point in the near future. I've been wanting to introduce him to both Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank, so be on the lookout for those reviews, too.
THE GRADE:
A
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