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It has taken almost two months, but 2007 is finally looking up for anyone who owns a piece of video-game hardware with PlayStation in its name. Sony must have been waiting for the Chinese New Year — happy Year of the Pig everyone — to start its engines.

The PlayStation 3, the company's shiny new console, had been getting lonely on store shelves with so few games to keep it company, but this week two noteworthy titles were released for the system: Virtua Fighter 5, the transplanted arcade fighting game with some deliciously sweet eye candy for brawler fans; and flOw, which is now available in the PS3's online store.

The bizarre underwater adventure — flOw looks like yogurt under a microscope, with players moving a single-cell organism around by tilting the PS3's controller — began as a graduate thesis project, grew into an Internet sensation and is now making the transition to full high-definition. It and Q*Bert, the 1980s arcade classic, can be downloaded for less than $10 each as of this week.

And the huge PlayStation 2 community is getting ready for what may the last great game in that system's long run — God of War II is days away. Prepare yourselves.

And last but not least — in a reversal of form — there is the PlayStation Portable. The sleek handheld's game list is light on quality time-killers, but it gets a much-needed boost with the release of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (rated Everyone).

This is one fun little game. Ratchet and Clank are, respectively, a lombax and a robot. Ratchet is a fictional creature with long ears and tiger-like colouring who carries Clank around on his back. They have been on the game scene since 2002 and, with the very similar Jak & Daxter, have turned out a yearly dose of cartoon mayhem and self-reflexive laughs.

The series mixes platform-style game play — exploration and jumping over and around obstacles — with frequent side challenges. In Size Matters, a subtitle that joins Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal to give you a fair idea about the type of humour on offer, these side games include a robot destruction derby, rocket-propelled skateboarding and frenetic space battles. Variety is the name of the game.

Previous instalments in the series have been made for the PS2, but the migration to the smaller PSP has been handled artfully by High Impact Games. First and foremost, Size Matters has some wonderful visuals. Much like Daxter, which made the move from console to portable last year, it opens up a 3-D world that takes full advantage of the PSP's bright screen.

The camera movements and controls, cut back from two analog sticks on the PS2 to the PSP's one, do require some patience. To make Ratchet perform a long jump, you have to hold down the PSP's shoulder bumpers and then quickly press a third button. It takes more than a few attempts to master, and on too many occasions the camera refuses to help by showing you where to jump next. Your little lombax and his partner will drown in sticky green goo more times than may be strictly necessary.

The game's lineup of wacky weapons makes up for these control shortcomings. This is the series, after all, that gave the world the Sheepinator, a gun that turns enemies into bleating ruminants. In Size Matters, you will find new goodies such as the Sprout-O-Matic, which brings handy plants to life, and old favourites, too — the Agents of Doom glove is back to churn out tiny killer robots.

The story and inside gamer jokes are not quite as sharp as previous episodes, but fans will still find enough entertainment here to fill a month's worth of commutes, especially when you add in a multiplayer mode that wirelessly connects up to four players over the Internet.

This new Ratchet & Clank adventure proves it's not size of the screen that matters; it's how you use it.