Renegade picks up where the Precorsor Legacy left off. At the scene of their final victory, the team discovers a Precursor machine and, predictably, ends up hitting buttons they shouldn't touch. It is hard to explain without divulging the initial cut scene: finding themselves before a gateway and confronting a new, dark boss not unlike something Link would find around Hyrule, escape is made by entering the open vortex before the creature and a surrounding swarm of insectoid metal heads' make their capture.

Having entered a new, dark world set three hundred years later, it is soon capture by the local troops of one evil Baron Praxis. Renegade now sees Jak a little older and also a little angrier, care of a number of dark eco experiments that have left him a lot closer to the edge than the nice guy of 2001. His sidekick, Daxter, remains as he was, still full of smart lines and interjecting humour in the direst of situations.

Setting the scene for the sequel, Renegade first requires Jak and Daxter to break out of their prison hold, after which they are recruited for simple errands that accustom the player with the nature of Haven City and its population as well as providing insights into the workings of the Baron and his detractors.

The post-Precursor world is a gloomy industrial environment. Jak, too, has a dark side. Having endured the attempts to feed enough eco into his system to turn him around, Jak emerges with an almost full cup of aggro that, with enough of a top-up, puts him into a dark fit of eco-fuelled schitzophrenia. The eco spilled by defeated enemies (and there are plenty of them) gradually builds in much the same way as the Precursor Legacy.

To call that game the original would make only a cursory nod to the real source of ideas behind both releases. Like Crash Bandicoot, developers Naughty Dog have brought more inspiration than imagination to the table with J&D. The attraction, however, is in the packaging. Unique characters with spunk and humour, enticingly created world designs, a solid camera and technical prowess that puts many a rival to shame combine to form the pinnacle of platform gaming on a games platform that has traditionally suffered from a notable lack of high calibre titles in the genre.

In many ways, Naughty Dog is to Sony what Rare became to Nintendo. Bringing hackneyed but valid gameplay to new, technically groundbreaking environments whose immersiveness is almost as attractive as its gameplay, proof of the pudding is how much time is spent outside of the parameters of objectives. However, unlike Rare, Naughty Dog lacks the same imagination in level design and the core difference was that Rare wouldn't let you finish their games until you learned everything about them. J&D is less involving, and while linearity is a major factor, at the end of the day both a broader audience and more carefree spirit seem to be the reason for J&D's happy-go-lucky approach to platforming.

Outside of the main objectives, however, J&D still makes use of collectable secret egg sorts of items thoughtfully placed off the beaten track to encourage exploration. Often a double-edged sword, the unlockables in this case are a mixed bag of extras. Their completely optional collection, however, avoids detracting from the main experience and while most sections are not worth going over twice, the opportunity is there should it be deemed worthwhile.