The Ratchet and Clank series is well-known for the phenomenal amount of firepower you can wield. After all, big heroes need even bigger guns – and pretty wacky ones, at that. From the Combustor, to the Thundersmack, the Negotiator, the Pixelizer or even the lowly Sheepinator, your enemies are looking toasty.

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Despite the Lombax's arsenal changing from game to game, though, there's one weapon that has been a mainstay since day one: the RYNO. That's 'Rip You A New One.' No prizes for guessing what this little number does. Typically a late-game or sidequest acquisition, it dwarfs all other guns with its sheer kill factor. Here's a ranking of every RYNO iteration.

8 RYNO VI - All 4 One

Unfortunately, the sixth RYNO incarnation comes dead last, purely because of the game in which it features. While Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is an enjoyable-enough couch co-op experience, it's very different to the usual Ratchet adventures. This extends to the gunplay. The top-down camera angle and strange isometric controls just don't work very well for a third-peron shooter.

It's a crying shame, because the actual design of this RYNO - a protosuit created by the story's guide, Dr. Frumpus Croid - is badass in concept. While all other RYNOs are handheld devices, this one is a gigantic mecha you ride around in, and it certainly gets some fireworks going when you pull off a team move with your partner. Who knew high-fives could be so destructive? Sadly, its low ammo count, irritating unlock requirement (grinding collectible creatures) and that pesky game of origin put it at the bottom.

7 RYNO II - Going Commando

Despite all the fantastic improvements that Ratchet 2: Going Commando makes over its predecessor, the RYNO II isn't one of them. You'll first be offered it very early in the game, on desolate Planet Barlow, from a Gadgetron vendor. However, this feels pointless as there's absolutely zero way you'll be able to afford it until at least a second playthrough – so high are the bolt requirements for progress, and so expensive is the gun.

And by the time you've purchased it? It's massively outclassed by many other weapons you'll have picked up, upgraded (and gotten used to) in the meantime. Sure, it can nuke entire screens of enemies in seconds flat. But what guns in Going Commando can't do that? Opt for the Bouncer instead, or the Zodiac in Challenge Mode. Sorry, Gadgetron. Megacorp has you beat here.

6 RYNO IV - Tools of Destruction

Despite being the fifth mainline game, Tools of Destruction's RYNO is number four, given that Deadlocked doesn't have a RYNO of its own (after all, that game was set in an illegal deathmatch with no unapproved weaponry.) The way in which you acquire the gun is rather fun, allowing Insomniac to tap into the collectathon spirit of its Spyro days. 13 holo-plans are scattered across Polaris, and you must return them all to the Smuggler; a shady fellow voiced, oddly enough, by Wakko Warner.

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Sadly, the RYNO IV falls prey to the same issues that its Going Commando brethren did. The final plan is located in the Court of Azimuth; i.e. the door right before the final boss of the game. So unless you fancy a second playthrough, you'll get to enjoy your shiny new RYNO for about 15 minutes before the credits roll. Plus, by then you'll have spent all your Raritanium upgrading your other guns, so it isn't even especially effective against said final boss. Alpha Disruptor one, RYNO nil.

5 RYNO - Ratchet and Clank

Ah, the original RYNO that started it all. You'll purchase this model off a sleazebag on the streets of Blackwater City for a cool 150,000 bolts. That might sound a lot - and given Ratchet 1's stingy bolt distribution, it is on paper - but there are ways to make quick cash. A few runs through Veldin will fill your coffers; or you can just cheat and phase through the hoverboard track's wall, where there are infinite money crates spawning to your heart's content.

You'll want to make sure you're equipped with this bad boy, too, as the final boss Chairman Drek is one of the toughest fights in platforming history. With only eight maximum hit points to your name (and that's only if you spent even more dough on the health upgrades), and his gargantuan health bar to contend with, you're in for a bad time without the RYNO. It's essentially required, and you better hope you don't run out of ammo.

4 RYNO VII - Into the Nexus

The seventh RYNO feels as if Insomniac looked at Tools of Destructions' RYNO, realised how daft it was that it gated it behind the end of the game, and just did it over - properly this time. Into the Nexus is a comparatively short adventure, but it sure goes out of its way to make you enjoy those scant hours with this beauty under your belt.

You'll once again be gathering RYNO plans, this time for series mainstay gag character The Plumber. Once assembled, you need only hold the fire button to unleash serious carnage – scored, for some unfathomable but wonderful reason, to Mussorgsky's 'A Night on Bald Mountain.' Eat Fantasia, you schmucks.

3 RY3NO - Up Your Arsenal

That stands for 'Rip You 3 New Ones,' in case you were curious. While this third iteration can't be purchased until a second Challenge Mode playthrough, unlike some of its cousins it at least doesn't dangle itself like a carrot in front of the player ages before then. By the time you're even aware it exists, you're more than prepared to drop the necessary cash (3 million bolts) and just kick back with its awesome firepower.

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All fold before the might of the RY3NO. Essentially any non-boss creature on screen will be vapourised in a single shot, making some of the game's skill points and trophies an absolute breeze. Even Dr. Nefarious himself takes a massive chunk of damage from it. Additionally, its final form is called the RYNOCIRATOR. How can you not approve of that?

2 RYNO V - A Crack in Time

The RYNO V is significantly buoyed by being in one of the finest games the series has to offer, A Crack in Time. Whether it's the gorgeous visuals, emotionally resonant story or top-class puzzle design, it's got it all – and the weapons aren't bad either. It's business as usual for this RYNO, scrounging together holo-plans; but this time you're doing it in a fantastic open-world space hub. Why not pop on the radio in your ship while you search? Because that is a thing you can do.

Much like Into the Nexus, this RYNO belts out classical tunes when fired. Tchaikovsky provides the backing track this time, and nothing beats positively shredding postgame boss Lord Vorselon with it as those brass instruments boom. You think he ever imagined his music would end up being used this way?

1 RYNO 8 - Rift Apart

The newest addition to the RYNO pantheon, RYNO 8 slips comfortably into the top spot. How? Well, by essentially being a nostalgia gun. The central theme of Rift Apart is interdimensional travel, and the RYNO 8 continues this concept by tearing open wormholes for dirty great objects to fall out of, flattening enemies in their wake. The kicker? Most of them are items (or familiar faces) from other PlayStation IPs.

Ever wanted to smoosh a pirate army with Sly Cooper's van? Or heck, Sly Cooper himself? The RYNO 8 has you covered. Likewise, Jak and Daxter might show up; a Thunderjaw from Horizon could gnash its way in; or Sully's plane from Uncharted may swoop you to victory. Whatever appears, it's a gigantic love-letter to the consoles that made Ratchet and Clank household names – reverence that has earned it the number one placement.

Next: Games Where Your Weapon is Bigger Than You