Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Jason Rubin
Designer(s)	Evan Wells
Programmer(s)	Andy Gavin Mark Cerny Stephen White
Artist(s)	Bob Rafei Charles Zembillas Bruce Straley Erick Pangilinan Josh Scherr
Writer(s)	Daniel Arey
Composer(s)	Josh Mancell
Series	Jak and Daxter
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	NA: December 4, 2001 PAL: December 7, 2001
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a 2001 platform video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the first game of the Jak and Daxter series. The game follows Jak, a young teenager, on his quest to help his friend Daxter after he is transformed into an "ottsel", a fictional hybrid of an otter and a weasel. With the help of Samos the Sage, a master of the mysterious energy known as eco (created by an ancient race known as the Precursors), the pair endeavors to save their world from the rogue sages Gol and Maia Acheron, who plan to flood the world with dark eco, which corrupts all it touches.

Development began in January 1999 during the production of Crash Team Racing. Naughty Dog sought to use the improved power of the PlayStation 2 to make an immersive, free-roaming 3D platformer inspired by Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, with a seamless game world and increased emphasis on story. Sony bought Naughty Dog after being impressed by a demo, and thus it was Naughty Dog's first game to not be produced by Universal Interactive in 3 years.

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was critically acclaimed upon release. Reviewers lauded the game's visuals and technical achievements, particularly its open seamless world devoid of load times, which were said to set a new standard for platformers. Praise also went to its gameplay polish, controls, sound effects, and voice acting. Reactions to the music and difficulty were mixed, and criticisms were directed toward the gameplay's lack of innovation, lack of bosses, simplistic story, and short length. By 2002, the game had sold over one million copies worldwide, and by 2007, it had sold two million copies in the United States alone. A sequel, Jak II, was released on the PlayStation 2 in 2003.

In 2012, a remastered port of the game was included in the Jak and Daxter Collection for the PlayStation 3, and for the PlayStation Vita in 2013. It was also released as a "PS2 Classic" port for the PlayStation 4 on 22 August 2017.