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
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[1][2] 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 following the release of Crash Team Racing, it was Naughty Dog's first game to not be produced by Universal Interactive in 3 years. The Precursor Legacy received critical acclaim upon release, with most reviewers highlighting its variety; the game features a number of missions, collectibles, minigames, puzzles, and platforming stages. Critics praised the graphics as well as the absence of loading screens, being one of the first titles in which players can explore the world in its entirety without experiencing any breaks in gameplay. 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.