PS2 Game Recommendations | mariteaux

[#] Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (Sony, PlayStation 2, 2002)

Oh, to be a sneaky little guy.

Sly Cooper comes from a long line of master thieves. He's also a raccoon. These will be on the test. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was the first true success from the former Microsoft employees who formed Sucker Punch in the late 90s, and part of the trifecta of mascot platformers that also saw Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank rise to prominence. Sly and his gang (a dorky hypochondriac turtle named Bentley and their dumb getaway driver hippo friend Murray) vow to avenge Sly's father's death and the theft of the titular Thievius Raccoonus at the hands of a shadowy cabal of criminals known as the Fiendish Five—all while getting chased by a hot fox babe!

Setting itself apart from the pack with the series' now-trademark cel-shaded 3D cartoon art style, Sly oozes charm. You roll into one of five varied landmarks, the snowy mountains of China, rainy shores off the coast of Wales, or the Louisiana swamps, trade barbs with your debriefing partner Bentley, and collect keys to square up against the boss from a variety of levels. Some have you hop in a barrel to hide, or dodge spotlights and lasers. Some have you man a turret to protect Murray out in the wild. Sly is not very sturdy, so stay unseen and don't get into fights. It's stealthy without being tedious, and the writing makes it all satisfying to watch come to completion.

For all of Sly 1's charms (and there's plenty), it definitely doesn't escape first game syndrome. If you're expecting the open world, massive heists of the sequels, these are far more linear levels that play more like an old-school, two-hit-death platformer. Sly controls well, though the recurring vehicle segments absolutely do not. I seem to recall some of the bosses also feeling rather cheap and taking a few attempts, but nothing all that egregious. It's stylish, it's well-crafted, and while it's hardly the pinnacle of the trilogy, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is a strong start that you should probably play at some point. (After the second one though.)