There were two moments, in relatively quick succession, that showed me just what I was in for with Sly Cooper. The first was when I attempted to pick up a coin and had to be directly on top of it, and the second was dying in one hit from an enemy. Once I experienced those two disquieting things, I readjusted my expectations for just what kind of game Sly Cooper was. For some reason, I had it in my head that the game would be a fun, light-hearted stealth game, not a platformer that is closer to classic Crash Bandicoot in design. I still had fun, but there were some glaring issues that can only come from its genre and age.

So, positives first. For one, I thought the platforming, for the most part, was really good. I felt like I could slink around the maps with ease, and the stealth sections added a nice twist to the gameplay. Sly Cooper is hardly Hitman, but the stealth was suitably challenging for a game about a Master Thief Racoon. Just pressing circle to swing from hooks, climb up pipes, slide along walls, and run along walls created a nice flow. I found the design of the world and its inhabitants quite appealing. The use of cell-shaded graphics, which tend to remain visually impressive over time, added to its charm. Despite not being as intricate as Wind Waker, the game’s visuals have aged gracefully, making it remarkable for a title that’s 22 years old. I must commend the game’s overall style. Its structure is reminiscent of an after-school cartoon from Cartoon Network, capturing that essence flawlessly. From the episode titles, the quirky side characters, the main villains being broad caricatures of certain parts of the world, and the confident, smooth-talking nature of Sly himself. 12-year-old me would've loved it.

There are some festering, rotten issues with Sly Cooper that really make it a struggle to play at times. Every minigame is awful, with the racing one being an abomination. From what I recall, it was common practice for platformers to throw in an abundance of abomnibal minigames in an attempt to add 'variety' to their game. Whether this was from boredom or a lack of confidence, who knows, but they were almost universally terrible, and Sly Cooper is no different. To make matters worse, they are mandatory. Discovering this, I nearly quit there and then. They all control like shit, and cost you a life when you lose, which is absolutely wild. These minigames also infected a few of the bosses and made the experience of beating them miserable (hello, the sudden rhythm game section). I really hope subsequent games either design better minigames or have less of them. 

Additionally, I found that tying Sly's upgrades to collecting items to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, some of them are really good, like the dive or briefly going slow-mo; on the other, so many were utterly useless that I felt kind of ripped off (why would I ever roll when it was slower than moving?). I couldn't believe you had to unlock the ability to hoover up coins at a reasonable distance—something that should've been in the game to begin with. Admittedly, I didn't see all the upgrades, as I missed a few collectables and had no desire to go back and find them. But I saw enough to know that the effort wasn't always justifed.

There were also a few weird technical issues that I assume came from the PS3 HD remasters, although it could equally just be age. The characters voices were very low-bitrate and sounded rough. I also thought the mixing was out of wack. The atmosphere was super loud in spots; sound effects were missing entirely, and when you start the game, the music is obnoxious. Minor things but over 8 hours, they became grating.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was a game I ended up enjoying on an academic level rather than a qualitative one. It is nice to go back in time and see what the gaming landscape was like 20+ years ago as well as where a beloved series began, warts and all. Believe me, the game is warty as hell, but it still has its charms. I look forward to seeing how it develops from here.