A PlayStation mascot-platformer classic, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus does a decent job setting up the character to stand tall among its contemporaries for the PS2 era. While the gameplay isn't anything special, the majority of the enjoyment from this game comes from its presentation. The varied environments as you go through the game keep the stealth and platforming from getting stale, and the members of the Fiendish Five have enough of their personalities sprinkled in throughout the levels that it makes defeating them at the episodes' end all the more satisfying. This game is bogged down by its short run time and its reliance on gimmicky mini-game levels, but as a first venture, Sly Cooper and the Theivius Raccoonus gets the job done and I would recommend for any fan of classic platformers.

I mean this in the best way possible when I say this feels like one of those games you'd play at a McDonald's game kiosk as a kid.

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was my first outing with this legendary series, and I can already tell this will become one of my favorite game franchises of all time. I had an absolute blast with this game, got the platinum trophy and everything, I only have a few minor nitpicks.

To start, the characters are all memorable and enjoyable to see. Sly and the deuteragonists Bentley and Murray especially are just so damn lovable and sweet. The ost is banging, especially during boss fights. The art style is so gorgeous its unreal, clearly taking inspiration from comic books, it adds so much personality to the overall look and vibe this game gives. At its core, the gameplay loop is satisfying and addicting as well. Swinging from hooks immediately into walking on ropes and shit was so cool and the stealth was super fun too, even if for a good amount of the game I charged head first into every enemy.

My complaints with this game are very few, pretty much just minor nitpicks. It's pretty much just a cost of being an early PS2 3D platforming game, but god sometimes the gameplay was not doing it for me. Unless you get a lucky charm, Sly dies in one hit, and Sly's hitbox can be so absurd at times that even if his pinky toe or hat touches something your immediately sent back to the last checkpoint. Maybe this issue was just caused by the fact that I played this game on PS3 streaming on my PS5, but I swear sometimes inputs just do not register. Sometimes when I would go to grapple onto a hook or jump onto a rail the input just would not register and I would be sent falling to my death.

In short, Sly Cooper is a hella great 3D platformer that hopefully Sony will eventually remember the existence of, because a new one of these using modern tech would go so hard. The game features lovable characters, a gorgeous art style, a fantastic soundtrack, and a good core gameplay loop. This game is only held back by shitty 1-hit deaths and occasionally poor boss fights.

Yet another PS2 collectathon platformer, compared to its contemporary Jak and Daxter, this game is much more linear and level-based, and so overall a little weaker. The addition of some very mild stealth elements is good as they change up the formula a little without being too hard for non-stealth-game players. It's still very fun and the dialogue is a highlight - the characters all have great personality and their banter keeps things interesting while wading through the levels. And "jump and hit the circle button" is iconic.