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.

Buttery smooth, beautifully crafted levels, everything looks just like how its concept art was I'd imagine, a crystalline realization of the original vision put into three dimensional form!

Only time this really gets tiresome is when it relies on gimmicks introduced practically near the endgame causing you to die over and over from not knowing what's going on yet. Typically I'd stamp that as just plain bad game design but hey the positives are still pretty big here, this one has quite a charm! Always a game I wanted to play as a young kid, thought it was cool how you could hide in barrels and walk around, slamming boiler doors shut with your cane. Still cool, still great.