This was a lot of fun to revisit. I had never played the first game, but played a good amount of the second game and an absolutely insane amount of the third game when I was a kid. It was nice to have the opportunity to play these games in a widescreen format, albeit streamed through PlayStation Plus. The addition of trophies was super cool and it was nice to just have these games mostly intact. There were some strange modifications here and there, really crappy adjustments to widescreen with cutscenes, and so much lag in the third game (the pirate level especially). But besides that, these were all so much fun to go through and complete.
Sly 1 (5/10) - This was a bit rough to fully enjoy, but the levels were fun (only the Sly ones with proper platforming, none of the others). Some boss fights were fun, some were absolutely horrible. A mixed bag, but I was so happy to finally play the entry to this series after having missed it as a kid.
Sly 2 (8/10) - A sequel done right! The hub worlds are now way better and seen as pretty open-world, you get to play as Bentley and Murray, and there's a lot of story to this game. It's a fun time and by the end of the long journey, you will have learned how to play each character best. I will say the only downsides are lack of replayability after completing the game and design-favoritism towards Sly which limits what the other two can do when you play as them. It's the easiest of the three games to 100% as well. Fun, but lacking anything to do after completing the story.
Sly 3 (7/10) - Another great sequel that presents solid ideas with the Sly 2 foundation. The game is brighter, has more cool levels full of fun missions, and expands on what Bentley and Murray are capable of traversal-wise and in combat. Level design still favors Sly, but the other two can jump higher and pickpocket now. I'd say the downsides here are that the game is shorter than Sly 2, as it only has 5 full levels and a handful of missions for the ending versus Sly 2's 8 full levels, too much variance with other characters and gameplay styles, and a slight lack of replayability (mostly with the lack of clue bottles, no reason to come back to levels afterwards). Challenges are a neat addition for full 100% completion, and I will admit the treasure hunts do test your knowledge of each level in the game. There's a lot of great ideas, but some poor executions (such as with the overall story). Fun, but Sly 2 edges out.
Sly 1 (5/10) - This was a bit rough to fully enjoy, but the levels were fun (only the Sly ones with proper platforming, none of the others). Some boss fights were fun, some were absolutely horrible. A mixed bag, but I was so happy to finally play the entry to this series after having missed it as a kid.
Sly 2 (8/10) - A sequel done right! The hub worlds are now way better and seen as pretty open-world, you get to play as Bentley and Murray, and there's a lot of story to this game. It's a fun time and by the end of the long journey, you will have learned how to play each character best. I will say the only downsides are lack of replayability after completing the game and design-favoritism towards Sly which limits what the other two can do when you play as them. It's the easiest of the three games to 100% as well. Fun, but lacking anything to do after completing the story.
Sly 3 (7/10) - Another great sequel that presents solid ideas with the Sly 2 foundation. The game is brighter, has more cool levels full of fun missions, and expands on what Bentley and Murray are capable of traversal-wise and in combat. Level design still favors Sly, but the other two can jump higher and pickpocket now. I'd say the downsides here are that the game is shorter than Sly 2, as it only has 5 full levels and a handful of missions for the ending versus Sly 2's 8 full levels, too much variance with other characters and gameplay styles, and a slight lack of replayability (mostly with the lack of clue bottles, no reason to come back to levels afterwards). Challenges are a neat addition for full 100% completion, and I will admit the treasure hunts do test your knowledge of each level in the game. There's a lot of great ideas, but some poor executions (such as with the overall story). Fun, but Sly 2 edges out.