The decision to remove and replace many of the core features from the first game might've been bold, but in my mind Sucker Punch hit the jackpot this time around. Practically every small issue the first game introduced have been fixed. The worlds are no longer boring hubs serving as entry points for repetetive stealth sections or anoying gimmick levels, they're places in a world, so full of carefully planned features and quests while still not losing the sense of purpose that comes from more simplistic design. With the exception of 3 and 7, every chapter is a joy to play through, and the aforementioned two only have annoying hubworlds to pull them down.

It really is remarkable how much mileage Sly 2 gets out of a very limited set of controls, but it just speaks to the clever level design and great artistic vision that just pressing the circle button a couple times in a row can give such an adrenaline rush. Bentley and Murray being playable adds to the complexity, but they also stay true to simple ideas and concepts, and the variety comes entirely from the missions themselves.

The mechanical improvements in Sly 2 are abundant, but the ones that left the biggest impact were an actual health bar, and better gimmick stages. There were so, SO many times during my time with Sly 1 where I died to some bullshit because the game decided one-shot kill should be the default mode, and being able to recover from your fuckup is a hugely important part of playing a stealth game, especially one as lighthearted as this. Similarly, while there are an enormous amount of various gimmick levels, none stuck out as a sore thumb the way the ones in the first game did, and the good ones this time around are some of the best levels in the game.

Sly 2 is as good of an allrounder platformer one can ask for, it's exciting and dramatic without ever losing the comical undertone that makes its world stand out so much. Sure, not every mission is a hit, and sure, sometimes the repeating aesthetics are a little boring, but the pace with which you move forward and the endlessly charming characters and plot developments always leave your doubts in the dust. This game fucking rocks, simple as.