2.5/5 ★ – Diluted_Thought's review of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.

I didn't grow up playing "Sly Cooper" games and it was a franchise I totally missed. That said I have no nostalgia for it, no rose colored glasses or fandom so this being my first playthrough I'm judging this game from a 2025 lense instead of 2002 with no biases. I've had the pleasure of playing other playstation franchises like "Jak and Daxter" as well as "Ratchet and Clank" and while I do have varing opinions on each of those games, the one thing these all have in common, in my experience, was the platforming never felt great in their first entries. "Sly Cooper" was no different. A lot of the mini games were also testing on the patience and any time I had to protect Murry or let him drive the damn Raccoon van I groaned. And of course there is a very basic auto save here but so when I got hit during a boss battle and had to start over from the beginning I'd let out a hard sigh. I GET IT. 2002. These would not have been major issues for me back in my sophomore year of high school but they are harder to over look after 2 decades of evolution. In all fairness this game is charming and the voice cast is to thank for a lot of that. I always did enjoy this aesthetic and the game does take me back to a simpler time as well. As with the other franchises I've mentioned, I'm sure this one gets better with every iteration. I do look forward to the next chapter with the hope that they do away with any gamy play concerning Murry. On a side note, every time Carmelita Fox nabs a villian a news paper article flashes on the screen that tends to comment on how attractive she is, for example: "Latin hottie nabs Panda purp" or something silly like that. This really tickled me since I knew they'd never get away with anything like that today. Sensitivities are crazy.