3.5/5 ★ – MegaBlastoise's review of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.

Platform Played: PS2 Date Reviewed: Oct. 10, 2021 Rating: 7/10 Ah, Sly Cooper. One of my favorite game franchises from my childhood. The series recently celebrated its 19th birthday, so I figured "What better way to celebrate by 100%ing the first game for the first time?". Yeah, I beat Sly 1 countless times as a youth, but I never went out of my way to fully complete it. And now that I have, how does the first game hold up to its sequels? And is it still worth playing today? The story of Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is that when our main character, Sly, was a kit, a gang who went by the name of The Fiendish Five (no relation to the Furious Five from the Kung Fu Panda trilogy) killed his entire family and destroyed a family heirloom called the Thievius Raccoonus (a book about the various arts of thievery). And now as an adult, Sly wants revenge by taking out The Fiendish Five and getting his family book back. Of course, he has allies in Murray (a hippo who drives the getaway van) and Bentley (a turtle who is exceptionally intelligent and has a jetpack. Yes really). But while our trio are getting the book back, they have to evade Carmelita Fox, a police officer who wants nothing more than Sly in a prison cell. The story isn't complicated and gets slightly predictable in places. Since this game is essentially Metal Gear Solid for children, stealth is the name of the game. The trio have to travel through 5 different locations around the world and defeat each member residing in them. The Fiendish Five are Raleigh (a bullfrog who lives in the Isle of Wrath near the Welsh Triangle and is the machinist for the FF), Muggshot (an American Bulldog who lives in Mesa City, Utah and is the enforcer for the FF), Mz. Ruby (an alligator who lives in Haiti and partakes in voodoo and other mystical work for the FF), Panda King (a panda who lives in the Kunlun Mountains in western China and is also the demolitions expert for the FF), and Clockwerk (an Eurasian eagle owl who lives in the Krakarov Volcano in Russia and also founded the FF). The graphics are amazing both for the time and even today. The Sly Cooper series goes for a comic book feeling and it works extremely well. The music is a little forgettable, especially when compared to Sly 2, but it does its job well. The voice acting is really good, although I do have to question why 4 of the 5 members of the FF are voiced by 1 guy. Some variety would've helped, but this was at a point in gaming history where voice acting in games were starting to become the standard, so I'll excuse it for now. Sly 1 is a little too easy for my taste, but the sheer amount of levels and abilities the trio can traverse through and obtain more than make up for it. Overall, while I do feel that Sly 2 was a better game, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is just as enjoyable as I remember it, although it does have issues. The PS2 version of the game is a little on the pricey side, however it was re-released on the PS3 and Vita via the Sly Cooper Collection, which also includes its 2 PS2 sequels.