Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

The Good
Sly Cooper is a modern platformer made by some nobodies named Sucker Punch. Fortunately, this game will make them famous.

The visuals, firstly, are amazing. Cel shading was an appropriate method for a game of this story and plot. Sly Cooper moves with a brisk frame rate across amazingly eye-catching backgrounds. These backgrounds are one of the highlights. They are so well made, they look so good, that you have to see them again.

In the topic of backgrounds, it is also mentionable that these areas are created so well, so logically. Unlike other games, you will always know what to do, instead of walking around deciding what to do. This makes playing the game fun, but not repetitive.

Fun little mini-games are also in here, like a crab game, and a shoot on a platform game. These are fun and nice to play over and over. The control scheme is refreshingly simple. Jump, attack and a special sneak action button. Its amazing how much this button can do in different scenarios.

The Bad
No flaws in this game at all.

The Bottom Line
Sucker Punch has made a winner. If Mario'd enough, and are looking for a good platfomer, I truly believe that this game will make you think Mario was a joke. The visuals, smooth gameplay makes playing it so fun. Some people think it's short, but they just can't admit that the reason they finished it in three days, was because they just couldn't put the controller down for hours when they played. If you have a PS2, i pity you for not having this game. Go get it right now. Sly Cooper and the Thieivus Raccoonus deserves a solid 5 out of 5*

The Good
Ever since Mario, platform games have been the type of games nobody can hate. It's just not possible. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus is no different. You control Sly Cooper, a suave, debonair racoon thief who is trying to steal back his family heirloom, the Thievius Racoonus. It is a book passed down from generation to generation, filled with the legacies and wisdom of Sly's ancestors. As a kid, it was stolen from Sly Cooper, and now he wants it back.

In the game you are pitted against five devious villains, in five different worlds. Each has his own unique setting, from the casinos and alleyways of a Las Vegas type setting, to the dreary swamps of the Haitian jungle, and all of them have their own special attributes and skilled enemies. You have to use your trusty cane to smash, swing, slide, and smack your way to victory. Each of the five worlds contains seven levels, and all seven levels have a key at the end, and when you have all seven keys, you battle against one of the "Fiendish Five".

Along the way you'll get help from your two trusty pals: Bentely, the mastermind of your operations (who happens to be a turtle), and Murray, the skilled driver (who happens to be a pink hippopotumas). And in most levels you can collect clue bottles, to which Bentely will put all the clues together and figure out the combination to a safe, where you will find new skills to help you along the way. These skills include using your hat as a landmine and fooling the enemy with a silhouette cutout of yourself.

Along with the varied mini-games, silly but challenging bosses, and excellent graphics, you've got yourself a fresh new platformer no gamer can do without.

The Bad
Some of the mini-games can become quite irritating, but it's all the more rewarding in the end.

The Bottom Line
An all around good game. It is the type of game you can just sit down and have fun with.

The Good
Nice-looking backdrops, well-designed main character. Some of the early levels are quite fun.

The Bad
Rather than relying a varied platforms, this game requires you to slide along wires, climb ladders and jump onto tiny flashing points via the use of special moves. Unfortunately the special move (whether's it's jumping onto a three-pixel-wide point or grabbing an overhanging wire with Sly's hooked cane) seem to work only at the whim of the game, so you find yourself falling into oblivion on countless occasions. The racing games are irritating. This is quite the most frustrating game I've played for many years. Like its two sequels (both of which vary between tedious wandering around and frustrating sub-games) this game has little or no replay value to speak of. The characters are cardboard cut-outs and the dialogue between them is tedious. Oh, and Sly is a complete drip. One hit and he's dead.

The Bottom Line
Sly Raccoon is one of a family of thieves. His inheritance, a book selling of the ways of master criminals, was stolen by a gang of hood and is now scattered across the world. So he must brave various platform landscapes in order to find it. On each level there are several areas, each containing a key. Gather all the keys to rescue a piece of the book.