On September 24, 2002 I bought Sly Cooper on a whim and little did I know that this game would end up being the greatest platform game ever made. One of the best "hunch" buys I ever made.
Sly Cooper is as close to perfection as a platformer can reach. Outstanding story, superb "cel-shaded (toon-shaded)" graphics, excellent and easy to use controls, fine music, and tons of unlockables and replay value make this game worth getting now that it's a PS2 Greatest Hits game.
Sly Cooper is the latest in a line of Thief Raccoons; thieves so great that they don't steal from regular folks, but from other thieves. When Sly was 8, he was to inherit the Thievius Raccoonus, which contained all the secrets to their success. On the eve of his 8th birthday, 5 master thieves broke into his house, killed his father, and stole the TR away. Sly then lived in an orphanage for 10 years before plotting his revenge against those who offed his father. He met up with Bentley, a genius-geek turtle who lets him know what traps are in his way as he goes and Murray, a hippo who's their wheel-man. Together, the trio make an awesome team.
There's also Carmelita Montoya Fox, a police detective who's been trying to arrest Sly for his prior crimes. It's kind of an homage to the Duke boys and Roscoe.
Sly Cooper goes through five worlds, trying to reach the boss. Along the way, he can open safes that can get him more powers because they contain pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. He must destroy all the bottles to open the safe. You'll go through beautiful, easy to traverse levels that are interspersed by great mini-games. You'll race around a track as Murray, try to keep Murray from being assaulted by enemies as he tries to collect a key, and play Robotron-style levels. The final level is just like a bunch of mini-games put together as a level. There's so much variety. The game relies on some stealth, as you must avoid tripping alarms and traps in each level. The boss levels are awesome, too. One boss has you using Parappa The Rapper button presses to defeat her.
With lots of secrets like "director's commentaries" and film clips to unlock. this game is filled with stuff to do. It's a little short, but I'm sure you'll want to play this one multiple times. For $20 U.S., it's a no-brainer; buy it!
