Sly Cooper and the Thievious Racoonus

Games
1

I popped by Blockbuster yesterday and had the good fortune to spot the last remaining copy of both Sly Cooper (PS2) and Starfox Adventures (GC).

I put in Sly Cooper and have done little else but play that game all weekend.

This game is just not getting the attention it deserves. It’s far and away the best platformer I’ve played on the PS2, and one of the best I’ve played on any system in a really long time.

The gameplay is mostly standard platformer fare. You jump on a lot of platforms (duh), whack some enemies, swing from hooks, shimmy on pipes, and collect stuff to get bonus lives and extra special moves and whatnot. But the implementation is just fantastic. It’s never frustrating (ahem…Mario Sunshine), each new level feels fresh, and though I know I’m doing some pretty repetitive acts, it sure doesn’t feel like it. There’s quite a few mini games, and they’re all challenging enough to require two or three tries but easy enough to beat long before you start to get pissed. I even found myself smiling at the “simon says” style rhythm game (actually a boss monster fight).

It’s just chock full of personality, too. Neat characters, slick cinematics, amazingly great animation, gorgeous levels - both the art direction and technical merits of the visuals are impressive.

I’ve heard complaints that it’s really short, but I’m not so sure. I’m just starting the fourth of five worlds and I’ve played for maybe 6 hours. I don’t think there’s a lot of replayability here, but I’m guessing it’ll last about 12-15 hours if you do some of the optional stuff. Maybe that’s not worth $50, but it’s definitely worth a rental, or a $50 purchase and a $25 return. :) Besides, I’ll take 2-3 full days of Sly Cooper over two weeks of most other platform games.

2

Nice. I don’t know how others felt about it, as this would have been discussed before I joined the forums, but I had the same thoughts about Luigi’s Mansion on the GC. Very fun, it didn’t feel repetitive even though you knew it was, bosses were hard but not enough to get pissed, beautiful levels (in that case rooms in the mansion), etc.

OK my bad on hijacking the thread.

3

I’m with Jason…I only played the demo, but I loved it. Sly’s a neat character and the construction of the game is very nice - everything has a slick feel to it.

4

I keep hearing that it’s a great 10 hour game. Great. But 10 hour. Maybe I’d get more out of it, though.

Still, very tempting. Maybe I’ll borrow a PS2 and rent it.

Reviews on the Xbox contender, Blinx, have been all over the place. Doesn’t sound like an exploration type platformer, though, so I’m not as interested.

5

Since this forum seems heavily geared towards the PC/D&D/nutcase/elitist crowd, I’m kind of surprised to see a bit of interest in a trivial mascot driven hop’n bop platformer, so I’ll take some time to post my quicky review.

I finished the game to 100% completion. Got all of the clues, Earned my way through every Time Trial challenge,(and I stress EARNED! These can be somewhat brutal and demanding) and unlocked and have seen everything there is in the game. Yes, I was hooked. :oops:

While it doesn’t exactly offer the freedom of Mario’s worlds, nor does it generally improve upon the basic depth or length of Klonoa 2, nor is it as novel or creative a concept as Blinx(which I haven’t yet tried). It features strong level designs matched by high production values, great control, rewarding challenges, and a whole load of creativity and solid obstacle-laden play.

Essentially it takes the Crash Bandicoot framework and evolves it in such a way that Naughty Dog and more recently Universal have failed to manage over the years. Extremely linear obstacle patterned courses but with architecture that expands beyond trivial stagnant layouts such as in Crash or most recently Jak and Daxter. These level pathways twist and contort through lively vessels of painted images direct from the artists desk. The goal always remains clear, it’s how you reach that point that makes the game so exhilerating.

Thus far it is most likely the best platformer I have played this year. (Mario’s rather bland level designs mixed with hit or miss objectives/goals packed with too much illicit and unfocused and non-rewarding collecting really dissapointed me, despite the fact that I loved the new enhancements to that game’s overall design such as the use of the waterpacks) Sly Cooper just kept me going from one stage to the next and when you are forced to collect, you are usually surprised with the outcome being that you aren’t just given a worthless completist medal of sorts such as shines, crystals, etc. Rather, constant expansions to your charatcers repertoire of abilities are handed out for your complete optional effort(many of which do remain worthless nonetheless, but would you rather go back to Stars, Shines, or gems?). I think we all would prefer a reward that feels at least vaguely rewarding.

It’s somewhat short overall though, not to the point of dissapointment I would say like the short but sweet Klonoa 2. But a rental period is easilly enough time to beat it. Possibly two rental periods if you are gung ho about unlocking everything(which can take awhile considering some of those time trials almost demand perfection) but it sure was enjoyable for a good 10-12 hours.

Good stuff that platformer fans should definately check out. But I’d rather not just advertise the game with tired taglines, but honestly recommend it as a fan of the genre to other gamers out there. Total impulse play that really caught me off guard.

6

I know I’ll play Sly Cooper eventually. Thanks for the review. I’ve always been a fan of platformers and while I’m not as negative about Super Mario Sunshine as you seem to be (in fact, I’m pretty positive), Sly Cooper sounds like another good game from Sucker Punch. I missed their Rocket: Robot on Wheels on N64 which many rave about. I won’t miss Sly.

On a PS2 related note, I rented Kingdom Hearts on Wednesday. So far I like it and my kids dig it too. It hasn’t been as extravagant as Final Fantasy X so far, but the animation is pretty incredible. My biggest gripe is probably that the dialogue for the FF characters often isn’t up to the level of the voice actors. That’s a new one. I never figured I’d see that in gaming for awhile.

The game has lots of polygons, but the graphics could have been far better on a Nintendo or Microsoft platform. This is clearly not the same team that did FFX. That’s a bummer.

–Dave

7

Resurrecting this thread because I finally started playing this game. Easy so far, but very enjoyable. And these days, the price is right.

8

I can still smell the formaldehyde!

9

Man, Sly Cooper, what a fantastic game. It wasn’t great in terms of gameplay, but it had such style and personality that it’s easily one of my favorite games of all time.

Too bad the sequels moved away from platforming to stupid mini-games.

10

…and too bad that Ratchet & Clank pretty much just pwned the entire platform genre on the PS2. Hate platformers, but loved R&C.

11

Ratchet and Clank is not fit to be mentioned in the same thread as Sly Cooper. You defiled the thread. Shame on you, sir. Shame on you.

12

I played all 3 Sly games, and enjoyed them. I think 2 was my favorite, but I liked the variety in 3. I never finshed the first sly 100%, the time mission mode killed me.

13

I think the R&Cs are better games but Sly is a better platformer.

14

Haven’t played the Ratchet and Clanks yet. I actually bought one when I first picked up the PS2, but didn’t especially enjoy it – might have been sheer unfamiliarity with the controller, so I should give it a spin sometime.

I’ve been reading old threads. Funny how much my opinion of gaming has changed over the last 4+ years.

15

I would skip the first R&C if you’re going to jump into the series now. They vastly improved the controls in Going Commando. The original game is semi-broken by modern standards.

16

I adored Sly 1. Also earned all 100% on time trials, some of them required some REALLY creative approaches to shortcuts and unbelievably stealth(!) mastery. The commentary audio was a nice reward as well. Loved it all.

Sly 2 and 3…eh, didn’t much care for either. Really missed the straightforward level challenges. The hub-based scavenger hunts broadened the scope, but stole away the thrills.