Reader Reviews

Sly Raccoon (PS2)

by Neil Smith

I'm something of a platform gaming junkie, so I was pretty happy when I finally managed to get a hold of Sly Raccoon for the PlayStation 2. Released round about the end of 2002 [give or take a month or two -Ed], it came out more or less at the same time as the other big 3D platform release of 2002, Ratchet and Clank.

Now most people would probably say Jak & Daxter is one the best 3D Platform games yet released for the PlayStation 2, (Jak II just came out this month) but for me Sly Raccoon compares more to the original Crash Bandicoot games for the PSone than Jak & Daxter.

First off, the basic plot of Sly Raccoon has you playing Sly Cooper a charming and wry, charismatic thief, Sly Cooper. Born into a family of the world's greatest thieves, Sly must steal back the Thievius Raccoonus, a family heirloom that is passed down from generation to generation containing all of the best-kept secrets of thievery techniques around.

Utilising cel-shaded graphic, Sly Raccoon is brought to brilliant life, giving the game the look of an interactive cartoon with you controlling the main character. Ably assisted by Bentley your computer hacking turtle friend and Murray the dumb but loveable hippo, you set out on you quest to retrieve the Thievius Raccoonus across five stages set in different parts of the world.

Sly controls like most other 3D platform games. You move Sly with the left analogue stick and with the right analogue stick you can change you camera view. One thing I did find irritating is that you can only control the camera across the horizontal plane, and not up and down as well, like you can in Jak & Daxter for example. This does cause you some problems on occasion when you cannot see where to jump, if you get stuck in an awkward position for example.

The main object in Sly Raccoon is collecting coins and clue bottles. Most stages have a certain amount of clue bottles you need to smash. If you get all the bottles on a section, Bentley can then give you the safe combination you need to open a safe to gain yourself extra moves and abilities you can use, such as not drowning when you fall into water for example. Although these extra abilities are not essential to complete a level, they do give you the extra incentive you need to try and get them all. At any stage during the game you can go back to any previous level in the game to try and get all the clues. If you already have all the clues, you can on some stages try and complete a level within a set time period but against much harder enemies. Speaking of the enemies in the game, for the most part you can smash them with your cane quite easily, and do not represent a significant threat to you. Some of the enemies you face include slobbering chained up dogs, jumping ninja's and nasty spiders.

As Sly is a thief you also have to keep a close look out not to set off any alarms by crossing laser beams or wandering into the path of a searchlight. Some sections will have sparkling blue lights, for example against pillars. Where you see these blue lights you can then sneak up around the pillar by keeping down the circle button. Each end level boss is also very well done. My favourite bosses being Mz. Ruby from the Voodoo level, and the final boss himself.

Although the graphics are first rate throughout the game, for me the fourth stage set in China was the highlight of Sly Raccoon. I loved the snowflakes drifting everywhere, and when you set fireworks off the sound they made and the lovely colourful sparkles when they ignited.

When I started I said Sly Raccoon reminded me more of Crash Bandicoot than Jak & Daxter. This is mostly because the levels in Sly Raccoon much smaller and self contained than you J&D. Completing most of the platform levels is not too difficult for most platform veterans. Where I did get stuck horribly on occasion were the side missions you get. These include driving Murray the hippo round three laps of a track, and in one case igniting 25 lamps by collecting piranhas to do this within a set time limit. This piranha section took many multiple attempts to get right. The final boss is also very tough thanks to slightly different controls.

My main criticisms of the game would include some horrible slow down you get in particular in the Voodoo stages of the game where there are big open sections. Fortunately the slowdown doesn't impact the game play too much. I also I found the jump button not as responsive as I would have liked on occasion, causing many unnecessary deaths. The final stage was also a bit rushed for me. The previous four stages there was a lot to do, but on the final stage, although it was rather hard, it took almost no time at all to complete it.