As the PlayStation 2 reaches the end of its second year, Sony has really committed to putting its money into cool, original ideas and establishing the PlayStation as a place where games can be creative, a little quirky, and edgier than Nintendoâs equivalents. As long as PlayStation remains committed to that ideal and doesnât pivot at some point to paving the way for a homogenous future of games that all chase the same ideas, weâre gonna keep getting cool games of different shapes and sizes. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus, the new platformer from Rocket: Robot on Wheels developer Sucker Punch Productions, is the latest example of Sony funding inspired ideas, and Iâm looking forward to it standing tall for years to come alongside other 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie and Jak and Daxter.

Sly Cooper follows the titular raccoon thief, a cool dude with a lot of attitude. Think Disneyâs Robin Hood but with fewer antics and more carefully planned heists. Heâs skilled, suave, and flirts with his cop adversary/love interest as they battle it out on different sides of the law like star-crossed lovers. Sly is just a charismatic and memorable platformer hero with more character than his contemporaries, and I could see him being an all-ages icon that Sony could create Saturday morning cartoons, action figures, comic books, and other merchandise and entertainment around. The gameâs cartoony, anthropomorphic characters, paired with its timeless noir aesthetic, make Sly Cooper feel like a throwback to â60s cartoons like The Pink Panther or Secret Squirrel. The game just oozes style and commits to a vibe inspired by that era of animation, with the sneaking bassline that follows Slyâs footsteps as he sneaks behind unsuspecting foes providing the cherry on top of this classic cartoon loverâs cake.

Nailing the look, sound, and tone of old cartoons can only take it so far, however. Sly Cooper is also marries the regular run-and-jump platforming the genre is known for with intuitive and accessible stealth. Sly primarily uses his cane to thwack his enemies around for a direct approach, but he can also use it to swing on hooks out of enemy sightlines, hug the side of a wall as he sneaks around behind cover, and balance on top of spires and perch from high ground over his foes. Itâs not Metal Gear, but Sly Cooperâs approachable take on stealth is a great gateway into the genre. Every environmental interaction is mapped to the circle button on your DualShock 2 controller, and it makes reading and navigating the environment a breeze. Youâll appreciate that, because Sly canât take a lot of hits. Heâs just a thief, after all. Heâs not big and burly, and he doesnât fight on the frontlines like his hippo friend Murray could if heâd get out of the getaway van and onto the field, which would be a cool idea for the sequel, right, Sucker Punch?

Sly Cooper isnât without its frustrations (donât get me started on the racing segments), but itâs really refreshing that PlayStation has brought out not one, not two, but three cool new mascot platformers in just the first two years of the PS2âs life cycle. Sony may have been shortsighted in letting Crash and Spyro go, but the future of the 3D platformer looks pretty bright here in 2002, and I canât wait to see how PlayStation learns its lesson and treats this new series with the respect itâs already earned with its first outstanding entry.

The story you just read is part of the 2002 edition of Warp Week, a Kotaku series that takes readers back to gaming’s past through a mix of time-dilated reviews, retrospectives, and on-the-ground reports.