The first time I played Sly Cooper was when I was lying on the sofa with the flu, and my mother rented this from Blockbuster under my strict requirements that it 'had to be a game where you could double jump' (autistic kids have very specific needs, ok?). Not exactly the hardest bar of entry to clear, but she still managed to pick one of the finest double-jumpers on the market at the time, a feat for which I am eternally thankful.
Naturally, it was love at first sight, and roughly two decades later, that love is still very much intact. While I much prefer the sequels to the original (I haven't played Sly 4 to completion, mind you), there's really no denying that Sly 1 is still a great game. The style expressed in the art, level design, and music is all just so rich, energetic, and honestly unique that it's hard not to be enticed by it from the first level.
The platforming is incredibly tight, and although many of its gameplay elements would later be improved or changed in subsequent games, it just feels so great to pick up and play that even if you play these games in reverse order, it doesn't feel jarring. They really had the basic formula figured out from square one.
That being said, there are still places where you can tell they're figuring things out. For instance, Kevin Miller's voice work as Sly, while still decent in this one, is definitely a case of him finding his voice for the character. Everything is said in hushed tones, which can make the delivery of some lines a little awkward, but overall it's fine.
As has been said many times, the difficulty of some levels and boss fights can be pretty taxing. In particular, most of the trouble in this game comes from the non-platformer levels like Murray's races, the process of which can often involve doing the level a couple or few times over to get a feel for what needs to be done to win, thanks to the rubberbanding AI they pit you up against.
That said, yes, it was still early days for the franchise, and what faults the first entry has are more than made up for in practically everything else about it. The characters and story are charming and set a great prelude for events to come in the series, and the gameplay, at least where the platforming levels are concerned, is still as satisfying today as it was in the early 2000s.
8/10
Naturally, it was love at first sight, and roughly two decades later, that love is still very much intact. While I much prefer the sequels to the original (I haven't played Sly 4 to completion, mind you), there's really no denying that Sly 1 is still a great game. The style expressed in the art, level design, and music is all just so rich, energetic, and honestly unique that it's hard not to be enticed by it from the first level.
The platforming is incredibly tight, and although many of its gameplay elements would later be improved or changed in subsequent games, it just feels so great to pick up and play that even if you play these games in reverse order, it doesn't feel jarring. They really had the basic formula figured out from square one.
That being said, there are still places where you can tell they're figuring things out. For instance, Kevin Miller's voice work as Sly, while still decent in this one, is definitely a case of him finding his voice for the character. Everything is said in hushed tones, which can make the delivery of some lines a little awkward, but overall it's fine.
As has been said many times, the difficulty of some levels and boss fights can be pretty taxing. In particular, most of the trouble in this game comes from the non-platformer levels like Murray's races, the process of which can often involve doing the level a couple or few times over to get a feel for what needs to be done to win, thanks to the rubberbanding AI they pit you up against.
That said, yes, it was still early days for the franchise, and what faults the first entry has are more than made up for in practically everything else about it. The characters and story are charming and set a great prelude for events to come in the series, and the gameplay, at least where the platforming levels are concerned, is still as satisfying today as it was in the early 2000s.
8/10