For the record, this is my 2nd playthrough of “Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.” I played through “The Sly Collection” pushing five years ago for the first time on my PS Vita. A good friend of mine finally pushed me to play them even though I’ve owned them since I had my Vita, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. However, revisiting the first game again, it clearly shows its age in some areas.

Regardless of how cool the style of this game is and its title character, the levels and overall gameplay design is definitely not its strongest suit. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fun levels here, but it’s just incredible how “Sly 2: Band of Thieves” really gives the game its unique identity in the world of platformers. The gimmick and mini-game levels are the worst and throw off the pacing of the overall game. With most of them controlling horribly and adding time limits adds to a stressful experience. Boss fights are “okay” here, but they’re definitely cool villains and the overarching story is very effective despite its simple nature and being a 2000s platformer. I was able to listen to the game’s OST a little more this playthrough, and I really do like it more than what I remembered. Bentley and Murray are cool bros, but I’m definitely grateful the development they get in both gameplay and story aspects in future entries. Overall, I enjoyed the revisit playing a native version of the original game. I still think this game has a lot of charm and hope one day the trilogy can get a Crash/Spyro trilogy treatment. Hoping soon we get “Band of Thieves” on PS5!