The Sly Collection

The Sly Collection brings the three original adventures of the raccoon thief Sly Cooper and his crew to the PS Vita. The series rests on an unusual blend of platforming and stealth, where instead of shootouts you figure out how to slip past guards, climb up gutters, and reach your goal unseen. The first entry is the most linear, focusing mainly on precise movement along paths marked by blue sparks. The second and third open up larger city areas and, crucially, let you play as Sly's partners too, the hulking Murray and the tech-savvy Bentley, so missions are structured around whoever is currently in play.

The gameplay has a lightness rarely seen today. Sly moves along railings, ropes, and ledges almost automatically, with the player just timing the jump correctly, so even complex acrobatic sequences look elegant. A single hit usually means death, which keeps tension high, though checkpoint placement is forgiving. Collecting stolen treasures, unlocking new thieving tricks, and a series of mini-stories from each heist break up any monotony. The Vita version looks excellent thanks to the sharp screen, and several bonus modes make use of touch controls, though the core gameplay remains classic and button-driven.

The visuals are the collection's greatest strength. The cartoon, comic-shaded style has barely aged, complemented by stylish animated cutscenes and a jazzy soundtrack that fits the heist-movie genre perfectly. Each entry has its own gallery of inventive villains and its own backdrop, from Venetian canals to snowy Canadian wilderness. Reviews welcomed the original trilogy very warmly, and it still ranks among the finest the genre produced on PlayStation 2. On a handheld console, the collection feels like ideal material for short play sessions between heists.