Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus from 2002, by Sucker Punch, brought a distinctive stylish combination of platforming and stealth to the PS2, with a striking cel-shaded visual style evoking a drawn noir comic book, an unusual approach at the time that instantly set the game apart from more colorful competitors like Ratchet & Clank or Jak and Daxter. The player takes on the role of Sly Cooper, the last descendant of a long dynasty of master thieves, who, after his father is murdered by the Fiendish Five gang, searches for torn-out pages of the family manual, the Thievius Raccoonus, which unlock new thieving abilities and tricks for him.

Missions are built around agility, tightrope walking, sneaking past guards' spotlights, and clever thieving routines instead of outright violence, supported by a likeable companion duo, tech genius Bentley and strongman Murray, who provide Sly with remote support. Sly himself is fragile, a single hit takes him down if he hasn't found a lucky charm, so the game punishes recklessness and rewards patiently reading guard patrol routes. Collecting hidden clue bottles that open safes containing new abilities gives exploration a clear purpose. An elegant, humorous tone, elaborate environments belonging to the Fiendish Five gang ranging from swamps to a circus, and inventive planning-based mission design won the game fans instantly.

While it wasn't as commercially prominent in the shadow of more successful contemporaries, it laid the foundation for one of the most likeable hero trios of the PS2 generation and kicked off a series that still ranks among the genre's beloved classics today. The cel-shading technique that Sucker Punch chose was among the less common approaches to 3D graphics in 2002 and gave the game a timeless, comic-book look that hasn't aged as quickly as the more photorealistic titles of the era. Sly Cooper gradually became one of PlayStation's celebrated franchises alongside Ratchet and Jak, and went on to receive further entries as well as a film adaptation.