by Wyatt "JOEDOG" Elliott
The platform game has had its shining moments. Super Mario Bros. Blew us all away when it came out on NES.
Oh my gosh! Its so amazing, I can't believe it! We said as drool came pouring out our mouths.
More drool was followed with its great sequels. Than it dried up until Sonic the Hedgehog debuted on Sega Genesis.
Suddenly it was Oh my gosh, the speed its so awesome!! We almost drowned.
Other great accomplishments in platform history were Donkey Kong Country, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario 64, Jak & Daxter, and Klonoa.
Than there are most that just fall short. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Frogger: the Great Quest, many Nickelodeon titles and many, many others.
The reason most fall short, is because they use and reuse the same formula over and over again.
Some wait for the newest thing to come out and just copy that.
After the loss of such licenses as Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon. I thought Sony was in trouble.
However, they have bounced back with such original platformers as Jak and Daxter, Rachet and Clank, and the game that spawned this article. Sly Cooper.
Yes, Sly Cooper and the Theivius Raccoonus is one of if not the best platformer this year.
Sly Cooper takes the platform game and breathes new life into it.
Sly features great classic cartoon animation with great characters to boot.
Sly is a raccoon who comes from a long generation of thieves. His family have always made it a rule of thumb to only steal from criminals and scum.
Then distribute the goods to the poor. Kind of a Robin Hood tale with coons.
Now, his families' book on the trait has been stolen by even more sinister bad guys. Sly's job is to retrieve the book and prevent these criminal idiots from using his family secrets to cause harm across the land.
Sly Cooper mixes elements from platform games and espionage games with a twist of its own originality.
This makes for a fun game for all ages. I have not had so much fun playing a game for such a long period of time in years.
It's slick, cool, funny, and just difficult enough to keep you playing without frustration.
There are many things to do in this game to keep you playing. You can pass a level without fully completing it.
This makes me wanna go back and find everything, but if you just wanna run through the game. You can do that too.
With Sly Cooper on the block, I miss not the days of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon.
Not that I don't appreciate the PS2 editions to those classics. But Sony need worry not.
With Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, and Jak and Daxter. Al being sure fire franchises in the making, Sony can say Crash who, without batting an eye.