Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is a 2002 platformer developed by Sucker Punch Productions, a stealth-tinged action-platformer starring a charming raccoon master thief and his two companions, the brainy turtle Bentley and the muscle-bound hippo Murray, as they seek to recover a stolen family book of thieving secrets.

The game wrapped its platforming in a stylish, cel-shaded cartoon-noir aesthetic, emphasizing sneaking, pickpocketing, tightrope-walking and avoiding guards over direct combat, with Sly relying on agility and a cane rather than brute force. Its distinctive art direction, likable characters, comic-book-styled cutscenes and heist-driven mission structure gave it a personality that set it apart from other mascot platformers of the era.

Sly Cooper launched a fondly remembered series that added more open-ended heist gameplay in later entries, and the original has appeared in remastered collections for later hardware, allowing players to enjoy its stealthy, stylish platforming today.