Sly Cooper Turns 15 Today, Look Back at His Thievius Debut

Fifteen years ago on this very day, Sly Cooper made his PlayStation 2 debut as Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus released on September 23, 2002. The Sucker Punch developed title was a fun stealth twist on the platforming genre, and the sneaky raccoon eventually became a PlayStation icon. To learn more about Sly Cooper and his history, take a look at Michael Briers’ detailed look back at the raccoon’s history.

You’ll want to check out the full article, but here’s a preview:

One trip to the Welsh Triangle later and Sucker Punch’s Band of Thievesreturned for a sequel two years later. Broadly speaking, it fared better than its predecessor, buoyed by the inclusion of a demo disc in Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, along with the ability to control other characters beyond Sly Cooper himself.

Capping off a string of three releases in the space of four years, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves launched in ’05 and would not only wrap up the franchise’s tenure on PlayStation 2, it also marked Sucker Punch’s final installment as the developer shifted resources over to nurture its new IP,inFamous.

From that point onwards, Cole MacGrath took priority at the first-party studio, leaving Sly and Co. to retreat into the shadows as the PS3 era loomed large. Time wore on, and by 2010, the license had scurried over to Sanzaru Games, leading to a HD re-release of the original trilogy and, eventually, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, which became one of the early flag-bearers for Sony’s Cross-Buy feature in 2013.

Let us know in the comments if Sly Cooper has a special place in your hearts, and if you’d like to see him return!