Sly Raccoon is a series of stealth-action platform video games created by Sucker Punch Productions, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The main character is Sly Cooper, an anthropomorphic raccoon and master thief, who, along with his friends Bentley (the wise turtle) and Murray (the strong hippopotamus), carries out spectacular heists against other criminals around the world, avoiding Interpol and the charming investigator Carmelita Fox.
The series begins with the game Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, released in 2002 for PlayStation 2. In the first installment, Sly embarks on a dangerous mission to recover the pages of the family book of thieving techniques — Thievius Raccoonus — which were stolen by five villains known as the Fiendish Five. The game received praise for its stylized graphics and combination of stealth, platforming, and humor, and became one of the hallmarks of PlayStation during the PS2 era.
Following the original, Sly 2: Band of Thieves (2004) and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (2005) were released, which expanded the story and gameplay with larger open environments and more characters. These three games were developed by Sucker Punch and are often considered the heart of the series.
Later, the rights to the franchise passed to Sanzaru Games, which released The Sly Collection in 2010 — remastered versions of the original games for PS3 and PS Vita — and in 2013, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, the fourth main title that takes Sly and his crew on a time-traveling adventure to save the history of the Cooper clan.
The series has remained in the hearts of fans due to its unique style, characters, and combination of stealth and platforming, but there has been no new installment since 2013. Although there were plans for a movie and a television series, those projects are currently in limbo, and the return of the series in the form of new games has yet to be confirmed.
