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Our hero is a light-fingered little raccoon, with thievery being a strong family trait. To reach the pinnacle of burglary, and restore his family's waning reputation, Sly must learn from the 'Thievius Raccoonus' – an encyclopaedia of thieving techniques passed down from his sneaky ancestors. The 'Thievius Raccoonus' has itself been stolen by five nasty crims, who've torn it up and spread the pages across the land. And there's the rub. Sly must become the Master Thief by locating the various pages of the great book.

The very cartoon-like cell-shaded type graphics are used in Sly Racoon, one of the first examples of this on the Playstation 2 (the recent Auto Modellista being another example). While the platforming elements of 'Sly' are slightly formulaic, which we'll get to shortly, it's the exceptional quality of this cell-shading that really impresses. Each of the characters in the game is lavishly rendered, with excellent attention to detail. It's difficult to pinpoint why it actually works, the marriage of a style that is inherently two dimensional in origin, in an environment that feels very three dimensional, but work it does, and very well too.

As you'd expect, there are a number of bosses to get to grips with, five in all, each with their own specialised defences. They are quite difficult adversaries – just when you think you've got their number, they throw you a curve ball and it's back to square one.

A number of missions must be completed successfully before you can have a crack at each boss, and they generally consist of being dropped off on the outskirts of said bosses pad by your sidekick Murray. From here, you employ stealth and dexterity to accomplish the set task.

Along with Murray, who drives the getaway van, there is also Bentley, the geeky technophile based at your hideout (who sounds exactly like Millhouse from The Simpsons). Both give you much help throughout the game. Sly himself is ultra smooth, and always ready with a witty remark. Music is appropriate, and the rest of the sound effects are well above average. Sly can go into stealth mode wherever he sees a 'blue aura'. When this happens, the music goes a bit quieter, and a cute little 'tip-toe' effect begins in time with how fast Sly is creeping along. It's a small thing, but indicative of the attention to detail.

While the progression from boss to boss is a little linear, a number of the levels encompass various other genres – racing, shoot 'em up and more. Aside from adding variety, they're also excellent fun themselves. Far from mere gimmicks, they are actually very well thought out mini-games. Considerable effort has obviously gone into them.

Combined with numerous weapons to acquire, and new skills to learn, it's a fun and absorbing experience. The rewards are not exactly what you'd expect either. From ninja skills, to exploding hats, slow-motion jumping, to rolling instead of walking – it's all in there, and it's pretty damn good.

Each boss episode is presented like an old style film title, and the cut-scenes are great. It's a very cartoony affair, which may not appeal to older gamers, but it's the whole package, the big picture if you will, that makes 'Sly' a wholly satisfying experience for gamers of any age. To coin a phrase, it's like playing your favourite cartoon.