Gunnar Lott und Fabian Käufer besprechen Sucker Punchs SLY RACCOON

In 2002, Sly Raccoon (in North America: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus), a 3D platformer exclusively for the PlayStation 2, was released, forming a golden trilogy of PS2 jump 'n' run games alongside Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank. In the game, you take on the role of Sly Cooper, a raccoon who, as a master thief, sneaks, climbs, and fights his way through nighttime cities and dark jungles to retrieve a stolen family book from the clutches of the Fiendish Five. Fabian and Gunnar explore why the combination of stealth, climbing, and context-sensitive heist mechanics still works today. They also explain what gives the game its distinctive cel-shaded look and how the in-house developed Speckle Engine contributed to it. Fabian and Gunnar also tell the story of Sucker Punch Productions: from the deal with Sony and the roughly three-year development period to the rise of Game Director Nate Fox, who worked as a junior designer on the previous game and took over content responsibility for the studio's second title. Production Credits: Speakers, Editors: Fabian Käufer, Gunnar Lott Audio Production: Sascha Blach, Christian Schmidt Title Graphics: Paul Schmidt Intro & Outro: Nino Kerl (Announcement) Chris Hülsbeck (Music) 00:00:00 Super Stay Forever - Episode 97: Sly Raccoon 00:00:27 INTRODUCTION 00:02:10 - Super Mario 64 and the Boom of 3D Platformers 00:02:38 - Crash Bandicoot (1996) 00:03:01 - Spyro the Dragon (1998) 00:04:11 - New Series in the 2000s 00:05:33 - Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus (2002) 00:06:23 - Gunnar's Sly Raccoon Trauma 00:08:50 THE GAME 00:10:21 - Rocket Robot on Wheels 00:10:46 - The Series Evolves 00:12:49 - The intro with the book 00:14:43 - Sly's friends: Bentley and Murray 00:15:41 - Game structure 00:16:27 - Jump'n'run plus stealth 00:17:08 - Collectible bottles 00:17:32 ORIGIN HISTORY 00:18:00 - Key team members 00:20:00 - Debut work: Rocket Robot on Wheels (1999) 00:21:00 - Sony gets involved 00:22:11 - Lead designer: Nate Fox 00:24:23 - A new hero for a wider audience 00:25:42 - Real-world animals 00:26:00 - Compatible with children and adults 00:27:11 - Expanding the jump'n'run formula 00:28:21 - Cel-shaded look in a proprietary 3D engine 00:31:15 - Cutscenes in 3D graphics... 00:31:28 - ...and as cinematic sequences 00:32:09 - High graphical quality to this day (Ghost of Yotei) 00:32:50 - Technical features 00:34:09 - How the first world became the fourth 00:38:12 - Camera work 00:40:59 - Presentation at E3 2002 00:41:37 THE GAME IN DETAIL 00:41:46 - Starting in Paris 00:42:38 - Sly and his cane 00:44:32 - Ah, Paris! 00:44:58 - Break-in at the police station 00:45:41 - Hunted by Carmelita Fox 00:46:19 - Successful tutorial 00:47:11 - Diverse game mechanics 00:48:22 - Sneaking, stealing, and special maneuvers 00:50:26 - Continuous expansion of the repertoire 00:51:54 - Beams of light, so many beams of light! 00:53:03 SAMPLE LEVEL: VICIOUS VOODOO 00:53:30 - Antagonist: Miss Ruby 00:54:12 - In the Haitian Jungle 00:54:41 - Sliding on "plant arms" 00:55:59 - Fighting tree root creatures 00:56:19 - Enemies with spotlights 00:56:43 - Shipping minigames 00:57:25 - Boss fight against Miss Ruby 00:59:54 - Carmelita arrests Miss Ruby 01:00:19 - A new skill 01:00:43 GAME ANALYSIS 01:02:22 - Burglar metaphor and "stealth light" 01:05:37 - Guided, atmospheric experience 01:06:51 - A Unique Mix 01:08:31 - Clue Fals and Rewards 01:09:48 - Effortless Backtracking 01:11:41 - Optional Moves Are Hardly Worth It 01:15:07 - Important Skills vs. Unimportant Skills 01:15:51 - Is This a Difficult Game? 01:19:14 - Gunnar's Problems with the Minigames 01:22:05 - Formula Break in the Final World 01:22:58 - Sly and Carmelita Working Together 01:23:24 - Bentley's Hacking Minigame 01:23:39 - Boss Fight Against Clockwork 01:23:54 - Done! 01:24:40 - Excellent flow and great presentation 01:27:17 - TV series-like staging 01:28:58 - Charming narrative snippets 01:29:29 - The music: Often fitting, ... 01:30:58 - ...sometimes clichéd 01:32:22 SUCCESS AND SEQUELS 01:33:35 - Sly Raccoon 2: Band of Thieves (2004) 01:34:50 - Changes in Sly 2 01:36:24 - Expanded thievery and stealth elements 01:38:04 - Combat with Murray's help 01:40:32 - New game economy 01:41:17 - Even more minigames 01:42:57 - Greater openness in gameplay 01:43:39 - Sly Raccoon 3: Honor Among Thieves (2005) 01:44:12 - Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013) 01:45:11 - Which installment is the best? 01:47:26 - Where can you get the game today? 01:48:40 - Other games by Sucker Punch 01:49:16 - The Infamous series 01:50:18 - Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Yotei 01:52:02 CONCLUSION