Basics

Saving
49 KB on your PS2 Memory Card is required in order to save your progress in Sly Cooper.

Characters
Here are some brief descriptions of the main characters:

The Good Guys

• Sly Cooper, Master Thief and Protagonist, 18 years of age
  The hero of the game. Born from a family of master thieves, he was orphaned at eight. Now that he is older and has honed his skills, Sly is ready to take on the Fiendish Five and to reclaim the Thievius Raccoonus, a book that contains the secrets of his ancestors. When he's not out for action, he spends his time with Bentley and Murray at their hideout, which is an abandoned train car in the outskirts of Paris. Guys like Sly don't show up very often; he only steals from criminals, because 1) he has honor and 2) he's the hero of a kiddie game. 
• Bentley, the Brains Behind the Operation
  Sly's brilliant but ever-nervous friend back from the Happy Camper Orphanage. Although Bentley does not particularly enjoy his buddy's line of work, he nevertheless helps out as much as he can. Bentley handles all the intelligence work for Sly, providing tips, pointing out dangers, cracking codes, and so on. Bentley invented the Binocucom so he can keep in touch with Sly at all times.
• Murray, Getaway Driver and Klutz
  Sly's clumsy but ever-happy friend back from the Happy Camper Orphanage. Murray has few of the qualities we'd associate with a hero, yet Sly trusts him no less than he trusts Bentley. Murray's main job is to drive Sly away to safety, and he's not bad at doing that.
• Carmelita Montoya Fox, Police Inspector, 21 years of age
  An agent of the law who loves guns. Especially big ones. So far Carmelita hasn't had much luck in catching Sly, but that won't stop her from trying. She doesn't care that Sly is a Robin Hood-kinda guy who solely steals from deserving criminals. She doesn't care that Sly has the hots for her. The only thing she cares about is tagging and bagging his sneaky ass.

The Bad Guys

The Fiendish Five, Evil International Organization of Criminal Masterminds
The bosses in the game. Apparently fed up with the Coopers screwing over their fat bank accounts, the Five wasted Sly's dad and separated the Thievius Raccoonus. They made a big mistake by leaving Sly alive.

• Sir Raleigh, Chief Machinist
  A petty nobleman turned pirate. Sir Raleigh uses his impressive technical skills and wealth to create devices for shipwrecking vessels loaded with precious cargo. Hidden under the turbulent seas and heavy fog of his hideout are the countless riches he and his henchmen have accumulated over the years.
• Muggshot, Enforcer and Casino Owner
  The muscle of the bunch. Born a wimp, popular movies have warped Muggshot's mind and inspired him to become a rough, take-no-crap gangster. His dreams have pretty much come true - he is now literally the top dog of a mob of angry, gun-toting thugs. His casino is a front for his other less-than-legal work.
• Mz. Ruby, Chief Mystic
  A voodoo priestess and hardcore necromancer. Isolated as a child, she has mastered the dark arts and is not afraid to use them. Never close with the rest of society, she lurks in some remote swamps, building up an army of warrior priests and undead souls.
• The Panda King, Demolitions Expert
  A pyromaniac who loves anything that comes with a bang or sets stuff on fire. His mind snapped when he couldn't sell his fireworks to some snobby aristocrats, and now he's a heartless crime lord who spends his time in his mountain fortress running extortion rackets and destroying the wealthy families he hates so much.
• Clockwerk, Leader of the Fiendish Five
  Evil Bad Guy Numero Uno. This feathery freak of nature is the vilest and most dangerous of the Five. He is also one mysterious sucker - almost no information about him can be found... at least not yet. Whatever the hell he really is, Sly doesn't know and probably never will.

How to Play
Sly Cooper is more or less a linear game. For the most part, you will be controlling Sly, and his goal in the standard stages is to make it to the end alive so he can grab a key or some other vital item that lets him advance. In some special stages, you will also play as Murray, Bentley, or Carmelita. The introductory stage serves as a great tutorial, because Bentley will review the basic controls and share some general tips with Sly there. Additional instructions for different modes are also provided at the appropriate times.

Now, what exactly is the Thievius Raccoonus, you might ask, and how does it fit into the game? I'm pretty sure it's not Latin, and I'm very sure it's not some ancient tome dealing with the occult. Rather, the Thievius Raccoonus is the book passed down through several generations of the Cooper lineage. As Sly recovers pages of the Thievius Raccoonus, he will be able to perform new moves.

Here's a quick outline of the controls:

Sly

D-Pad - Move (relative to the screen). This has the same function as the Left Stick, but without the analog control.

Left Stick - Move (relative to the screen). Push the Stick slightly to make Sly sneak around slowly. Push it farther to make him run. When Sly is using the Binocucom, press the Left Stick to look around.

Right Stick - Move the camera. Push the Stick left and right to revolve the camera around Sly. When Sly is using the Binocucom, press the Stick up and down to zoom in and zoom out.

X Button - Jump. Press the X Button again in midair to make Sly perform a double jump.

Square Button - Attack with the cane. This mysterious artifact was passed down to Sly by his dad, and he has never parted with it since. Sly's cane is excellent for smashing apart objects, grabbing items, and bludgeoning enemies to death.

Circle Button - Perform context-sensitive maneuvers. These include climbing ladders, grabbing poles, sidling against walls, and more. Special sparkling lights indicate some, but not all, locations where Sly can use these maneuvers. Note how special moves learned from the Thievius Raccoonus that are required to finish the game are activated with this Button.

Triangle Button - Perform the currently selected special move (Master Thief Move), if any. Sly can learn more moves by obtaining pages of the Thievius Raccoonus from the fancy safes found within the standard stages. Note how special moves learned from the Thievius Raccoonus that are not required to finish the game are activated with this Button.

L1 Button - Use or put away the Binocucom. This device serves as both a pair binoculars and a radio. At certain locations, Sly will automatically whip this out and converse with Bentley.

R1 Button - Use or put away the Binocucom, and skip dialogue. You can cut the chatter between Bentley and Sly by pressing this while they are talking. (You cannot skip dialogue when it is being played for the first time.) Otherwise, this has the exact same function as L1.

L2 Button - Cycle special move forward. Press this to have Sly switch to the next available special skill up on the list.

R2 Button - Cycle special move backward. Press this to have Sly switch to the next available special skill down on the list.

L3 Button - Not used.

R3 Button - Center the camera. Press this to center the camera behind Sly. This is useful when you need to see what is directly in front of him.

Start - Pause. While the game is paused, you can select from a list of options. Other data, such as the number of clues collected and the amount of lives in reserve, are also displayed.

Select - Map screen. Sly can warp to areas he has previously reached from here. The map screen can also be accessed via the pause screen menu.

Submarine / Hover Blaster / Hacking Program

Left Stick - Move vehicle (relative to the screen).

Right Stick - Fire. The hero will aim in the direction you press on the Stick. Ammo is infinite.

Turret / Stun Gun

Left Stick - Aim.

Square Button - Fire. Ammo is infinite.

Van (Racing Stages)

Left Stick - Move vehicle (relative to the van). Press up to accelerate, and press left and right to turn.

Square Button - Nitro boost. Nitro tanks are limited, so be sure to pick up more.

Van (Gathering Stages)

Left Stick - Move vehicle (relative to the screen).

Square Button - Extend the battering ram. The ram can be used an infinite number of times.

Swamp Skiff

Left Stick - Move vehicle (relative to the screen).

Square Button - Fire a burst of flame. Ammo is limited, so be sure to pick up more.

Jetpack

Left Stick - Move (relative to the screen).

Square Button - Fire. Ammo is infinite.

On to Advanced...

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