Consider this: there hasn’t been a new Sly Cooper game since 2005. A year before PlayStation 3 hit the market, developer Sucker Punch released Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves on PS2, and then the studio moved on to the Infamous series, was purchased outright by Sony and seemed to have left its old mascot behind. But that didn’t stop a green, eager developer from attempting what, to many, would be completely unthinkable.

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see deal Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time - PlayStation3 $14.99 on Gamestop

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Without permission or funding, Sanzaru Games began working on a PS3 version of Sly Cooper. When they finally showed it to Sony in prototype form, the corporation was so impressed that they gave it their stamp of approval and their blessing to continue what Sucker Punch had started. Now, here we are in 2013 with a fourth Sly Cooper game -- Thieves in Time -- and needless to say, Sly Cooper fans around the world should be thankful for Sanzaru’s daring, albeit flawed, gambit, as it represents a true return to the series they love.Like many of the 3D platformers that populated the shelves of your local game store during the previous two console generations, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time revolves around exploring wide open, cartoony locations. Set missions funnel you through the game, but like any good title in the genre, there’s plenty to do beyond merely advancing the story. Much of Sly 4’s draw is provided not only by its great cast of characters and compelling worlds to scour, but by the fact that you can put as much or as little into it as you want. You can just take in the story, or you can explore each and every nook and cranny of a map to find little rewards. The latter play style will obviously draw in those looking for some bang for their buck, but it’s safe to say that even the main story taken on its own is worth the price of admission. The game isn’t difficult and rarely provides a true challenge, but it’s still great for both kids and adults.Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time’s story is silly – nonsensical, even – but the characters surrounding the plot will quickly draw you in to the experience. Sly is as dashing and cunning as ever. His best friends, Bentley the tech-savvy turtle and Murray the oversized pink hippo, round out the core squad, and the constant exchanges between these three are laugh-out-loud funny. Their dialogue is expertly written and the voice acting is superbly done. Expect to chuckle often, whether Bentley is making fun of Sly’s strange sense of humor, Murray is talking about himself endlessly in the third person, and more. It’s not every day a game comes along that can make you laugh; Thieves in Time does so with regularity, and it’s what I love most about the game. Its commendable quirks – from a humorous one-liner to a goofy enemy design – are around every corner.A cast of new characters enter the fray in Thieves in Time, rounding out its story and giving players a slew of fresh faces to fall in love with. Paramount among them is the game’s antagonist, a thieving skunk named Le Paradox. Le Paradox, in a feat of time traveling madness, has set his eyes on relics from the past in order to bring him fame and riches in the present, and it just so happens that he’s targeted very specific items owned by some of Sly Cooper’s ancestors. Shockingly (or not), Sly is drawn in to the intrigue when it’s clear that these thefts have hit very close to home. This requires him to make quick work of Le Paradox’s cast of goons, from a rapping, ice skating bear to a frustrated elephant reeling from a failed musical career. In other words, vintage, over-the-top Sly Cooper.Sly’s ancestors – ranging between a bumbling cave man and a skilled ninja to a sharp-shooting old westerner and a smooth-talking knight – constitute all-new playable characters for you to experiment with. Furthermore (and perhaps more importantly), traveling to these ancestors’ native times and meeting them will give Sly access to new outfits that will grant him special skills on the fly. Sly’s Renaissance-based ancestor will give him archery skills, allowing Sly to use arrows to hit far away switches and connect distant areas with ropes, while traveling to ancient Arabia will allow Sly to slow down time, giving him an edge both in battle and while platforming. Platforming can be frustrating from time to time, especially due to occasionally wonky camera angles and Sly’s emphasis on old-school mechanics: you still have to jump towards a rope, pillar or spire and then press circle to land on it. But Sly’s hodgepodge of new costumes – and hence moves – keeps things fresh and fun, even if it’s built over a style of game that’s admittedly archaic.In a game that rarely emphasizes (or even encourages) combat outside of boss battles, learning new skills gives players different ways to interact with the game’s various environments. Exploration and dodging confrontation is often the name of the game in a Sly Cooper adventure (even as you’re robbing your foes blind), so while you can openly explore environments with Bentley, Murray or even Sly’s sometimes-girlfriend Carmelita, you’ll likely find the most gaming pleasure out of playing with Sly himself, as he provides the most versatility. Regardless of your character preference, however, when you consider that all five of Sly’s ancestors are playable, plus Sly and his friends, you’re looking at an impressive roster of nine totally unique playable characters in Sly 4 by the time you reach the endgame.As each of the game’s five core territories are uncovered, it will quickly become clear that there are certain things that can’t be done and certain areas that can’t be accessed. With moves learned in the future (sometimes literally), Sly and his friends can travel back to a previous location to see and do everything. Even though Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time has a robust story delivered linearly, with a bunch of missions in each area, territories can be explored non-linearly. There are a bunch of collectibles to find – bottles, masks, treasures and the like – and finding everything will keep you very busy apart from the narrative itself. The more time you sink into the game, the more you can extract out of it. In this sense, the game provides a great balance, as well as a fantastic stick-drawn carrot that keeps you plunging further and further into the digital ether, but only if you really want to (and I suspect you will).Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time takes full advantage of Sony’s commendable Cross-Buy program; it’s available for both PS3 and Vita, and you get both for the price of one. Better yet, that price isn’t $60, but $40, making Sly Cooper – pardon the totally intentional pun – an absolute steal. Saves can be transferred seamlessly between the PS3 and Vita via dedicated cloud saving, and the games play pretty much identically on both platforms. It is worth noting, however, that the Vita version of the game takes a noticeable graphical hit; indeed, the game is far more at home on the PS3 in nearly every conceivable way. But no matter which version you play, you’ll be dealing with Thieves in Time’s heinous load times, which are completely inescapable and easily represent Sly 4’s most glaring technical problem. You’ll also have to deal with the occasional bout of motion controls on both platforms, something seemingly ripped out of 2007, and something that suggests a subtle tone-deafness in terms of modern game design.