Previews

The PlayStation 2 fave hops, skips and jumps (ninja-style of course) on to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita at last in Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time; a game that not only features a racoon as a hero and a turtle and a hippo as your sidekicks but also offers up incredible value for money...

We're loving the concept - pay once, get two games. Well, two versions of the same game - one for your PS3 and a code to download the full game on to your PS Vita too so you can keep playing from your last PS3 save while on the move (thanks to the cloud, dude). It's one of the first examples of what SONY has been banging on about in its ads of late - that you can play anywhere, anytime. On the bus, on your lunchbreak, on the toi[That's enough - Ed]

Sly himself has been skiving off work for nearly eight years now; his last third-person outing, the PS2-powered Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves now a distant, creaky memory. He's back though in this all-new HD instalment that sees our whiskered thief jumping, creeping and time travelling his way across five different eras as he fights to save his ancestors.

Ancient Japan, Medieval England, the Wild West and more are featured, offering a myriad of hub-based, imaginative levels to enjoy while most importantly, the usual cast of Sly favourites are all present and correct plus there's a host of new ones - from cigar-loving tigers to rapping grizzly bears, the series' trademark humour is back and as demented as before.

And as usual, it's those eclectic characters that maketh the game. Sly's chums Bentley and Murray are as funny and endearing as ever, love interest Inspector Carmelita Fox is hot on Sly's tail again, and then there's the racoon's ancestors themselves who you get to meet and actually play with.

Framing these rich creations is typical Sly gameplay - a mixture of platforming and stealth action. While you can spank the nearest enemy, it's still refreshing to know that you can creep through a level without actually having to fight anyone (apart from the odd boss); all while trying not to giggle at the often laugh-out loud script and ridiculous scenarios - have you ever seen a hippopotamus performing in a geisha show? Thought not - Spearmint Hippo, anyone?

Sly Cooper then mixes classic platforming packed with new characters and a smart cloud-based system that lets you get the most from your gaming systems. And if this kind of crossover is the future, you can count us in, SONY. Roll on PlayStation 4.