Ape Escape
Monkeys. I love 'em, you love 'em, we all love 'em. They are so funny and goofy that videogame companies tend to like videogames based on them. They are usually big successes because of the marketability of the characters. Nintendo knows this. Just look at the whole Donkey Kong thing. I think it's about time Sony caught up, enter Ape Escape. Perhaps in an attempt to shove it the big N's face they make the object of the game to capture those zany monkeys. But the biggest thing about this platformer is the use of the Dual Shock. The game was designed specifically to take full advantage of the contoller. It uses all ten buttons including L3 and R3, both analog joysticks, and the directional pad. Eveything just comes together in this game to make the PSX's best platformer to date. Gameplay Gameplay is the main emphasis in Ape Escape. Everything about the game centers on the player having fun. The object of the game is to capture as many monkeys as you possibly can, obviously. To do this you must use all sorts of gadgets to help you along the way. From a remote control car, to a hoola hoop, to a slingshot and a monkey radar, everything you could possibly want to help you catch those crazy critters is in here. It's hard for me not to smile when using the remote control car. Seriously, who expects to use a remote control car when all of those apes are running rampant and you are charged with having to capture them? Every facet of the game is just incredibly tight and well-conceived. Granted, the levels are cliche, levels where dinosuars roam free, an ice level, a water level etc. they just fit so well with the premise of the game that you don't mind playing what seems like the same ice level you have played hundreds of times before. Then there are the mini-games. Ski-Kidz Racing, Specter Boxing, and the Asteroids type space game. The mini-games alone contain bucket-loads of fun. My favorite is Specter Boxing, just think about it, monkeys duking it out, pure genius. Sometimes though, these games get really cheap. Like getting overtaken in the last lap after holding a huge lead in Ski-Kidz Racing, or getting pummeled in the last round of the chamionship in Specter Boxing. It's annoying. The one problem with the gameplay though is that sometime you just don't care. The character you get to control, Spike, is just a little too normal. In a world full of Marios, Sonics, Crash Bandicoots, Crocs, Gexes, Donkey Kongs etc., Spike is just to normal and he lacks much personality. Perhaps it was done on purpose to give the spotlight to the apes, but it sure doesn't make sense. By the way, each of the 200+ monkeys has their own personalities. You can encounter monkeys who are existential philosophers and monkeys who are afraid of heights in the same level. It adds a little to the game and it helps you predict how the monkey would act when you attempt to capture them. Graphics The graphics are what you would expect from the rapidly aging PSX, outdated but a good try nonetheless. I am actually a split on the graphics side of things. While everything looks okay, pretty good by the PSX graphical standards, sometimes even great, it's marred by the draw in distance which is way to close and the amount of slowdown in the game. The draw distance is reminiscent of Silent Hill only the mood of the game doesn't cover it like SH did. Granted it does not affect gameplay much, but when you try to use the slingback shooter at longer distances it really is annoying. The slowdown is a whole other beast. The fog doesn't interfere much with gameplay but the slowdown does way too much. If I want to use the Sky-Flyer to descend from a high place, the scenery just causes the slowest most jittery motion you have seen this side of Turok 2. Seriously, it messes up your timing in places where jumps could cost you a life. Another problem is the camera, I sure do like the ability to see what is going on. I hope developers correct this in the next-generation of gaming because it is what is holding 3D platformers back (ie Sonic Adventure, Gex Enter the Gecko and Deep Cover Gecko, Banjo-Kazooie, and Donkey Kong 64 all suffer from camera problems) The textures suck too. At least Sega is smart enough to have a good way to use textures unlike Sony with PSX and PS2. I would have prefered the flat-shaded polygons found in a game like Brave Fencer Musashi then the texture laden crapfest that this is. If it wasn't for the relatively good character design and special effects I would have given lower on the graphics department. Or maybe I am being spoiled by the PS2 and DC... Even though I have rambled on about the negatives, they are far outweighed by the positives. High polygon charactes and even some good sprite based graphics shine through. Sound The sound is good. Really good. The techno/J-Pop beats work so well with the flow of the game that it seems like the perfect marriage. Everything from the music between levels to, my personal favorite, the music in Specter Boxing is just cool stuff that makes you bob your head. I like it a lot. The sound effects are equally as good. The monkeys sound like they should, funny. Those are the best effects in the game. Spike has some great effects too. The only thing that knocks some points off would have to be the voices. They sound really flat and monotone. Some of them are just a bit contrived too, like Specter's for example. Control The development of the game focused on using the Dual Shock contoller to the fullest extent, therefore the control in the game is good. It uses a Zelda type engine where you assign certain gadgets to certain buttons. The digital pad maves the camera in the specified direction. Push right and it moves right, push up and it moves up, et al. The R buttons make you jump, L1 button centers the camera behind you and L2 gives you free look. The left analog makes you move and the right analog is used to control whatever gadget you are currently holding. L3 and R3 are used depending on the gadget. Clearly, this is the most in-depth, hands-on control scheme to come along possibly ever and it is nearly flawless. The only thing wrong with the control is the same thing that plagued Zelda. You have to constantly keep switching the gadgets around causing frequent stops in actual playtime. Granted, it doesn't bother much but it does take away from the whole experience. The Bottom Line All things taken into account you would not do wrong to pick this game up at all. In fact you should go pick it up because it is an overlooked product that really shouldn't be. If your a fan of the genre make absolutely sure that you have this game in your collection. At $19.99, you can't afford not too. Back to Main Page	Graphics: 8 Sound: 10 Control: 9 Gameplay: 10 Lasting Appeal: 9 Overall: 9.3 (not an average)

Ape Escape

Monkeys. I love 'em, you love 'em, we all love 'em. They are so funny and goofy that videogame companies tend to like videogames based on them. They are usually big successes because of the marketability of the characters. Nintendo knows this. Just look at the whole Donkey Kong thing. I think it's about time Sony caught up, enter Ape Escape. Perhaps in an attempt to shove it the big N's face they make the object of the game to capture those zany monkeys. But the biggest thing about this platformer is the use of the Dual Shock. The game was designed specifically to take full advantage of the contoller. It uses all ten buttons including L3 and R3, both analog joysticks, and the directional pad. Eveything just comes together in this game to make the PSX's best platformer to date.

Gameplay

Gameplay is the main emphasis in Ape Escape. Everything about the game centers on the player having fun. The object of the game is to capture as many monkeys as you possibly can, obviously. To do this you must use all sorts of gadgets to help you along the way. From a remote control car, to a hoola hoop, to a slingshot and a monkey radar, everything you could possibly want to help you catch those crazy critters is in here. It's hard for me not to smile when using the remote control car. Seriously, who expects to use a remote control car when all of those apes are running rampant and you are charged with having to capture them? Every facet of the game is just incredibly tight and well-conceived. Granted, the levels are cliche, levels where dinosuars roam free, an ice level, a water level etc. they just fit so well with the premise of the game that you don't mind playing what seems like the same ice level you have played hundreds of times before. Then there are the mini-games. Ski-Kidz Racing, Specter Boxing, and the Asteroids type space game. The mini-games alone contain bucket-loads of fun. My favorite is Specter Boxing, just think about it, monkeys duking it out, pure genius. Sometimes though, these games get really cheap. Like getting overtaken in the last lap after holding a huge lead in Ski-Kidz Racing, or getting pummeled in the last round of the chamionship in Specter Boxing. It's annoying. The one problem with the gameplay though is that sometime you just don't care. The character you get to control, Spike, is just a little too normal. In a world full of Marios, Sonics, Crash Bandicoots, Crocs, Gexes, Donkey Kongs etc., Spike is just to normal and he lacks much personality. Perhaps it was done on purpose to give the spotlight to the apes, but it sure doesn't make sense. By the way, each of the 200+ monkeys has their own personalities. You can encounter monkeys who are existential philosophers and monkeys who are afraid of heights in the same level. It adds a little to the game and it helps you predict how the monkey would act when you attempt to capture them.

Graphics

The graphics are what you would expect from the rapidly aging PSX, outdated but a good try nonetheless. I am actually a split on the graphics side of things. While everything looks okay, pretty good by the PSX graphical standards, sometimes even great, it's marred by the draw in distance which is way to close and the amount of slowdown in the game. The draw distance is reminiscent of Silent Hill only the mood of the game doesn't cover it like SH did. Granted it does not affect gameplay much, but when you try to use the slingback shooter at longer distances it really is annoying. The slowdown is a whole other beast. The fog doesn't interfere much with gameplay but the slowdown does way too much. If I want to use the Sky-Flyer to descend from a high place, the scenery just causes the slowest most jittery motion you have seen this side of Turok 2. Seriously, it messes up your timing in places where jumps could cost you a life. Another problem is the camera, I sure do like the ability to see what is going on. I hope developers correct this in the next-generation of gaming because it is what is holding 3D platformers back (ie Sonic Adventure, Gex Enter the Gecko and Deep Cover Gecko, Banjo-Kazooie, and Donkey Kong 64 all suffer from camera problems) The textures suck too. At least Sega is smart enough to have a good way to use textures unlike Sony with PSX and PS2. I would have prefered the flat-shaded polygons found in a game like Brave Fencer Musashi then the texture laden crapfest that this is. If it wasn't for the relatively good character design and special effects I would have given lower on the graphics department. Or maybe I am being spoiled by the PS2 and DC... Even though I have rambled on about the negatives, they are far outweighed by the positives. High polygon charactes and even some good sprite based graphics shine through.

Sound

The sound is good. Really good. The techno/J-Pop beats work so well with the flow of the game that it seems like the perfect marriage. Everything from the music between levels to, my personal favorite, the music in Specter Boxing is just cool stuff that makes you bob your head. I like it a lot. The sound effects are equally as good. The monkeys sound like they should, funny. Those are the best effects in the game. Spike has some great effects too. The only thing that knocks some points off would have to be the voices. They sound really flat and monotone. Some of them are just a bit contrived too, like Specter's for example.

Control

The development of the game focused on using the Dual Shock contoller to the fullest extent, therefore the control in the game is good. It uses a Zelda type engine where you assign certain gadgets to certain buttons. The digital pad maves the camera in the specified direction. Push right and it moves right, push up and it moves up, et al. The R buttons make you jump, L1 button centers the camera behind you and L2 gives you free look. The left analog makes you move and the right analog is used to control whatever gadget you are currently holding. L3 and R3 are used depending on the gadget. Clearly, this is the most in-depth, hands-on control scheme to come along possibly ever and it is nearly flawless. The only thing wrong with the control is the same thing that plagued Zelda. You have to constantly keep switching the gadgets around causing frequent stops in actual playtime. Granted, it doesn't bother much but it does take away from the whole experience.

The Bottom Line

All things taken into account you would not do wrong to pick this game up at all. In fact you should go pick it up because it is an overlooked product that really shouldn't be. If your a fan of the genre make absolutely sure that you have this game in your collection. At $19.99, you can't afford not too.

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Ape Escape

Gameplay

Graphics

Sound

Control

The Bottom Line

Graphics: 8 Sound: 10 Control: 9 Gameplay: 10 Lasting Appeal: 9 Overall: 9.3

(not an average)

Graphics: 8

Sound: 10

Control: 9

Gameplay: 10

Lasting Appeal: 9

Overall: 9.3