Reviewed: August 8, 2003
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Ubisoft

Developer
Sony Computer Entertainment

Released: July 1, 2003
Genre: Platform
Players: 1
ESRB: Everyone

9
7
7
7
8.6

Supported Features:

Ape Escape 2 is the much anticipated sequel to the original Ape Escape created for the original PlayStation back in 1999. The original was more of a “great experiment” to prove the usefulness of the, then new, Dual Shock controller. Ape Escape was the first and only game to make specific use of the twin analog sticks for quite some time, and even though we take the Dual Shock for granted today, Ape Escape 2 remains just as inventive as it was four years ago.

While most gamers demand a plethora of new features and innovative content in their sequels, Ape Escape 2 manages to remain fresh and original despite a lack of anything other than some visual upgrades and expanded content, truly a testament to the originality of the first game. Everything you loved about the first game is back along with new characters, gadgets, hundreds of collectibles, and even more of those delightful little monkeys.

The sequel takes place after the first game so those who played the original will appreciate the few story ties that are brought up in the opening movie. In this adventure you play as Jimmy, a young boy with a monkey on his back – actually a chimp on his shoulder…somebody stop me! You are joined by the bossy Natalie and are put in charge of the professor’s lab. Naturally there is a screw-up and hundreds of special helmets are accidentally transported along with the normal shipment of monkey pants (don’t ask).

The evil Specter (no you didn’t kill him in the first game – villains never die) returns to lead a new monkey revolution along with five powerful boss monkeys. It’s up to you to travel to the various worlds and capture all the monkeys using your trusty net. The simplistic gameplay and the admittedly childish visual design might scare off the older teens and adults, but make no mistake about it, this game is tougher than it looks and a total blast to play.

Many of the gadgets are still heavily geared toward use of the Dual Shock. The Running Hoop is a prime example since you must spin the right analog stick to swirl the ring around your waist much like a hula-hoop. Combat and netting monkeys is also perfectly suited to the twin sticks and it even reminded me a bit of Robotron. You can move in any direction and swing your stun club or net or aim your radar in any other direction independent of your movement.

It’s a great control scheme that allows you unparalleled precision. If a monkey or any of the numerous enemies you encounter approach from any direction you have the ability to attack in that direction without having to turn your character first. One thing that did take getting used to was jumping with the R2 button, but this is a necessity due to the mapping feature of the face buttons.

The way the face buttons work is that you can go into your inventory and select any four of your gadgets and assign them to a face button. This means you have instant access to any item with a single button press then you can fire or use that item with the R1 button. L1 centers the camera and L2 goes into first-person view so you can scan the area. L3 will have Jimmy go into a crawl position so he can sneak up on unsuspecting monkeys. Some are so fast you can only catch them by surprise. I’ll admit, the controls take a bit of getting used to but once you master them it all becomes second nature.

No platform game would be complete without collectibles and in the tried and true tradition of Mario you get to collect gold coins…hundreds…thousands of gold coins then spend them back at your base to buy all sorts of bonus items like artwork, music, comics, and even some education tidbits that even managed to teach me some new things – who new that some plants have blood types?

Levels are designed around the premise of having to capture a requisite number of monkeys, usually one or two less than the total monkeys on that level. This introduces one of my first and only real complaints with the game. As soon as you hit that required monkey number you are whisked away to your base. This means you have to return to that world to pick up the remaining monkeys. It’s not a huge deal but it is annoying and the fact that the hub automatically switches to the next level means you have to manually select the previous world before warping.

On the plus side, since you will be returning to each level at least twice you will collect plenty of coins, as these are replenished each time you revisit a world. Levels are relatively small compared to most platform games. They are more like arenas than anything else so you can explore them quickly and thoroughly. The challenge is more on locating the monkeys and then capturing them.

There are 20 levels and they all have a specific theme that dictate the visuals including the costumes the monkeys might be wearing. It’s all terribly clever stuff that reminded me of the witty level designs of the old GEX games. These are all tied into a central hub that Natalie has rebuilt from her own room and turned into your headquarters.

The HQ is your main menu and is presented in a clever 3D environment. You can wander around this single large room and stand on a variety of pads to access your save games, enter a training sim (monkey holo-deck) to test you newest gadgets, scan the bookshelf and read up on any unlocked information, play any of the unlocked music tracks, or read up on any captured monkeys. You can also spend your coins in the giant gumball machine then smash the giant sphere that rolls out like a piñata to claim your randomly generated prize. There is even an arcade setup to let you play the mini-games like Monkey Dance, Monkey Soccer and Monkey Climber that you can unlock in the main game.

Monkeys will become increasingly sneaky in disguising themselves and hiding in the environments. They also come in various colors (pants), which indicates their speed and difficulty. Monkeys in the early levels will go quietly but later in the game they will take up arms and fight back. Keep an eye on that cookie (health) meter. Monkeys also have additional stats like hunger, alertness and aggressiveness that dictate their actions.

You can read up on these stats after they have been captured but that info doesn’t do you much good then. Instead, you can scan them with your Monkey Radar and hit L2 to get the details. I suppose this info could be used to your advantage, but I seldom took the time to read up on my quarry before pouncing with my net.

One thing of particular interest is the unique name and quote for each of the 300 monkeys in Ape Escape 2. That’s right, every one of these suckers has a name, personality, and quote and they all tend to spoof movies, TV, or other pop-culture references in some form or another. I could list a few dozen of my favorites but I’ll let you experience them firsthand.

Boss battles are quite challenging and contrast the difficulty of the normal game levels. Like any good boss battle you need to learn the patterns and secret to defeating each of the five boss monkeys. The level or arena you fight each monkey in also comes into play and can be used to form your combat strategy.

Even though the monkeys all look the same undressed (no, I’m not some monkey-peeping pervert) once they put on a costume they take on a unique personality. I had to laugh when trying to capture the matador monkey in the Spanish village and he was waving the red cape like a real bullfighter and that’s only one of hundreds of examples.

Character design has a definite anime style to it and Jimmy looked remarkably like Spritle from Speed Racer - perhaps it was the Chim Chim monkey on his shoulder. Whether you are looking at humans, monkeys, piggy banks or any of the other enemies you need to bash and smash, everything is colorful, charming, and a total delight to watch.

I was a bit annoyed with the sluggish camera. You have no real control other than the auto-center button so you can often find yourself walking into the camera until the game decides to spin it around for you. In the fast-paced nature of capturing monkeys, this can often be detrimental.

The music is delightful and there are dedicated tracks for each level. You can also unlock these in the gumball machine and play them in the jukebox. Again, this isn’t next-gen material but more of an homage to the classic tunes of the old 16 and 32-bit gaming era. You might catch yourself humming along to a few of the better selections but most will merge harmlessly into the background right where they belong.