Ape Escape
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the first game in the Ape Escape series. For other titles and spinoffs in the series, see Ape Escape series.
| Ape Escape | |
|---|---|
 Game cover for the Platinum UK release. |
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| Developer(s) | SCEI |
| Publisher(s) | SCEA |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, PlayStation Portable |
| Release date | JP June 24, 1999 NA May 31, 1999 EU July 2, 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone |
| Input methods | DualShock |
Ape Escape is a platform game for the PlayStation, which launched a series of the same name.
Ape Escape was first released in North America on May 31, 1999, and shortly after Japan under the name Saru! Get You! (サルゲッチュ Saru Getchu?), on June 24, 1999. Ape Escape was created and found by Kenkichi Shimooko. The Pipo Monkeys are also mascots of Sony; Ape Escape was the first game on the PlayStation to require use of the DualShock controller. Electronic Gaming Monthly rated it an 8.75/10
Ape Escape was one of the most successful Playstation One Games made. It was also rated higher on average than following entries in the Ape Escape franchise.[citation needed] A port for PlayStation Portable was released in 2005 as Ape Escape: On the Loose and got a review rating a lot lower than the original game. Reviewers listed that one of the main reasons was "It was difficult to play with all new controls and that made a lot of problems such as, Jumping and to control the camera".
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[edit] Plot
Ape Escape tells the story of a monkey by the name of Specter that comes into ownership of a Peak Point Helmet (Pipo Helmet), which greatly increased his intelligence but also gave him evil intentions. He obtains helmets for the less intelligent monkeys (not identical to his own) to assist him in his plan for world domination by travelling through time, and it's up to a young boy named Spike/Kakeru, with the aid of the Professor/Hakase - the original inventor of the Peak Point Helmet - and his granddaughter (known as Natalie in the U.S. version, Katie in the UK version, and Natsumi in the Japanese version), to chase them through time and capture them all. He must also rescue his friend (known as Jake in the U.S. version, Buzz in the UK version, and Hiroki in the Japanese version), who has been brainwashed into being Specter's slave.
Spike/Kakeru travels through various places in time, from the Dinosaur Ages to the Age of the Celestial Empire, in order to catch Specter's legion of apes. He also runs into the hypnotised Jake/Hiroki during his adventures, and must defeat him in bonus levels that involve racing to complete an obstacle course.
Spike/Kakeru soon comes to the Present Day, where Specter and his monkey army have retreated due to their failed attempts to rewrite history. After defeating him at his factory, where he is trying to create more Peak Point Helmets, and the TV Tower, Specter creates a malevolent theme park, where he challenges Spike/Kakeru to find his imprisoned friends, the Professor/Hakase and Natalie/Katie. Spike/Kakeru finds Jake/Hiroki along the way and defeats him in a final battle, then races to a large castle, which takes off into space. In a final effort, he traverses through the castle and Spike/Kakeru finds Specter, who before the fight, tries to persuade Spike/Kakeru into being his slave, now that Jake/Hiroki has been turned to normal. He shoots a blue ray at him, delivering the boy pain, and tells him that if he doesn't surrender, "this pain shall last into eternity." However, Spike/Kakeru disobliges, and destroys the barrier surrounding him, making Specter flip out of his chair. Spike/Kakeru then tells Specter that "power alone isn't the true strength, or something like that..." as he tries to regain himself, meaning that it takes more than power to win the fight. Specter, however, is furious with Spike/Kakeru, and then hops into a large robot to destroy him. (The robot would later be known as the Goliath Armor). Spike/Kakeru destroys the robot, but Specter escapes. The castle floats back down to Earth, where Spike/Kakeru is reunited with his friends.
But the battle is not over yet. Specter is found again, hiding in a mysterious dimension called the Peak Point Matrix. After rounding up all the remaining monkeys, Spike/Kakeru travels there and engages Specter in a one-on-one final battle. Spike/Kakeru finishes the battle by catching the villain in the Time Net, ending his evil crusade.
[edit] Characters
Spike/Kakeru - The main protagonist. Spiky red and yellow hair. He is somewhat cocky, but always is willing to help out. He goes through several dangers as he captures all of the Monkeys.
Jake/Buzz/Hiroki - Spike/Kakeru's friend. Blue spiky hair and a more laid-back attitude. In the UK version of the game, he is known as Buzz.
Specter - The main villain. An albino monkey with an altered Pipo Helmet (Peak Point Helmet). He is extremely intelligent, overconfident, and has psychic abilities.
Professor/Hakase - After the Pipo Monkeys invade his laboratory, he is tied up by one of the monkeys and his helmets are stolen. After Spike/Kakeru rescues him and Natalie/Natsumi, they both agree to create gadgets to aid Spike in his quest to capture all of the Monkeys.
Natalie/Katie/Natsumi - The Professor/Hakase's assistant. After every stage (Except for a few) she counts the monkeys you capture and congratulates you. Not much is know about her.
[edit] Gameplay
Ape Escape was the first PlayStation game to fully require the use of both control sticks to play (one needed to purchase a DualShock controller to play this game, as the original PlayStation controller would not work). The right stick is used in many different ways, such as aiming and swinging weapons. Players can have four items equipped at once, on the X, Square, Circle and Triangle face buttons. Unlike some platformers, Ape Escape uses the R buttons to jump.
At the very beginning of the game, Spike is hurled into a level set in the dinosaur age. After completing this level, where Spike learns the basics of the two primary gadgets and catches a handful of monkeys, he is transported to the Time Station, the hub of the game. There are four sections in the station:
- The Warp Screen: Players choose the level to play from here.
- Load/Save Screen: Players can save their progress or load a separate game from here. They can also access the Monkey Book, which records all the monkeys that players have captured.
- Training Room: Here, players can access previously completed training levels for each specific gadget that they have obtained.
- Minigame Room: Players can play minigames they have unlocked by collecting Specter coins here (see Minigames section).
[edit] Gadgets
Ape Escape has several gadgets, which each have their own unique function. Spike's primary gadgets are the Stun Club and the Time Net, which are often used to subdue and catch apes, respectively. Throughout the game, Spike will acquire more gadgets that will be useful to him in the next world, and are often needed to get some of the apes in earlier levels. When a new gadget is obtained, players are dropped into a training level, where the basics of controlling the gadget are learned and practised. These levels can be revisited in the Training Room (see above). A complete list of all the gadgets follows:
- Time Net: The most important gadget; used to catch monkeys.
- Stun Club: Used to hit monkeys and enemies with a regular melee attack. The Stun Club will be used more than any other gadget next to the Slingshot, the Dash Hoop, the Propeller and Time Net. Is somewhat reminiscent of a lightsaber.
- Water Net: Used to catch monkeys in water. It is automatically switched to when Spike dives into water, and does not need to be assigned to a button; no other gadget can be used underwater.
- Monkey Radar: Locates monkeys in the level. Turning the right analog stick will turn the radar. When it is turned toward a monkey, it makes a high-pitched noise and turns red. The closer Spike is to a monkey, the higher pitched the sound will be. You can use this to see its name and other statistics (see Monkeys section).
- Slingback Shooter (Slingshot): Use to hit monkeys, enemies and buttons that are out of range. Spike can shoot normal, explosive or guided bullets.
- Super Hoop (Dash Hoop): Spike must spin this around his waist to achieve a supercharged burst of speed. It's used to hit particularly fast enemies and monkeys and to solve puzzles.
- Sky Flyer (Propeller): Enables Spike to rise up into the air and reach high-up places or glide across large canyons. Continuously rotating it will keep Spike up longer, but he will eventually float back down to the ground.
- RC Car: Spike can direct this through small gaps to subdue monkeys and press buttons in a location out of accessibility. It constantly regenerates if it is accidentally destroyed.
- Magic Punch: Only found after defeating Specter, this can be used as a much stronger melee attack, as opposed to the Stun Club. It can break strong boxes and walls that the Stun Club cannot.
[edit] Monkeys
Each monkey in Ape Escape has a unique personality, with a name and description, seen as a "Data File". Players can view this on "Monkey Cam", a feature of the Monkey Radar gadget that is used in-game by pressing the L2 button when pointing the radar towards a monkey. After the monkey is caught, its Data File can be read in a log book, called the Monkey Book, accessed from the main hub of the game. These names often hold many humorous jokes and pop culture references. For example, a monkey named Kubrick is described as one who "enjoys thrillers". Each monkey also has three fields of skill: Speed, Attack and Alert, all of which are ranked out of five. This combines to a level of difficulty, which is also denoted on the File.
An amusing yet useful feature of the monkeys is that their pants can tell the player the main traits of their personality by use of a color code. For example, a monkey with red pants would be a strong attacker. Players can use this to employ the best strategy to use in order to catch the monkey. The complete code is shown here:
- Yellow: Average monkey. It usually attacks with its fists, but sometimes fiddles around with a laser gun. No obvious weakness.
- Red: Strong attacker, so avoid close combat. Besides using its fists, it carries weapons.
- Blue: Incredibly fast runner.
- White: really good awarness, they know when you are close even when you are no where near them
- Green: Sharp vision; can spot Spike from a long distance and shoot homing missiles.
- Black: Extremely dangerous and hostile; wields a gun and wears sunglasses. Extremely inaccurate with weapons.
- Light blue: Gentle and very sensitive. It can hide in very hard places to look.
In accordance with the storyline, each monkey wears a Peak Point Helmet that boosts its intelligence. The flashing light on top of the headgear actually tells the player the current mood of the monkey. A blue light means that it is calm, a yellow light means that it is on alert, and red means that it has spotted Spike and has become aggressive. If the helmet on the monkey is flashing he/they know that Spike is in the area, but don't know exactly where.
[edit] Minigames
Throughout the game Spike collects Specter coins, large treasures with the antagonist's likeness printed on them. When he collects a certain number of these, he can unlock minigames to play in the Minigame Room. They are:
- Ski-Kidz Racing: (Requires 10 tokens) Players use a unique control scheme to compete in skiing races, either against AI or another player. They are able to choose from main characters of the story to play as. The left and right analog sticks are designated to corresponding skis.
- Specter Boxing: (Requires 20 tokens) Players compete in tournament, training or 2-player modes using a similar control scheme to Ski-Kidz Racing, using both sticks to control the fists of a monkey-boxer.
- Galaxy Monkey: (Requires 40 tokens) An arcade game very similar to the hit arcade game Asteroids, players control a flying saucer (with a monkey in the cockpit) to destroy enemies. The left analog stick controls movement and the right stick directs and shoots lasers.
- PocketStation Minigame: Ape Escape was one of the few games for the Sony PlayStation that was compatible with the PocketStation (available only in Japan). Players could access this minigame by inserting a PocketStation into the PlayStation's memory card slot. This only worked in the Japanese version of the game (Saru! Gettchu!).
[edit] PSP version
A PlayStation Portable port was released as Ape Escape: On the Loose in North America, Saru Get You P! (サルゲッチュP!) in Japan and Ape Escape P in Europe. It was developed by SIMS and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released in March 17, 2005 in Japan, March 22, 2005 in North America and May 5, 2006 in Europe. In North America, it was one of the system's launch titles. It features 2-player minigames that can be wirelessly played between 2 PSP systems. It is one of the first titles for the PSP Greatest Hits collection in the U.S.
One key difference between On the Loose and the original Ape Escape (apart from the new aspect ratio, 16:9) is that this game can only be played with one analog stick. Also, the R shoulder jump button was replaced with the crawl action, and the jump button is now the x button, meaning the amount of Gadgets the player was allowed to have at once was reduced from 4 to 3. The first unlockable minigame was also changed. The PS1 version was Rocket-ski racing, and you used both analog sticks to control the appropriate ski, making it a somewhat unique form of racing. In the PSP version, since there is no second analog stick, The Skis were changed to a Snowboard, making it less original. The tracks were also changed to a Slalom over the original Circle circuit. In addition, the European version isn't a port but a remake, made to resemble the American version of the original PS1 game.
[edit] See also
- Ape Escape series
- Ape Escape (TV series), an animated series
[edit] External links
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