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[RetroGamingUK]

It’s occurred to me that Ape Escape recently turned 25 and there was no thread for it.

So here’s a thread to celebrate the best platformer on the PS1 and Sony’s greatest platformer series (until Astro Bot came out anyway).

Anyway, enjoy some delicious drum ‘n’ bass

 

[SkylineRKR]

Ape Escape is one of the best platform games I have played, and Astro Bot actually has this same vibe going on. The overall interface, music is very similar. And ofcourse the objective in both games.

I hope for a new Ape Escape for a while now. Though you could argue Astro Bot vills this void. At least bring AE3 to PS5.

 

[struggler_guts]

Only played the first one but it holds a special place in my heart.

Gameplay was hard as fuck for little child me but that sound design was on POINT

 

[emivita]

Ape Escape 1 is still my favourite also because of the nostalgia factor, but 3 has the best minigames (Mesal Gear Solid is fire).
Also AE1 has the best OST:





According to an interview I read the other day, Nicolas Doucet and Team Asobi all love Ape Escape, but they can't see themselves working on a new game because they're completely focused on Astro Bot now.

 

[nial]

Guys, if we played Apes on the Loose in Astro Bot, we know that a new game by Team Asobi is inevitable.
If it's not happening this gen, then it will in the next one.

 

[AV]

I was a big PS1 3D platformer kid, Crash and Spyro are two of my favourite franchises ever and I still replay 1-3 of each every few years, but for some reason Ape Escape just wasn't popular whatsoever where I lived in the UK. Nobody owned it, only ever saw it in magazines and just assumed it was shit for years because I didn't know anyone who cared about Ape Escape.

Played it for the first time as an adult and was staggered, it not only holds up well today, but the stuff they do with the analogue sticks on a platform where that was rarely ever a thing was super interesting to see for the first time.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I was a big PS1 3D platformer kid, Crash and Spyro are two of my favourite franchises ever and I still replay 1-3 of each every few years, but for some reason Ape Escape just wasn't popular whatsoever where I lived in the UK. Nobody owned it, only ever saw it in magazines and just assumed it was shit for years because I didn't know anyone who cared about Ape Escape.

It was one of only a few games that mandated the use of Dual Shock which meant that at the time of release at least half of PlayStation owners would have needed to buy a new controller to play it.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

That soundtrack fucking slaps.

 

[CamHostage]

One of my favorite PS1 experiences was the original Ape Escape. Great core mechanics of puzzly platforming and 'hunting' fun, lots of crazy gadgets to experiment with, and a zany spirit to the character design and gags.

...I have no idea why that spirt didn't carry on for me (and most gamers, it seems) for the sequels. Never played them, they just didn't catch my interest in the time they came out. (There were supposedly some weird design choices people weren't sure about in those, if I remember right? Also, I never saw them do anything in video super exciting the way AstroBot has visual pizzaz.) I'm sure if I gave them a chance now, I'll find out how much fun I could have had, so I've got to do that some day.

I think maybe the Ape Escape franchise just had trouble showing its value because it's so based on control mechanics rather than visuals and level design? Like, I look at Astro Bot or Puppeteer or stuff like that and think, "Wow, I want to play that," while many of the Saru Getyou games just make me go, "Oh, that's a funny monkey!"

 

[Power Pro]

I played Ape Escape 2 the most, so that's my favorite. Some people hated it, but I always liked how Jimmy and Natalie have the same voices as Ash and Misty from Pokemon That's part of the reason I hatttteee the version that's on PS4, because they had to use the Pal version which has completely different voices and they sound soo wrong to me, just made it unplayable cuz it was so distracting.

I really the gameplay of these games though, and do really wish we had a new one after playing Astro Bot.

 

[Holammer]

Fun games, but they are hopelessly in the past now. It's horrible to play them today when ours brains are hard-wired to control the camera with the right stick. I play Ape Escape 3 now and then, every time it feels like learning to walk again.
That said, series is one of my top picks for a new game/remake with modern controls. But I fear Aki's fabulous bewbs would disappear in the current year.

 

[Power Pro]

I knew some PS4/PS2 games didn't run right on PS5, but man...I tried booting up that version of Ape Escape 2, and it has a bunch of visual glitches.

 

[CamHostage]

Wanted to give a little love (although it's not all totally founded love) to the Ape Escape spin-offs...

In the PS2/PSP era (and a bit in the PS3 period,) they used the series as a 'mascot' foundation for a bunch of experiments and genre goofs that I thought at the time was a good use of the brand... I kind of wish they did more with them actually, as they could have really pushed experimental play with dual sticks and motion sensing and cameras and everything else available, IMO. Also, many of these games never left Japan. Still, they did some notable side-games with the monkeys.

PSP was the biggest beneficiary of Apes at the time (naturally so, as the handheld's success in Japan and manageable-yet-powerful/versatile specs let Japan Studios go wild in a golden age of the division.) In addition to the remake of the first game (which was a little misguided since it didn't have dual sticks, but it is what it is,) they made a racer called Saru Get You: Pipo Saru Racer (neat idea of 'wheeler' apes with wheels attached to their feet like Kineticas and the ability to stretch/squash/2wheel, although it seems so slow!, two Ape Academy minigame collections, a serialized RPG called Ape Quest (which I thought was a great idea and had fun design but kind of petered out before getting great,) and an Ape Escape 3 companion game SaruSaru Big Mission where you control a helmet instead of a character and platform by mindjacking apes to use their special abilities.

Ape Escape also toyed around with the EyeToy and PS Move, which was something I personally thought was a promising use of its kooky concepts and experimental spirit. (Yet never Ape Escape VR!) EyeToy: Monkey Mania had 50 camera-based minigames for kids and parties, and PlayStation Move: Ape Escape was kind of a rails-shooter/bopper with Ape Escape gadgets to toy with.

And then PS2 had its own additional Ape Escapes, including the two party-style minigame collection/quests (Pumped and Primed and Million Monkeys, only one of which left Japan,) as well as, of course, the quietly-named yet wildly conceived Ape Escape 2001, a monkey-pants vacuuming game.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

1 is the best, has an insanely good soundtrack too. 2 and 3 are good too but never jived with them as much, they seemed to lose a little bit of the edge.

 

[TexMex]

So depressing that this version of Playstation is dead. I'd love to see the response to Astro turn the tide, but I know it won't.