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Ape Escape PSP Impressions ???

O

ourumov

Member
I have only read the poor Famitsu review but nothing more...people seems to have totally skipped this game when it comes to comments and I want to know if it is so bad as Famitsu claims.
I had a lot of expectations on this...Being a platfformer lover this was gonna be my fix for a lot of months !
 
Have you played the original or sequel on PSOne/Two?

Great games, both of them - so if you haven't played either, and the PSP version is at least an accurate port, then I'd snap it up.
 
I played them but only for an hour or so (AS1 and AS2)...I enjoyed them. But I don't see people jumping of joy about the PSP one. I even mailed Dcharlie to hear some impressions but everybody seems busy playing Wipeout !
What a pitty I am not a fan of the series ! Ridge Racers forever !
 
Only one review seems to be up at Gamerankings, and it's poorly written. Doesn't even say anything about the controls.

I hope it doesn't have the same voices as the second one. Incredibly irritating :\
 
honestly I think its just overshadowed by new entrants in popular franchises (wipeout, RR)

Plus its a port and a lot of people will have played it first time around.

But if you like platformers you'll love AE1. My second favourite platformer after Mario 64.

The only question is how well it handles the shift from two to one analog sticks.
 
Don't know if it's the case but you could use both the D-PAD and A-PAD at the same time...At least my thumb can reach both of them...the lower half of the thumb controls the A-PAD while the upper one controls the D-Pad. Just an idea...Dunno if this is the case.
 
BTW, can you please stop talking about it? I just checked on IGN, and it seems slightly different from the PSOne version. Now I'm getting interested...
 
There was an informative little feature about this on the OPM demo disk. Namely explaining how in the hell they're going to pull off the f'ing awesome controls of the game sans Dual Shock.

I dunno, it's a retread of familiar ground; and part of the charm of the franchise is it's amazing use of the Dual Shock. Were it not for Ape Escape, I would still be using an arcade stick for everything.
 
I got it for $20 today and have only slunk about oh...10 minutes into the first couple levels.

Controls haven't been a bother at all. Nub handles movement, d-pad does camera (though pointless given the L-trigger snap/first person functionality) and even without a second stick, swatting monkeys is no different from most other 3D action games involving sword swinging, just walk up and strike.

I skipped all the cinemas to jump right into level 1, but the loading is kinda rough. Probably a half dozen movies/introductions to work past just to get there, each with a several second load screen to gaze at in between.

Game looks pretty nice though, vibrant and improved over the old dog of '99. It's no Wipeout, or Darkstalkers(What a beauty THAT game is on this thing...and might I add, I can do fireballs) but it is the exact same game...or at least the first 2 levels, less the fog, texture stitches, and crude polys that I seem to recall and am likely way off base on.

I don't see any reason as of yet to avoid if you really want to do some light platforming on the PSP.
 
I got it yesterday using that EB trade-in deal. Only played the first three or four levels, but I was disappointed. The controls weren't very good. Reminded me a lot of struggling to play Mario 64 on the DS. You move with the nub, dpad adjusts the camera, R sneaks, I think L is camera snap, and your gadgets are mapped to the four face buttons. When you hit a button you swing the gadget in whatever direction your facing. It doesn't work terribly well, but maybe I just haven't adjusted to it yet - more often than not I'd whack a monkey with the baton (or whatever it's called), then try and net him, but I'd miss completely. Not nearly as fun or intuitive as playing it on a Dual Shock, but, again, maybe I just haven't adjusted to the change yet.
 
It's just the otaku inside me...Not really, just that so far I have bought 2 JP PSP games and well, I want to keep the trend...I don't think I might have problems with the Japanese in Ape Escape...Anyways those latest reviews are making me doubt...
 
I have it and like it... You do notice the fact the you cannot control the net like you used to be able to, but the game is great fun besides... Plus, it is Ape Escape! How could you pass up a chance to support such a classic platforming franchise?
 
The game controls perfectly fine without a second analog stick. I don't think the controls are the real issue for lower scores so much as it is that the game is a straight-up Playstation port. I don't see anything new added; at least Mario 64 DS got new playable characters, some new areas, etc. There's really no need for impressions; if you want the PSX game on a portable with slightly remapped control, you'll enjoy it. It's nothing new.

Ourumov, are you sure the Japanese scores you were looking at were for this game? Don't forget that there was a Saru Getchu Mario Party-style game at PSP launch with some terrible load times. I've found that a few people interested in the game have had them confused.
 
CVXFREAK said:
Is Ape Escape PSP the exact same game as the PSone game, even graphically?
Click to expand...

It's been years since I last played the original Ape Escape, but it looked about the same to me. Some smoother textures here and there, but not a drastically different change from PSX to PSP from what I remember.
 
CVXFREAK said:
Is Ape Escape PSP the exact same game as the PSone game, even graphically?
Click to expand...

The only differences I noted in my playthrough (outside of cleaner non-warping textures and reconfigured controls) were an enemy encyclopedia and all new minigames. No new locales or monkeys.
 
I picked it up this weekend. The controls aren't a problem, yet they are noticeably different. Like when you get in the raft, you just point where to row instead. I kind of miss the little things like that, but the game is otherwise intact.

It seems to me that the graphics were cleaned up significantly. The old one looked pretty rough at points on the old PS1. This one doesn't have the swimming textures and poly tearing.
 
Lyte Edge said:
The game controls perfectly fine without a second analog stick. I don't think the controls are the real issue for lower scores so much as it is that the game is a straight-up Playstation port. I don't see anything new added; at least Mario 64 DS got new playable characters, some new areas, etc. There's really no need for impressions; if you want the PSX game on a portable with slightly remapped control, you'll enjoy it. It's nothing new.

Ourumov, are you sure the Japanese scores you were looking at were for this game? Don't forget that there was a Saru Getchu Mario Party-style game at PSP launch with some terrible load times. I've found that a few people interested in the game have had them confused.
Click to expand...
I think Famitsu gave it a 29 or so...there was a review a week ago or so...I believe this was for the new Ape Escape and not the party one released in December.
 
I've played through the first 5 or so levels, and have to say I love it. Like many have said already, if you've played the PSOne version to the end then you could propably skip it. But if you haven't, and would like to play a solid, great controlling, (if you compare it to other platform games, not its PSOne brother) funny platform game, pick it up. The music is good and the monkeys are hilarious. (Love the load screens.)
 
It looks like the PS1 version on an emulator. It's sharp, but not amazing looking.

The controls are bad. You can't swing items horizontally, which makes it harder to catch / beat monkeys.

The loading is surprisingly awful.

The game is still Ape Escape, though. It's worthwhile if you havent played it, I guess, but really, getting Ape Escape 2 on PS2 would be a zillion times better.
 
There are monkeys riding on the backs of sharks.


Can you say that about any other PSP launch title (well... except Ridge Racer)?
 
I picked it up --- it does the job, very crisp translation of the PSone title but just that, no real graphical newness ... just like running an ApeEscape emulation at 60fps

One analog stick -- but it made me realize that the game never truely needed to use both of them --- there's just a window of control for whatever direction when you use an item, and it works just fine.

not outstanding in any way - but a faithfull port
 
dark10x said:
Does it really run at 60 fps?
Click to expand...

from what I can tell, yea --- it's hard to tell 60fps on the PSP since the screen ghosts so much, but the game is really bright and vibrant and the backdrops move by really smooth -- it's easily above 30fps, and there's no tearing so I'd say it's 60fps.

Edit: actually, I just got RR and now I see what 60fps looks like :lol Ape Escape does seem a little past 30
 
Speaking of Ape Escape 2, I saw a used copy going for $15 when I picked up the PSP version. Maybe I'll do a swap if I can't find Spikeout.
 
sportzhead said:
Wrong, just hold down the button and rotate the analog nub.
Click to expand...

How do you run while you're doing this then? I haven't even tried it, since the level I played was such a turn off...
 
The character always paused in his step when he swung right?

on the PSP you click your active button on whatever gadget - as you swing there's a window of opportunity for your aim, very arcade-like and it honestly hasn't compormized gameplay one bit based on as far as I've gotten (2 hours?)
 
Yea I don't remember being able to move while rotating the sword around. Just like the original you can keep rotating in place to do a special whirl attack. Same goes for the net.

The radar and raft are pretty different now. Radar just auto locks onto any nearby monkeys without having to manually aim it. Raft just sorta controls like a tank.

Game definately seems to be in the 30fps range. Load times are dumb.
 
excellent game, control Is good, graphics are definately better than It's psone conterpart. The only negatives IMO Is the load times and some graphical clipping.
 
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