#Ape escape series
#Ape escape ps2

More games were definitely in the works, but they weren’t rushed out. Most PlayStation owners either owned the games or at least had a favorable opinion of them from playing them at a friend’s house. Because of this it was an instant hit on the PlayStation 2, and even today still sells as a port to the PlayStation 4.īy the mid-2000s, Ape Escape was pretty much a household name. Ape Escape 2 did exactly what a good sequel is supposed to do push the boundaries of the original while largely staying in-line with the format. 2 largely looked, sounded, and controlled like the original, although this time, levels were bigger, Jimmy had better gadgets, and the game was packed with extra unlockable content like new mini-games, comic strips, concept art, music tracks, and more. The set-up was largely the same idea as the first, with the main villain monkey, Specter, escaping from the lab, amassing an army of monkeys with accelerated intelligence thanks to more of those helmets, and Jimmy having to catch them with the help of various gadgets and techniques.

#Ape escape ps2

Ape Escape 2 launched on the PS2 in Japan in July of 2002, and in other territories the following year to the delight of fans all around the world who had been waiting patiently for a sequel to the original. It was just the calm before the storm though.

#Ape escape series

And while countless developers were scrambling to launch their games on the DVD-rom powerhouse as quickly as possible, the Ape Escape series went dark for a couple of years. Right on schedule, the following year would see a much more powerful PlayStation 2 hit the market. As you might expect, checking this many boxes lead Ape Escape to an extreme level of popularity in all major territories, proving that the desire for fun art styles, engaging controls, and unique settings are truly universal among gamers.

The bright vivid levels might have reminded one of Crash Bandicoot or Spyro at first glance, but upone playing Ape Escape, it was obvious that this game was doing its own thing, and other than a few moments where the frame-rate would buckle, the whole thing ran fairly well all things considered. In addition to interesting controls, the game stood out with an equally unique story, setting, and level design. Much like Katamari and other quirky games that do their own thing with Sony’s DualShocks, Ape Escape found its own footing quickly with gamers and critics, in part, because of the distinct input methods. While seemingly odd at first, the control scheme for Ape Escape proved to be highly function and easy to adapt to. Luckily for the game, the Sony PlayStation’s analog sticks were becoming standardized and the popularity of the DualShock would happen to coincide perfectly with the release of the game. The first game in the series was met with immediate success and roundly praised for its creative art style, innovative controls, and just plain addicting gameplay. Little did anyone know that image of a cartoon monkey with those Pipo helmets would live on in our minds for many years to come. Also, a weird little game about super smart time-travelling apes hell-bent on world domination was coming out called Ape Escape. People were checking their email on blackberries, The Matrix was changing action movies forever, and floppy disks were still a thing. But why would that be? Why would a series that has garnered the love and affection of millions of fans over the last 20 years suddenly just dry up? What the hell happened to Ape Escape? Ape Escape had a consistently strong showing throughout the series that spanned all the way from a late PS1 game in 1999 to a PlayStation Move game in 2010, yet, Other than a few cameos in other games like Metal Gear Solid 3 and Ratchet and Clank, we haven’t really seen much from the series in many years.

The unique blend of a wacky story and setting where monkey’s with helmets that accelerate their intelligence, and a very unique, yet surprisingly functional control scheme, makes the series a stand-out even today. Few games can claim the sheer amount of pop-culture stature that the Ape Escape series can.