a sad example of a sequel completely treading water and failing to expand its series concept a single iota. in many ways you could take my ape escape review and just plop it here without anything changed. many of the positives of the original game stemmed from its novelty in the space of 3D platformers and its excellent psx engine that showcased the hardware at its peak. its sequel seems infinitely lazier and less ambitious in comparison, cribbing extensively from the original with little variation and a lot of repetition. not bad, but terribly disappointing.
-all the original gadgets reappear, but the new ones are rather slight lock-and-key affairs that only serve to increase the amount of time you spend menuing to swap them in. the water cannon, bananarang, and magnet each have their own obstacles that can only be solved using them, and in no cases do the developers attempt to expand upon their usage or make legitimate puzzles involving them. lots of "oh the monkey is in a cage labeled with a banana, time to throw the bananarang" and "look a fire pit, time to use the water cannon" etc.
-dunno if I had rose-tinted glasses in the first game or not but good god the controls are stiff and unresponsive here. hikaru has no smooth speed-up and instead jerks into motion at the slightest touch of the analog stick. his first jump has range but is low, and his second jump is high but awkwardly kills all momentum. the sky flyer also feels less fluid than the original, or maybe I'm just misremembering. regardless, precision platforming felt more strenuous this time around, and the devs seem to have taken notice given that they gutted much of the legitimately difficult trials from the original
-level themes are inconsistent and slapdash compared to the mostly focused time-periods schtick of the original. no context for why I'm anywhere doing anything other than just catching more monkeys! the more elaborate interlocking levels of the original are also dumbed down here to mainly linear courses or maybe a loop here or there. might be giving the original too much credit but again I feel like it also did a better job giving monkeys specific challenges rather than just strewing them across the world haphazardly.
-soichi terada is absent this time around and thus the crystalline breakbeat and house of the original is pushed aside in favor of generic and schmaltzy midi abominations that left me with no other choice than to blare podcasts on top of it. going from a game that so perfectly nailed its quirky atmosphere with a polygonal shonen running around catching heavily-armed monkeys with a net all soundtracked by lite-rave blasts and comedown room leads... to this boring happy-go-lucky generic mascot platformer aesthetic that sucks the life out of the experience. dreadful
-ape escape itself is such a flawed design concept that the lack of changes are really striking. I said in the prior review that the right stick is meant for the camera; more specifically trying to triangulate angles between 1) your movement and position on the left stick 2) the angle of attack or object use on the right stick 3) the erratic movement of the auto-cam is actually less accurate than just having the camera on the right stick in the first place. one game (two really with ape escape 2001) should have been enough to prove this, but ape escape 2 blunders along with all of the same issues, inaccuracies, and frustrations of the original. of all the gadgets, the net is now somehow even more annoying because new cinematic swing animations that play randomly (or maybe when the game thinks you have a guaranteed successful catch?) have such severe windup that the monkey can actually simply walk out of your range during it, leading to an embarassing whiff that begs the question of why such an animation even exists.
the game's biggest positive is that at the same time of all of this it is still ape escape and is still a totally competent 3D platformer that I legitimately enjoyed in a brain-dead podcast game way during the middle section. by that point I already knew that the game was a clunker (after playing the first areas and being completely turned off the game for months) and had not quite reached the endgame (which felt utterly perfunctory and totally devoid of any iteration in challenge over the prior levels). bosses are fine too: functionally on-par with contemporaries with easy-to-parse attack patterns. the vehicle areas are simplistic but nice diversions, and thankfully they aren't over-deployed to the point of becoming stale.
ape escape thrives on its cheeky experimental streak, and unfortunately ape escape 2 lacks that charismatic edge to keep the player engaged. I wasn't expecting to see a series with a concept so fresh and flippant trot out the hits so soon in its chronology. somehow not a surprise sony withheld this one from the states for an entire year only to let ubisoft publish it in their stead.
-all the original gadgets reappear, but the new ones are rather slight lock-and-key affairs that only serve to increase the amount of time you spend menuing to swap them in. the water cannon, bananarang, and magnet each have their own obstacles that can only be solved using them, and in no cases do the developers attempt to expand upon their usage or make legitimate puzzles involving them. lots of "oh the monkey is in a cage labeled with a banana, time to throw the bananarang" and "look a fire pit, time to use the water cannon" etc.
-dunno if I had rose-tinted glasses in the first game or not but good god the controls are stiff and unresponsive here. hikaru has no smooth speed-up and instead jerks into motion at the slightest touch of the analog stick. his first jump has range but is low, and his second jump is high but awkwardly kills all momentum. the sky flyer also feels less fluid than the original, or maybe I'm just misremembering. regardless, precision platforming felt more strenuous this time around, and the devs seem to have taken notice given that they gutted much of the legitimately difficult trials from the original
-level themes are inconsistent and slapdash compared to the mostly focused time-periods schtick of the original. no context for why I'm anywhere doing anything other than just catching more monkeys! the more elaborate interlocking levels of the original are also dumbed down here to mainly linear courses or maybe a loop here or there. might be giving the original too much credit but again I feel like it also did a better job giving monkeys specific challenges rather than just strewing them across the world haphazardly.
-soichi terada is absent this time around and thus the crystalline breakbeat and house of the original is pushed aside in favor of generic and schmaltzy midi abominations that left me with no other choice than to blare podcasts on top of it. going from a game that so perfectly nailed its quirky atmosphere with a polygonal shonen running around catching heavily-armed monkeys with a net all soundtracked by lite-rave blasts and comedown room leads... to this boring happy-go-lucky generic mascot platformer aesthetic that sucks the life out of the experience. dreadful
-ape escape itself is such a flawed design concept that the lack of changes are really striking. I said in the prior review that the right stick is meant for the camera; more specifically trying to triangulate angles between 1) your movement and position on the left stick 2) the angle of attack or object use on the right stick 3) the erratic movement of the auto-cam is actually less accurate than just having the camera on the right stick in the first place. one game (two really with ape escape 2001) should have been enough to prove this, but ape escape 2 blunders along with all of the same issues, inaccuracies, and frustrations of the original. of all the gadgets, the net is now somehow even more annoying because new cinematic swing animations that play randomly (or maybe when the game thinks you have a guaranteed successful catch?) have such severe windup that the monkey can actually simply walk out of your range during it, leading to an embarassing whiff that begs the question of why such an animation even exists.
the game's biggest positive is that at the same time of all of this it is still ape escape and is still a totally competent 3D platformer that I legitimately enjoyed in a brain-dead podcast game way during the middle section. by that point I already knew that the game was a clunker (after playing the first areas and being completely turned off the game for months) and had not quite reached the endgame (which felt utterly perfunctory and totally devoid of any iteration in challenge over the prior levels). bosses are fine too: functionally on-par with contemporaries with easy-to-parse attack patterns. the vehicle areas are simplistic but nice diversions, and thankfully they aren't over-deployed to the point of becoming stale.
ape escape thrives on its cheeky experimental streak, and unfortunately ape escape 2 lacks that charismatic edge to keep the player engaged. I wasn't expecting to see a series with a concept so fresh and flippant trot out the hits so soon in its chronology. somehow not a surprise sony withheld this one from the states for an entire year only to let ubisoft publish it in their stead.
This is a NINTENDO-ass sequel man, it sure plays smoother but it can be so overly focus-tested and child-proofed to the point of tedium. This conversation could start at the 'no house music' bullet point but it extends further than that. There's so little meaningful platforming and just a lot of 'use X gadget on this stage gimmick to progress'. The difficulty never expands or escalates in a way that keeps you invested, and the lack of progressional theming from stage-to-stage makes the whole game kinda feel aimless in design. It FEELS at times like it wants to have a consistent 'travel around the world' theme, but it breaks the ordering so often for random gimmick stages that it just fails. Non-ape enemies are a fucking joke this time around too - and I'm glad they're not annoying like in 1, but they overcorrected too hard and made them glorified item containers. There's more bosses here, and they are generally better, but they're also Zelda-ass bosses where you wait for their weak point to be exposed and then hit them three - I'm sorry, SIX???!?!?, - times. These are just a laundry list of tacky nuances that make the game feel tepidly safe instead of the lovingly experimental ambiance and structure of the original. If Ape Escape 1 is McJRPGguy, then Ape Escape 2 is Scrimblo Bimblo
I know this makes it sound like the game is a horrible classless shitshow, but it seriously isn't as bad as I'm making it seem. It was just jarring because kid me had an insane esteem for it and played it nonstop, and that clashed with the expectations 1 set for me internally. It has some good stuff tho, and divorced from 1's high-caliber, it's still one of the better mascot platformers out there. I think there's a lot more spectacle to be had here, given that monkey behaviors and costumes have been expanded tenfold. The dub's genuinely great (US, anyway), with Ash and Misty's VA's being literally perfect for the sibling-like chemistry Jimmy and Natalie have, and Specter's brooding tone makes him sound like a terminally-online teenager. And yeah, although it's at the expense of level design, the moment-to-moment monkey catching is a LOT better here. The stealth and sneaking elements are much more subdued, as monkeys can much more easily detect you. This keeps the gameplay loop in a pretty perpetual state of flow, as you'll seamlessly transition back and forth through dedicated platforming and catching segments. The best of it is in stages where monkey appear in hordes and a well-timed surprise attack can chain-catch all of them in a matter of seconds. The sentai boss team is very endearing too, especially Red who attacks by power bombing an entire ass t-rex into the earth to create a shockwave. Not sure if yellow monkey has aged too well tho :/
But the highlight of Ape Escape 2 isn't even Ape Escape 2 - it's the MONKEY SOCCER BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE AW YEAH LET'S GO SCORE A GOAL ZOOKA THROW-IN, GOTTA CALL IN MY MAIN HOMIES EMMA, MANUEL AND APE-01, SLAM THAT SPIKE BALL RIGHT IN THE GOALIE'S FACE, GET FUUUUUUUCKED
I know this makes it sound like the game is a horrible classless shitshow, but it seriously isn't as bad as I'm making it seem. It was just jarring because kid me had an insane esteem for it and played it nonstop, and that clashed with the expectations 1 set for me internally. It has some good stuff tho, and divorced from 1's high-caliber, it's still one of the better mascot platformers out there. I think there's a lot more spectacle to be had here, given that monkey behaviors and costumes have been expanded tenfold. The dub's genuinely great (US, anyway), with Ash and Misty's VA's being literally perfect for the sibling-like chemistry Jimmy and Natalie have, and Specter's brooding tone makes him sound like a terminally-online teenager. And yeah, although it's at the expense of level design, the moment-to-moment monkey catching is a LOT better here. The stealth and sneaking elements are much more subdued, as monkeys can much more easily detect you. This keeps the gameplay loop in a pretty perpetual state of flow, as you'll seamlessly transition back and forth through dedicated platforming and catching segments. The best of it is in stages where monkey appear in hordes and a well-timed surprise attack can chain-catch all of them in a matter of seconds. The sentai boss team is very endearing too, especially Red who attacks by power bombing an entire ass t-rex into the earth to create a shockwave. Not sure if yellow monkey has aged too well tho :/
But the highlight of Ape Escape 2 isn't even Ape Escape 2 - it's the MONKEY SOCCER BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE AW YEAH LET'S GO SCORE A GOAL ZOOKA THROW-IN, GOTTA CALL IN MY MAIN HOMIES EMMA, MANUEL AND APE-01, SLAM THAT SPIKE BALL RIGHT IN THE GOALIE'S FACE, GET FUUUUUUUCKED
increased amount of monkeys
Ape Escape 2 is pretty much a better, more fluid Ape Escape 1.
The jump from the PlayStation to the PlayStation 2 is really noticeable, the game looks really pretty and has so much variety in environments and many vibrant colors all around!
The voice acting (at least in the American English dub) also saw a massive boost in quality, and featuring some 4Kids voice actors as well, that's nice.
The soundtrack isn't as good as the first game, but there were tunes that I liked, it's just that nothing really stuck out to me unlike last time.
When it comes to the gameplay, not much has changed. There are some new gadgets you receive, and they're fine, most of them situational, and seldom used when you reach the final stages.
The swimming controls have been slightly altered, for the worse, I'd say, because now whenever you accelerate with the R1 button, you automatically go up. Thankfully, swimming is less emphasized here than before, but I still wonder why make those changes.
Outside of that, even though the game has the same number of stages as before, there are now way more monkeys to catch in each, which makes it seem like it's gonna be a longer game, but in reality, a lot of monkeys are close to each other, in groups. There's also a lot of monkeys that blend in to their environment, wearing specific clothes themed around that stage, like a Monkey wearing a lab coat in a lab, for example.
This adds a lot of personality to characters that already had plenty, which I appreciate.
And speaking of monkeys, this game introduces the Freaky Monkey Five, a group of monkeys Specter commands that act as bosses, before you get to Specter, and I very much appreciate their inclusion, since we didn't have many bosses last time, and these are all pretty fun to fight!
Lastly, there's Pipotchi, Jimmy's companion throughout most of the game. He doesn't make much of a difference on gameplay, and sometimes you won't have him in certain stages, for various plot-related reasons, but he can save you in a pinch, whether you're almost falling down a pit or if you ran out of health, and I appreciate that.
Before concluding, I want to briefly comment on the story. There's not much to discuss, as it's kinda similar to last time, just without time travel, and more "Specter being very intelligent by making a laser that makes people not want to resist monkey leadership".
What I find funny is that the whole reason why the story kicks off in the first place... is because Jimmy's a dumbass. Fascinating.
All in all, Ape Escape 2 is, in my opinion, a better, more solid version of Ape Escape 1, even if it didn't had that much to the overall formula.
The jump from the PlayStation to the PlayStation 2 is really noticeable, the game looks really pretty and has so much variety in environments and many vibrant colors all around!
The voice acting (at least in the American English dub) also saw a massive boost in quality, and featuring some 4Kids voice actors as well, that's nice.
The soundtrack isn't as good as the first game, but there were tunes that I liked, it's just that nothing really stuck out to me unlike last time.
When it comes to the gameplay, not much has changed. There are some new gadgets you receive, and they're fine, most of them situational, and seldom used when you reach the final stages.
The swimming controls have been slightly altered, for the worse, I'd say, because now whenever you accelerate with the R1 button, you automatically go up. Thankfully, swimming is less emphasized here than before, but I still wonder why make those changes.
Outside of that, even though the game has the same number of stages as before, there are now way more monkeys to catch in each, which makes it seem like it's gonna be a longer game, but in reality, a lot of monkeys are close to each other, in groups. There's also a lot of monkeys that blend in to their environment, wearing specific clothes themed around that stage, like a Monkey wearing a lab coat in a lab, for example.
This adds a lot of personality to characters that already had plenty, which I appreciate.
And speaking of monkeys, this game introduces the Freaky Monkey Five, a group of monkeys Specter commands that act as bosses, before you get to Specter, and I very much appreciate their inclusion, since we didn't have many bosses last time, and these are all pretty fun to fight!
Lastly, there's Pipotchi, Jimmy's companion throughout most of the game. He doesn't make much of a difference on gameplay, and sometimes you won't have him in certain stages, for various plot-related reasons, but he can save you in a pinch, whether you're almost falling down a pit or if you ran out of health, and I appreciate that.
Before concluding, I want to briefly comment on the story. There's not much to discuss, as it's kinda similar to last time, just without time travel, and more "Specter being very intelligent by making a laser that makes people not want to resist monkey leadership".
What I find funny is that the whole reason why the story kicks off in the first place... is because Jimmy's a dumbass. Fascinating.
All in all, Ape Escape 2 is, in my opinion, a better, more solid version of Ape Escape 1, even if it didn't had that much to the overall formula.
The best version of this game is the one with the NTSC dub where you have Veronica Taylor and Rachael Lillis just using their Ash Ketchum and Misty voices like this is an episode of Pokemon while Dan Green is both the Professor and Spike. Trust me, hearing Ash Ketchum's voice while you're finding the monkeys and, let's be real, catching 'em all really enhances the experience and there's no better reward for beating the game than seeing Spike appear in an ending cutscene and he just sounds like Yami Yugi. 5/5 best 4Kids dub ever.
Excellent game. As someone who thinks Ape Escape is the bets platformer of all time, I am glad I played this game because it is fantastic.
Caught all monkeys and it was a blast. Lot of variety in the levels, unfortunately only a couple of new gadgets, only 1 of us which was fun to use (the magnet)
Music was great, graphics and performance were great.
Only reason this is a 9 and not a 10 for me is because this felt like more of the same of the 1st game but not as grand, and the story was not as personal-feeling as Spike's story. Whole thing felt like a big expansion pack which was a slight letdown but I still had a LOT of fun with this one. Love what you unlock for getting all monkeys, worth maybe another playthrough sometime soon for that alone.
See you on Poinie's Poin.
Caught all monkeys and it was a blast. Lot of variety in the levels, unfortunately only a couple of new gadgets, only 1 of us which was fun to use (the magnet)
Music was great, graphics and performance were great.
Only reason this is a 9 and not a 10 for me is because this felt like more of the same of the 1st game but not as grand, and the story was not as personal-feeling as Spike's story. Whole thing felt like a big expansion pack which was a slight letdown but I still had a LOT of fun with this one. Love what you unlock for getting all monkeys, worth maybe another playthrough sometime soon for that alone.
See you on Poinie's Poin.
more monke
It's more ape escape, which considering how much I liked the first game really isn't a problem whatsoever. The core gameplay of using the dualshock sticks to catch various monkeys is primarily the same, as well as the tools and gadgets also mostly being the same, it's all-around a pretty safe sequel.
The game still has its signature level of wacky style to everything, I particularly like the new boss troupe - the Freaky Monkey Five, as both a goofy exaggerated sentai parody and as a set of boss fights. There's also a gacha machine that gives out collectibles ranging from goofy dev screenshots to bizarrely morbid fairytale parodies. There's even full 16:9 widescreen support, which is crazy for an '02 PS2 game. My only gripes with the game is that some of the later levels can be a bit too long and linear for the type of collectathon this series tries to be as well as the fact you basically HAVE to replay every level if you want the true ending as the post game adds bonus monkeys to every level like its mfin green stars from mario galaxy 2.
From the way everything is designed and presented, it really felt to me like the devs were having a lot of fun making the game. Like the first Ape Escape, the game wears its Japanese origins with pride to make a good time. (sidenote: kinda strange how the ape escape series is like the only largely talked about jpn-developed 3D platformer for the playstation brand, you'd think there'd be more from the PS1 and PS2 era). The game doesn't really reinvent the banana, but it didn't really have to in the first place.
Also the USA localization of the game is deadass dubbed by the same voice directors and cast as the 90's Pokemon anime, guess ash and misty can add monkeys to the things they have to catch all of
It's more ape escape, which considering how much I liked the first game really isn't a problem whatsoever. The core gameplay of using the dualshock sticks to catch various monkeys is primarily the same, as well as the tools and gadgets also mostly being the same, it's all-around a pretty safe sequel.
The game still has its signature level of wacky style to everything, I particularly like the new boss troupe - the Freaky Monkey Five, as both a goofy exaggerated sentai parody and as a set of boss fights. There's also a gacha machine that gives out collectibles ranging from goofy dev screenshots to bizarrely morbid fairytale parodies. There's even full 16:9 widescreen support, which is crazy for an '02 PS2 game. My only gripes with the game is that some of the later levels can be a bit too long and linear for the type of collectathon this series tries to be as well as the fact you basically HAVE to replay every level if you want the true ending as the post game adds bonus monkeys to every level like its mfin green stars from mario galaxy 2.
From the way everything is designed and presented, it really felt to me like the devs were having a lot of fun making the game. Like the first Ape Escape, the game wears its Japanese origins with pride to make a good time. (sidenote: kinda strange how the ape escape series is like the only largely talked about jpn-developed 3D platformer for the playstation brand, you'd think there'd be more from the PS1 and PS2 era). The game doesn't really reinvent the banana, but it didn't really have to in the first place.
Also the USA localization of the game is deadass dubbed by the same voice directors and cast as the 90's Pokemon anime, guess ash and misty can add monkeys to the things they have to catch all of
CERTIFIED CHIMP CLASSIC.
This is the DMC2 of Ape Escape, and I genuinely stand by it
I was about to write out a long ass review for this game, but then I realized I can sum it up in a sentence: "Ape Escape 2 is a game that tries to ape Ape Escape 1, but manages to do it worse in almost every way." That isn't to say the game is bad. The game is still amazing and one of the best 3D platformers out there (speaks to how great this series has been so far).
However, Ape Escape 2 did some things better. Stuff like the gachapon prizes cranked the game's charm up to 11 (the monkey fables are honestly goated). The minigames are much more playable this time around, with Monkey Soccer probably being one of the best things to ever exist. I also noticed that some of the monkey colors were made more distinct (with Red becoming a close range brawler instead of being a better Black for example), though Light Blue and White became a lot more in line with Yellow. The addition of non-colored gimmick monkeys was also really cool.
However, Ape Escape 2 does some things worse than the original that I feel outweigh the benefits. Levels are fun, but there isn't really any cohesive theming between levels or sets of levels like in Ape Escape 1. This combined with a somewhat duller palette and less setpieces (I'd like to mention the christmas tree in one level that made my emulator drop from 60fps to 40) makes the levels overall more forgettable. In addition, the levels felt a lot more linear on average. Sure, this isn't a unique thing to Ape Escape 2. 1 had linear levels, and the first two present day levels were easily my least favorite in part due to this. However, 2 has longer linear levels, and yes, they do loop around, usually at the end of the level though past the monkey threshold needed to beat the level, meaning the shortcuts don't really matter until you are going through the stage for the remaining monkeys (I will give the game credit for that, otherwise 100% is a bitch lol). Also, the three new gadgets are hyper-situational, and would go unused by me if the game didn't force me to use them in such a contrived way.
The game's still good, but not as good as Ape Escape 1
However, Ape Escape 2 did some things better. Stuff like the gachapon prizes cranked the game's charm up to 11 (the monkey fables are honestly goated). The minigames are much more playable this time around, with Monkey Soccer probably being one of the best things to ever exist. I also noticed that some of the monkey colors were made more distinct (with Red becoming a close range brawler instead of being a better Black for example), though Light Blue and White became a lot more in line with Yellow. The addition of non-colored gimmick monkeys was also really cool.
However, Ape Escape 2 does some things worse than the original that I feel outweigh the benefits. Levels are fun, but there isn't really any cohesive theming between levels or sets of levels like in Ape Escape 1. This combined with a somewhat duller palette and less setpieces (I'd like to mention the christmas tree in one level that made my emulator drop from 60fps to 40) makes the levels overall more forgettable. In addition, the levels felt a lot more linear on average. Sure, this isn't a unique thing to Ape Escape 2. 1 had linear levels, and the first two present day levels were easily my least favorite in part due to this. However, 2 has longer linear levels, and yes, they do loop around, usually at the end of the level though past the monkey threshold needed to beat the level, meaning the shortcuts don't really matter until you are going through the stage for the remaining monkeys (I will give the game credit for that, otherwise 100% is a bitch lol). Also, the three new gadgets are hyper-situational, and would go unused by me if the game didn't force me to use them in such a contrived way.
The game's still good, but not as good as Ape Escape 1
Ape Escape 2 (2002) is a video game in which several monkeys wearing pajamas try to escape from a secret laboratory in which a professor makes cookies that the kids just crave! three stars
I still can't believe they changed Spike for Little Jimmy ;-;
man i love monkeymon
Ape Escape 2 is a neat collectathon that once again applies the concept of having the items you need to collect being living entities, those being Apes of course.
The game includes a couple of neat features, such as an interesting combat system where your weapons depend heavily on your joystick movement. If you move it upwards your baton will point forwards, if you make slashing movements left and right then the baton will slash, and if you spin it then you and the baton will spin, it's a truly creative and unique system that I don't even see modern games coming close to utilizing much. The gadgets you can earn during the game also hone in on the system, mostly by requiring you to rotate the joystick to do something such as fly or hula hoop. I do think some of the gadgets are a miss though, the magnet one only leads to trivial waiting segments whilst the hose one just wastes time and has no real gameplay use.
Each level of the game brings about some nice variety, at one point you'll be at a lovely beach resort, whilst another time brings you to a martial arts dojo high in the mountains. Each comes with some great music as well, making this one of the most varied soundtracks on the PlayStation 2 Accompanying the variety of stages is the variety of Apes to collect, whilst there are quite a few normal apes, there are usually at least 2 or 3 per world that is truly special and worth catching. Some of them ride giant robots, some of them have incredible hiding spots, and of course, some of them even fight you in boss battles. The bosses for the most part are both pretty easy and fun, though I heavily disliked the one before the final boss.
Overall, I think Ape Escape 2 is a pretty solid game that shows an interesting take on collectathons. If you end up playing it and enjoying it, I would also recommend going into the 3rd game as well, which takes the same formula to even greater heights.
The game includes a couple of neat features, such as an interesting combat system where your weapons depend heavily on your joystick movement. If you move it upwards your baton will point forwards, if you make slashing movements left and right then the baton will slash, and if you spin it then you and the baton will spin, it's a truly creative and unique system that I don't even see modern games coming close to utilizing much. The gadgets you can earn during the game also hone in on the system, mostly by requiring you to rotate the joystick to do something such as fly or hula hoop. I do think some of the gadgets are a miss though, the magnet one only leads to trivial waiting segments whilst the hose one just wastes time and has no real gameplay use.
Each level of the game brings about some nice variety, at one point you'll be at a lovely beach resort, whilst another time brings you to a martial arts dojo high in the mountains. Each comes with some great music as well, making this one of the most varied soundtracks on the PlayStation 2 Accompanying the variety of stages is the variety of Apes to collect, whilst there are quite a few normal apes, there are usually at least 2 or 3 per world that is truly special and worth catching. Some of them ride giant robots, some of them have incredible hiding spots, and of course, some of them even fight you in boss battles. The bosses for the most part are both pretty easy and fun, though I heavily disliked the one before the final boss.
Overall, I think Ape Escape 2 is a pretty solid game that shows an interesting take on collectathons. If you end up playing it and enjoying it, I would also recommend going into the 3rd game as well, which takes the same formula to even greater heights.
Ape Escape and Metal Gear technically share a universe
I've been sitting on this for about three years now, immediately beelining to it after finishing the first one. I always try and goad myself into properly finishing it before moving onto 3, but at this point, my drive to press on have evaporated, and despite only playing a quarter of the total package and in general being a short romp, I'm fine labeling it one of the biggest disappointments I've ever experienced here and now.
Pang has said much about my grievances, especially in regard to how the first few gadgets you pick up are posited as lock-and-key items instead of meaningful kit extensions, but I'll throw a few of my own quibbles:
- I dunno who at the studio decided the emphasis on boss fights was necessary, but it's one of the biggest signs that Nintendo's Three Strike rule should not be used for everything. Bosses weren't standout in the first game anyway, but it's somehow worse in this one since not only were the tells in the two fights I faced obnoxiously obvious, but there's just. So much goddamn waiting. Even middling Zelda bosses knew when's the best time to give the opening.
- Environments are way too boxy for my liking. First game, even after the tutorial, had you navigating different rooms and elevations to sell you on the locale you're tasked with. Here, that only started to happen about thrice, with every other level I've had being mainly flat terrains with little deviation to explore. Of my points, this is the one I'm willing to yield the most on. Maybe the design does get better, and it's just an unfortunate growing pain.
- Holy shit the controls. In my brief time playing this, I've whiffed more ape captures than in my entire duration of the predecessor. Any sense of weight and momentum is gone, instead replaced with a stupidly stiff movement and an uncomfortable sense of spring of the swings, which leads a little more credence that letting the player mess around and grow comfortable with 'grounded' movement is better in situations such as this one. The only satisfying part is how the double jump system operates; one jump clears horizontals, the next culls it to trade it for verticals. Also, somehow the camera's regressed in between games, but I'll admit it was still like... tolerable.
- Not gonna mention the OST downgrade since I don't take that much stock onto ratings as others do (but I will very much agree regardless), so instead I just want to say none of the game's more cutesy sounding bytes really did much for me. I'm not even sure why, it isn't totally different. Maybe the presentation boost is messing with me? I dunno.
I know some will see this and say "hey, you only played about a quarter of the game, you should really just play more of it before dropping!" or something to that effect. Understandable as this sentiment may be, and as staunch and stubborn as I typically am when it comes to doing something, I genuinely just can't myself to care with this one. Completely flabbergasted how this part of Japan Studio's offices went from making one of the best platformers ever at the twilight of the PS1's years, to an awkward and very "testing the waters" followup right around the time the PS2 was settling onto its footing. Hoping 3's better, and since I know a friend that had the exact feelings I'm facing be rather positive in what they've played of the sequel, maybe it's indeed the case.
Pang has said much about my grievances, especially in regard to how the first few gadgets you pick up are posited as lock-and-key items instead of meaningful kit extensions, but I'll throw a few of my own quibbles:
- I dunno who at the studio decided the emphasis on boss fights was necessary, but it's one of the biggest signs that Nintendo's Three Strike rule should not be used for everything. Bosses weren't standout in the first game anyway, but it's somehow worse in this one since not only were the tells in the two fights I faced obnoxiously obvious, but there's just. So much goddamn waiting. Even middling Zelda bosses knew when's the best time to give the opening.
- Environments are way too boxy for my liking. First game, even after the tutorial, had you navigating different rooms and elevations to sell you on the locale you're tasked with. Here, that only started to happen about thrice, with every other level I've had being mainly flat terrains with little deviation to explore. Of my points, this is the one I'm willing to yield the most on. Maybe the design does get better, and it's just an unfortunate growing pain.
- Holy shit the controls. In my brief time playing this, I've whiffed more ape captures than in my entire duration of the predecessor. Any sense of weight and momentum is gone, instead replaced with a stupidly stiff movement and an uncomfortable sense of spring of the swings, which leads a little more credence that letting the player mess around and grow comfortable with 'grounded' movement is better in situations such as this one. The only satisfying part is how the double jump system operates; one jump clears horizontals, the next culls it to trade it for verticals. Also, somehow the camera's regressed in between games, but I'll admit it was still like... tolerable.
- Not gonna mention the OST downgrade since I don't take that much stock onto ratings as others do (but I will very much agree regardless), so instead I just want to say none of the game's more cutesy sounding bytes really did much for me. I'm not even sure why, it isn't totally different. Maybe the presentation boost is messing with me? I dunno.
I know some will see this and say "hey, you only played about a quarter of the game, you should really just play more of it before dropping!" or something to that effect. Understandable as this sentiment may be, and as staunch and stubborn as I typically am when it comes to doing something, I genuinely just can't myself to care with this one. Completely flabbergasted how this part of Japan Studio's offices went from making one of the best platformers ever at the twilight of the PS1's years, to an awkward and very "testing the waters" followup right around the time the PS2 was settling onto its footing. Hoping 3's better, and since I know a friend that had the exact feelings I'm facing be rather positive in what they've played of the sequel, maybe it's indeed the case.
Finally got to the last remaining Ape Escape game I had left in the series after finishing the original and 3 earlier this year. It's still Ape Escape, so it's a very pleasant experience, though I can't help but feel... sufficiently whelmed, to say the least.
Let's start with the positives. The leaps in graphical fidelity are very noticeable here; I was having a bit of trouble adjusting to how blocky Ape Escape 1 looked at times (with textures that seemed to vibrate), and in general the graphics have held up much better, with much smoother character models and surfaces as well. The increase to 60 FPS helps a ton too with general movement and game feel, and the controls feel quite a bit more responsive as well; for example, precision jumping feels a lot easier to achieve, and the Sky Flyer activation felt a lot more consistent in Ape Escape 2 as compared to the original (or at least it felt that way to me, rotating the right stick to activate the Sky Flyer did not feel as excruciating this time around). Note that most of this isn't so much a knock at the original Ape Escape as it is pointing out just how giant of a difference the game felt and looked with three years inbetween. You've also got more movement and attack options in general, such as a ground pound and a dive. Following from this, catching the monkeys and engaging in combat in general feels much less clunky; while I kept running into instances where the monkeys' hitboxes kept outranging my net in the original, I can't recall any egregious instances of this happening in 2. You've got both the frames and the movement/attack options to outrange most of the monkeys and deal with them accordingly (color coded for your convenience), and while it's not perfect because some of the monkeys have odd attacks (the love gun's entire beam lingers for some reason and the missiles fired by green monkeys will often catch you off guard with how suddenly they are fired at times), you can generally outsmart them when you play your cards right (i.e. using your hoop to knock down blue monkeys and sneaking up on unsuspecting white pants monkeys) instead of having to hope for the best with an all-in shakedown. It's nice having a larger variety of gadgets that just feel cleaner to use; the Water Net has smoother diving/surfacing controls, the Slingback Shooter has more intuitive aiming with instant camera snap (and smoother reticle scrolling), and the Sky Flyer as mentioned before isn't as frame tight and is generally easier to work with. I didn't even have any issues using the vehicles this time around (which were a general source of frustration for me in both of the other games); I was able to move around the Pipobot like a normal human being (one joystick moves, the other joystick attacks), the snowmobile while uninteresting controls pretty smoothly, and even the tank and boat were solid enough experiences once I took my time to carefully plot out my path.
Now, I'll nitpick a little bit more here because at this point, my expectations for the Ape Escape series have really risen after how much fun I've had with the games in general. As with most 3D platformers, the first point of contention is usually the camera. It's already much smoother in Ape Escape 2 as compared to the original (at least I didn't have to fight off screen UFOs this time around), but it'll still have the occasional issue where trying to chase monkeys in tight spaces while walking towards the camera will cause the angles to uncomfortably shift up and down, disorienting you while you hunt down monkeys in these nooks and crannies. This gets further complicated because the monkeys will sometimes randomly dodge or jump out of the way of the net (and the wind-up animation of the net side swing does not help here either). Fortunately, you can get away most of the time by just using L1 to snap the camera's direction towards the same direction as Jimmy's sight, but this isn't always perfect and sometimes the camera will fail to completely adjust to the right perspective. This is definitely a more prevalent issue during certain sections where you need to walk across tightropes; there's no "snap" in Ape Escape 2 where your character will suddenly slow down and carefully creep as soon as you approach the zone of danger on the tightrope where you could fall off. So, if you don't have that camera lined up well for a straight shot across the tightrope, you may have a bad time and fall off suddenly unless you're really good at adjusting your angle of movement on the fly. This fortunately isn't a huge deal most of the time, but those instances where this will occur will leave a mark on you.
I'll nitpick the gadgets as well (and just after I finished praising them for being functional too!). Certain gadgets get used more than others, as is just par for the course because you ultimately will rely a lot upon the net for catching monkeys, the beam saber for dealing damage/destroying objects, and the Sky Flyer for more precise jumps and additional height. So... why not just have those binded to hotkeys (present from the start, for the beam saber and Time Net and added on for the Sky Flyer once that's obtained)? This wouldn't be so much of an issue if quick select (a convenience feature present in the Japanese version, where you can just mash a single symbol button to quick scroll and select a new gadget from your list of already obtained gadgets) was present, but is seemingly missing from PAL and USA versions, so you have to press Start, scroll to the Gadgets menu, and swap them out every time you need to use the magnet/water cannon/banana-rang for its one instance before swapping to other gadgets. Thankfully Ape Escape 3 brings back the sorely missed quick select feature, but I can't help but feel that there's missed potential in expanding features for gadgets... for example, they could have made the magnets attract enemy missiles and then when released, fire them back, or use the water cannons to short circuit certain robots or stuff laser attacks. It's unfortunately a bit of an issue with the series in general with this "lock & key" model and adding little wrinkles to the gadgets here and there would have gone a long way in expanding how one can approach the levels and monkeys.
This is just my opinion here, but I also feel that Ape Escape is a little bland in terms of atmosphere compared to its predecessors. The original Ape Escape has a banging soundtrack that I've put on for work/study in the background many times by now... I can't really name any tunes that stood out to me in Ape Escape 2's OST however, even though the soundtrack felt serviceable as is. The story (and in a sense, the level aesthetic) also doesn't feel as absurdly funny as the other two games. In the original, you've got this mastermind monkey who's gained access to time travel to manipulate history as he sees fit, and he and his monkey gang have laid their mark upon stretches of civilization and primordial landscapes to take over society as we know it. Similarly, Ape Escape 3's premise is my favorite dumb premise of all time; the monkeys have created their own version of Hollywood, with the goal of creating reproductions that are so absurdly dogshit, that they will brainwash television watching humans with how dogshit their productions are. Now compare these two to Ape Escape 2's premise, where in a nutshell, Spectre's able to raise up another army because Jimmy is incompetent and... they spread their monkey army across various landmarks/countries and are big chillin. Yeah, that's about it, really.
And finally, to cap off how I feel about the somewhat less engaging atmosphere, the levels don't really have that same absurdist design to the same extent of the other two games, or at least it doesn't feel different enough from the original. Ape Escape 1's got volcanos, the ice age, stone ruins versus imperial temples and dojos, the inside of a primordial beast, the horrors of modern office buildings and skyscrapers... you name it, they've got it. Ape Escape 2 more or less follows this same exact trend and adds a desert level too I guess. That's not to say that it's bad level design, it just doesn't feel distinctly different enough from the original to leave much of a mark on me. Compare this again with how Ape Escape 3 took a different spin on this by throwing dumb monkey reproductions and movie sets into all these different environments, and you'll see what I mean. While I'm nitpicking the levels, I'll also take this time to bring up parts of the last 2 levels as a minor complaint; there are at least two sections where all you do is use your magnet gadget to latch onto magnetic moving platforms, and wait until the platform carries you over to the next platform where you can latch onto another platform, and so on so forth. This is probably the least engaging section that I experienced in the game in general, and could have been removed altogether or replaced with anything else and have been a significant improvement, though even with these I fortunately found the last two levels to be much less of a slog than Ape Escape's final level, as ambitious as that was. To add on to another complaint by others, some of the boss battles feel a bit too simple and by the books as compared to Ape Escape 3's very over the top and batshit crazy fights with tons of fun to abuse super powers/forms. Oh, and spending a ton of time just vending random items from the gacha machine felt kinda lame and somewhat time consuming as compared to the little market in Ape Escape 3. At least the monkey fables were funny!
Despite all my pointed criticisms though, I understand that at the end of the day, Ape Escape 2 is still a fairly solid game when I think of the overall picture; it made significant improvements to the original formula thanks to better performance and more polished mechanics, and despite lacking in notable moments and aesthetic when I compare it to the other two games, it's nevertheless a very cozy 3D platformer to sit and play through; it's a great "turn your brain off" comfort food kind of game, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It speaks volumes that I had to push through to finish parts of the original at times (my monkey brain just couldn't get used to some of the jank I suppose) but I was able to finish Ape Escape 2 no frills in a few sittings over the course of four days. Does it match the peaks of Ape Escape 3? No, and you should still absolutely play that over this because Ape Escape 3 is one of the most regarded games of our time. But Ape Escape 2 will still give you that fuzzy little feeling in your heart when you just want something to mess around with in your favorite dumb video game series for a week. Oh, and if you play the NTSC version, Veronica Taylor (Ash's voice actor) voices Jimmy while Rachael Lillis (Misty's voice actor) voices Natalie, so you get to pretend that you're playing a better Pokemon game, quite literally catching em all!
I'll say it again... Sony, please bring back Ape Escape. I've never been happier as a gamer with your recent PC releases and PS5 titles, so what's one risk taken to bring back a beloved fan-favorite? It took me a while to get my feet wet, and now that I've taken the plunge, consider me a lifelong fan of the series. I'm gonna miss these wild antics... but if Klonoa can make a comeback, then maybe there's a chance for these monkes.
Let's start with the positives. The leaps in graphical fidelity are very noticeable here; I was having a bit of trouble adjusting to how blocky Ape Escape 1 looked at times (with textures that seemed to vibrate), and in general the graphics have held up much better, with much smoother character models and surfaces as well. The increase to 60 FPS helps a ton too with general movement and game feel, and the controls feel quite a bit more responsive as well; for example, precision jumping feels a lot easier to achieve, and the Sky Flyer activation felt a lot more consistent in Ape Escape 2 as compared to the original (or at least it felt that way to me, rotating the right stick to activate the Sky Flyer did not feel as excruciating this time around). Note that most of this isn't so much a knock at the original Ape Escape as it is pointing out just how giant of a difference the game felt and looked with three years inbetween. You've also got more movement and attack options in general, such as a ground pound and a dive. Following from this, catching the monkeys and engaging in combat in general feels much less clunky; while I kept running into instances where the monkeys' hitboxes kept outranging my net in the original, I can't recall any egregious instances of this happening in 2. You've got both the frames and the movement/attack options to outrange most of the monkeys and deal with them accordingly (color coded for your convenience), and while it's not perfect because some of the monkeys have odd attacks (the love gun's entire beam lingers for some reason and the missiles fired by green monkeys will often catch you off guard with how suddenly they are fired at times), you can generally outsmart them when you play your cards right (i.e. using your hoop to knock down blue monkeys and sneaking up on unsuspecting white pants monkeys) instead of having to hope for the best with an all-in shakedown. It's nice having a larger variety of gadgets that just feel cleaner to use; the Water Net has smoother diving/surfacing controls, the Slingback Shooter has more intuitive aiming with instant camera snap (and smoother reticle scrolling), and the Sky Flyer as mentioned before isn't as frame tight and is generally easier to work with. I didn't even have any issues using the vehicles this time around (which were a general source of frustration for me in both of the other games); I was able to move around the Pipobot like a normal human being (one joystick moves, the other joystick attacks), the snowmobile while uninteresting controls pretty smoothly, and even the tank and boat were solid enough experiences once I took my time to carefully plot out my path.
Now, I'll nitpick a little bit more here because at this point, my expectations for the Ape Escape series have really risen after how much fun I've had with the games in general. As with most 3D platformers, the first point of contention is usually the camera. It's already much smoother in Ape Escape 2 as compared to the original (at least I didn't have to fight off screen UFOs this time around), but it'll still have the occasional issue where trying to chase monkeys in tight spaces while walking towards the camera will cause the angles to uncomfortably shift up and down, disorienting you while you hunt down monkeys in these nooks and crannies. This gets further complicated because the monkeys will sometimes randomly dodge or jump out of the way of the net (and the wind-up animation of the net side swing does not help here either). Fortunately, you can get away most of the time by just using L1 to snap the camera's direction towards the same direction as Jimmy's sight, but this isn't always perfect and sometimes the camera will fail to completely adjust to the right perspective. This is definitely a more prevalent issue during certain sections where you need to walk across tightropes; there's no "snap" in Ape Escape 2 where your character will suddenly slow down and carefully creep as soon as you approach the zone of danger on the tightrope where you could fall off. So, if you don't have that camera lined up well for a straight shot across the tightrope, you may have a bad time and fall off suddenly unless you're really good at adjusting your angle of movement on the fly. This fortunately isn't a huge deal most of the time, but those instances where this will occur will leave a mark on you.
I'll nitpick the gadgets as well (and just after I finished praising them for being functional too!). Certain gadgets get used more than others, as is just par for the course because you ultimately will rely a lot upon the net for catching monkeys, the beam saber for dealing damage/destroying objects, and the Sky Flyer for more precise jumps and additional height. So... why not just have those binded to hotkeys (present from the start, for the beam saber and Time Net and added on for the Sky Flyer once that's obtained)? This wouldn't be so much of an issue if quick select (a convenience feature present in the Japanese version, where you can just mash a single symbol button to quick scroll and select a new gadget from your list of already obtained gadgets) was present, but is seemingly missing from PAL and USA versions, so you have to press Start, scroll to the Gadgets menu, and swap them out every time you need to use the magnet/water cannon/banana-rang for its one instance before swapping to other gadgets. Thankfully Ape Escape 3 brings back the sorely missed quick select feature, but I can't help but feel that there's missed potential in expanding features for gadgets... for example, they could have made the magnets attract enemy missiles and then when released, fire them back, or use the water cannons to short circuit certain robots or stuff laser attacks. It's unfortunately a bit of an issue with the series in general with this "lock & key" model and adding little wrinkles to the gadgets here and there would have gone a long way in expanding how one can approach the levels and monkeys.
This is just my opinion here, but I also feel that Ape Escape is a little bland in terms of atmosphere compared to its predecessors. The original Ape Escape has a banging soundtrack that I've put on for work/study in the background many times by now... I can't really name any tunes that stood out to me in Ape Escape 2's OST however, even though the soundtrack felt serviceable as is. The story (and in a sense, the level aesthetic) also doesn't feel as absurdly funny as the other two games. In the original, you've got this mastermind monkey who's gained access to time travel to manipulate history as he sees fit, and he and his monkey gang have laid their mark upon stretches of civilization and primordial landscapes to take over society as we know it. Similarly, Ape Escape 3's premise is my favorite dumb premise of all time; the monkeys have created their own version of Hollywood, with the goal of creating reproductions that are so absurdly dogshit, that they will brainwash television watching humans with how dogshit their productions are. Now compare these two to Ape Escape 2's premise, where in a nutshell, Spectre's able to raise up another army because Jimmy is incompetent and... they spread their monkey army across various landmarks/countries and are big chillin. Yeah, that's about it, really.
And finally, to cap off how I feel about the somewhat less engaging atmosphere, the levels don't really have that same absurdist design to the same extent of the other two games, or at least it doesn't feel different enough from the original. Ape Escape 1's got volcanos, the ice age, stone ruins versus imperial temples and dojos, the inside of a primordial beast, the horrors of modern office buildings and skyscrapers... you name it, they've got it. Ape Escape 2 more or less follows this same exact trend and adds a desert level too I guess. That's not to say that it's bad level design, it just doesn't feel distinctly different enough from the original to leave much of a mark on me. Compare this again with how Ape Escape 3 took a different spin on this by throwing dumb monkey reproductions and movie sets into all these different environments, and you'll see what I mean. While I'm nitpicking the levels, I'll also take this time to bring up parts of the last 2 levels as a minor complaint; there are at least two sections where all you do is use your magnet gadget to latch onto magnetic moving platforms, and wait until the platform carries you over to the next platform where you can latch onto another platform, and so on so forth. This is probably the least engaging section that I experienced in the game in general, and could have been removed altogether or replaced with anything else and have been a significant improvement, though even with these I fortunately found the last two levels to be much less of a slog than Ape Escape's final level, as ambitious as that was. To add on to another complaint by others, some of the boss battles feel a bit too simple and by the books as compared to Ape Escape 3's very over the top and batshit crazy fights with tons of fun to abuse super powers/forms. Oh, and spending a ton of time just vending random items from the gacha machine felt kinda lame and somewhat time consuming as compared to the little market in Ape Escape 3. At least the monkey fables were funny!
Despite all my pointed criticisms though, I understand that at the end of the day, Ape Escape 2 is still a fairly solid game when I think of the overall picture; it made significant improvements to the original formula thanks to better performance and more polished mechanics, and despite lacking in notable moments and aesthetic when I compare it to the other two games, it's nevertheless a very cozy 3D platformer to sit and play through; it's a great "turn your brain off" comfort food kind of game, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It speaks volumes that I had to push through to finish parts of the original at times (my monkey brain just couldn't get used to some of the jank I suppose) but I was able to finish Ape Escape 2 no frills in a few sittings over the course of four days. Does it match the peaks of Ape Escape 3? No, and you should still absolutely play that over this because Ape Escape 3 is one of the most regarded games of our time. But Ape Escape 2 will still give you that fuzzy little feeling in your heart when you just want something to mess around with in your favorite dumb video game series for a week. Oh, and if you play the NTSC version, Veronica Taylor (Ash's voice actor) voices Jimmy while Rachael Lillis (Misty's voice actor) voices Natalie, so you get to pretend that you're playing a better Pokemon game, quite literally catching em all!
I'll say it again... Sony, please bring back Ape Escape. I've never been happier as a gamer with your recent PC releases and PS5 titles, so what's one risk taken to bring back a beloved fan-favorite? It took me a while to get my feet wet, and now that I've taken the plunge, consider me a lifelong fan of the series. I'm gonna miss these wild antics... but if Klonoa can make a comeback, then maybe there's a chance for these monkes.
Specter is a bitch ass motherfucker
It's Ape Escape, again...just not as inspired. The new gadgets are lame, some of the stages go on a bit too long, and then you get to see a moving platform for the 25th time. The next gen technology benefits in rendering wide, colorful stages, but by the end I just stopped caring. Robbed of the Saru Getchu song in the Western release! Listen to it, it is catchy af!
Enjoyment - 8/10
Difficulty - 2/10
Revisiting a childhood classic. Parts are a little dated, enjoyable nonetheless.
Note to Trophy Hunters - Some trophies are VERY buggy. Play at own risk.
🏆
Difficulty - 2/10
Revisiting a childhood classic. Parts are a little dated, enjoyable nonetheless.
Note to Trophy Hunters - Some trophies are VERY buggy. Play at own risk.
🏆
Ape Escape without Soichi Terada is like an angel without it's wings
I did quite enjoy Ape Escape 1, but it was weird seeing how far the series had gone since then, as I had played 3 beforehand. With this game, I actually wasn't expecting them to get this many improvements down on just the second installment.
The framerate is buttery-smooth. The controls are much more free-flowing and snappy, as are the animations and beautiful graphics. The voice acting is actually quite good this time! There's draw distance this time. Every level felt memorable and breezy, with none of them overstaying their welcome even when they want you to collect so many monkeys later on. The hub world was so much better this time, laying the groundwork for the third game.
This is a miracle of a sequel. I am willing to believe that just Souichi Terada being present would magically make people like this game more, because I am stunned this game has the reputation it does when it's just THIS good. I did think it should've given more opportunities for lives and extra health than getting lucky with enemies or a gacha, and the final level did have some annoying bits... but it still wasn't as agonizing as the first game's elongated finale. I haven't been this happy with a game in god-knows-how-long. Whew boy.
(I'm counting Mastered as getting all the monkeys cuz I am not bothering with all the gacha and mini-games)
The framerate is buttery-smooth. The controls are much more free-flowing and snappy, as are the animations and beautiful graphics. The voice acting is actually quite good this time! There's draw distance this time. Every level felt memorable and breezy, with none of them overstaying their welcome even when they want you to collect so many monkeys later on. The hub world was so much better this time, laying the groundwork for the third game.
This is a miracle of a sequel. I am willing to believe that just Souichi Terada being present would magically make people like this game more, because I am stunned this game has the reputation it does when it's just THIS good. I did think it should've given more opportunities for lives and extra health than getting lucky with enemies or a gacha, and the final level did have some annoying bits... but it still wasn't as agonizing as the first game's elongated finale. I haven't been this happy with a game in god-knows-how-long. Whew boy.
(I'm counting Mastered as getting all the monkeys cuz I am not bothering with all the gacha and mini-games)
This game is like okay but I found it really disappointing compared to the first game. That first one has such a distinct style to it and the mechanics are so fun and the music is incredible. I think Ape Escape 2 is a down grade in about every aspect. The controls are way worse for some reason. It has a really awful jump and gadgets are way more sluggish. Soichi Terada did not come back to score this game and we are left with a really dripless mostly awful score. I also found the levels really tedious. The game loves to give you time waster challenges that just make you wait around for platforms and stuff. I do appreciate how far they went to differentiate all the monkeys here, it is somewhat more challenging to catch them. But the experience didn't really allow that improvement to sing. To put the cherry on top of the shit cake the way you unlock things is absolutely horrible, and I don't know why they thought the gacha ball thing was a good idea. Oh well. I'm looking forward to playing 3.
Ape Escape 2 is more or less the same as the first game, although I don't feel like any of it is better. The level design feels less charming and more bland, the gadgets aren't as good and the controls and momentum feel very stiff to the first game. For those reasons, I really felt like this game dragged. The only thing I feel like is absolutely better in this game are the bosses, I think the bosses in this game are great and the monkey team is fun. This game on its own is fine and it's still fun but compared to the first game I don't think it's nearly as good or charming.
a lesson in fun and diverse level design as well as how to focus your gameplay around varied repetition that never feels stale.
i remember when my uncle bootlegged the japanese version almost a full year before it dropped in the states so i think i get platinum access to gatekeep this game thank u
i remember when my uncle bootlegged the japanese version almost a full year before it dropped in the states so i think i get platinum access to gatekeep this game thank u
the last levels really drag too much but still good
I feel really conflicted on this one. For everything it improves over the first, something cancels it out. It's a better controlling, better structured game but one that never feels as fresh as the OG, whether that be the levels, story beats or anything else. Also, the music is a downgrade in every way and that's something that really made the 1st game stand out to me, so it's kinda a shame on the downgrade.
All in all, this is the better game to play but Ape Escape 1 is the more unique experience of the two, so in the fabled "gun to head" situation, that game would probably be my pick even despite the improvements on offer here.
All in all, this is the better game to play but Ape Escape 1 is the more unique experience of the two, so in the fabled "gun to head" situation, that game would probably be my pick even despite the improvements on offer here.
monkys with hat, monkys with glasses, shy monkys, afro hair monkys, FAT monky, dope ass loking uzi wielding monkys, torero monkys
what if ape escape 1 but less creative and generally more tedious and you spend half the endgame waiting for moving platforms with that godforsaken magnet gadget and also everything is just really boring
Very proud to say that this is the first game I chose to play through on my Playstation 5. This is the first time with Ape Escape and I really love the concept. I can’t really think of another game with a similar gameplay hook like this. Its such an inherently fun concept to just be given a net and your only real objective is to catch the monkeys. The closest I can think of is maybe Pokemon, but thats an RPG and has way more objectives to consider other than simply “Catch” . I also have always really loved the astetics and character designs in the series, its just a very early 2000s, Pokemon Snap kind of look to it. It definitely has some faults though, I especially hated going through the last two full levels, they go on way to long and involve too much platforming for a game whose controls aren't super tight. The camera and controls are pretty wonky too, but I get that the series was incepted around the concept of using the dual sticks for as much as possible. Still, the amount of fun I had while playing makes these points kind of forgivable. I played up to the true final boss and caught all the monkeys. I think one day when I’m bored I’ll probably go back and do the new game plus with Spike.