Impressively sleek game design for a 3D platformer of this era -- chock full of gimmicks, but able to back them up at every turn.
Seriously, if you told me that you have to twirl the right analog stick to hover jump in this game, I'd have laughed at you... but it works. It works well. Everything in Ape Escape feels deeply thought-about, playtested, crafted just-so. (In another world where anyone cared about cutsey 3D platformers, I would love to see an Insomniac take on this).
The difficulty curve is almost the most impressive thing. It was essentially a rule back in the Playstation era that your game had to have some absolutely ridiculous, frustrating spike near the end, something that you'd have to look up a GameFAQ guide for, or get a friend with mysteriously-way-better skills to help you complete; but Ape Escape walks the tightrope between that and so-easy-it's-sleepy. Every ape capture feels just hard enough to provide a little jolt of satisfaction, but not so hard you want to throw your controller, and the later levels are masterful in their scattering of brisk, bite-sized challenges.
The controls here are from an alternate dimension: R1/R2 to jump? Right analog stick for all actions, and face buttons only to... select different gadgets? And it feels... fucking great?
Nothing could be more indicative of how in-a-rut we are with current AAA games, how beholden we are to a specific set of withered conventions and muddy aesthetics, than playing this game for a while. It's a cliche, but it's true (and it's all the more impressive considering I never played this when I was younger!): it made me feel like a kid again.
Seriously, if you told me that you have to twirl the right analog stick to hover jump in this game, I'd have laughed at you... but it works. It works well. Everything in Ape Escape feels deeply thought-about, playtested, crafted just-so. (In another world where anyone cared about cutsey 3D platformers, I would love to see an Insomniac take on this).
The difficulty curve is almost the most impressive thing. It was essentially a rule back in the Playstation era that your game had to have some absolutely ridiculous, frustrating spike near the end, something that you'd have to look up a GameFAQ guide for, or get a friend with mysteriously-way-better skills to help you complete; but Ape Escape walks the tightrope between that and so-easy-it's-sleepy. Every ape capture feels just hard enough to provide a little jolt of satisfaction, but not so hard you want to throw your controller, and the later levels are masterful in their scattering of brisk, bite-sized challenges.
The controls here are from an alternate dimension: R1/R2 to jump? Right analog stick for all actions, and face buttons only to... select different gadgets? And it feels... fucking great?
Nothing could be more indicative of how in-a-rut we are with current AAA games, how beholden we are to a specific set of withered conventions and muddy aesthetics, than playing this game for a while. It's a cliche, but it's true (and it's all the more impressive considering I never played this when I was younger!): it made me feel like a kid again.