More monkey business
The Professor has decided he needs a vacation. During his preparations for departure, he asks Hikaru to transfer a bunch of pants to the monkeys out in the field. Hikaru discovers a bunch of monkey helmets which look like the one that his little buddy, Pipotchi, is wearing, so he decides to transfer them over to the monkeys as well. The teleporter becomes overloaded by the excess weight from the helmets, and explodes after the materials are sent through. The Professor’s assistant, Natsumi informs Hikaru that he sent out a bunch of smart helmets to the monkeys, and that they are now under the control of the evil monkey Specter. After scowling Hikaru for several minutes, Natsumi tells the dope that he must go out and capture all the monkeys and defeat Specter before they take over the world, and before the Professor returns.
Gotta catch ‘em all
Thanks to Hikaru’s blunder, there are now 300 monkeys spread across 20 different locations ranging from a local beach to a secret base on the moon. Each monkey has his or her own name, personality, attributes, and coloured pants, as well as a funny little saying. Hikaru’s objective is to run through each location, and using his trans-dimensional catching net to transfer the monkeys back to their original location. There are a set number of monkeys for you to catch initially before you can move onto the next level (and you need to revisit levels to catch all of the monkeys). He must also take on the dreaded Freaky Monkey Five and their leader, Specter.
Hikaru has a variety of Gotcha Gadgets at his disposal. You only start out with a net, but as you progress through the game, you are awarded new gadgets, such as the Monkey Radar, Bananarang (which lets out a scent that attracts monkeys), RC Car (for running over toes), Water Cannon, and many more. Each new Gotcha Gadget will allow you to access other parts of earlier stages to capture monkeys you could not originally reach. There are also a variety of vehicles to control, including a Mecha Pipotchi, a Submarine, and the old row boat from the original. Controlling Hikaru is a relatively easy task for those who have played the original game as the original control method has been savoured. The game is completely dependant on the analog sticks, with one stick moving Hikaru, and the other used for manipulating the Gotcha Gadgets.
There are a variety of special objects available in the Gotcha Box; a small capsule dispensing machine. Each capsule costs 10 gold coins, and contains a special prize. These prizes include concept art, soundtracks, videos, stories, mangas, tips, fortunes, secret photos, cookies, lives, more coins and special mini-games. Mini-games include Dance Monkey Dance; a Dance Dance Revolution rip-off, Monkey Soccer; a highly addictive soccer game, and Monkey Climber, which sounds an awful lot like Donkey Kong Jr.
Ape Escape 2 seems to suffer from two problems synonymous with most platformers as of late – a slightly hazardous camera system and a lack of length. The camera is only hazardous in certain stages, but the problems could have been ironed out fairly easily. There are 20 stages, but the overall difficulty seems to have declined since the original Ape Escape. Expect to take about 10-12 hours to get all 300 monkeys and the secrets.
Mashed Bananas
Ape Escape 2 retains the graphical style from the original game, but the overall look has been enhanced thanks to the more powerful Playstation 2. The game looks a little rough, but moves at a nice 60 frames per second, rarely slowing down. There seems to be a bit of flickering around, jaggies are present and the Playstation 2’s trademark blurry textures are featured throughout. These features do not really impact on the overall look of Ape Escape as the feeling that the developer is trying to convey is still achieved.
There is an undeniable level of charm featured in Ape Escape 2. The monkeys are goofy and cute, but also very funny (monkeys with moustaches pretending to be French for example) in their appearance. The human characters take on a more anime look than they did in the first game and look better as a result. Hikaru shares a lot of resemblance to Spike from the original game, and I suspect the Professor is the same guy from the original game. Animation is fast, although it can be slightly lacking – however this should not worry you. The environments are vast and detailed, and completely devoid of the pop-up featured in the original game. Stage design is excellent and the locations featured in the game are varied.
The main theme of “Saru Saru Getchu” is catchy and annoying, while the rest of the soundtrack proves to be an appropriate accompaniment to the graphical themes featured throughout the game. If you like the music featured in the levels, you can retrieve it from the Gotcha box with enough luck. Sound effects are crisp, clear and dominated by monkeys shrieking and calling to each other. Voice acting is decent, although Spike can get on one’s nerves (more to do with his stupidity, rather than the voice actor, who sounds rather familiar).
Top banana!
Ape Escape 2 is a worthy follow up to the classic Playstation title, though the slight camera and length issues hold it back from being truly great. However, the title boasts some great gameplay, so any fans of the original or people looking for a decent platformer should take a look.
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