Ape Escape 2 is the sequel to Ape Escape. In this platform game it's your goal to catch all the apes jumping, walking and flying around the diverse levels the game has to offer. A large arsenal of gadgets can be used to make it all a little easier, with the catching net being the most important weapons of them all. Other gadgets include a RC Car, to drive over monkey's and collect objects, an Ape Radar, to detect the nearest monkey, a baseball bat, to hit monkeys unconscious, and a magnet, to move certain objects in the maps. Your quest is to catch all monkeys in the levels and to stop the evil Specter from taking over the world. All monkeys in the levels are somewhat unique with their own character abilities and their unique name. Some monkeys just sit on their place, while others attack you with projectiles or run away quickly.
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While the gadgets here are better than in the original, I think AE1 is a much better game. The levels, the music and the overall quality of the game is consistent throughout.
That's not to say that the above is bad in AE2, it's just that AE1 set such a high bar that I feel was quite difficult to follow.
The voice acting for Jimmy and Natalie (voiced by the same actors who portrayed Ash and Misty in the English Dub of Pokemon) give the game a very "Saturday Morning Cartoon" feel which makes it all the more nostalgic, and takes you back when games were quirky and videogame companies weren't afraid to take risks.
The Dual Analog control scheme makes a triumphant return in this game as well, and I'm an extremely big fan of how the game controls; it just makes sense. Nothing beats flicking the right stick to knock an enemy, prompting a satisfying sound effect or capturing a monkey and getting that 360 camera pan.
Some problems I had with the game is that I felt it leaned more towards a traditional platformer than 'Ape Escape' at times, and that the overall difficulty was quite low.
The game is great to plow through in a sitting or two, but I highly recommend you check out the original first!
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.