There's something about Ape Escape that's so charming and fresh. I'm a massive fan of the original, which makes my opinion on the sequel slightly harsh.
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!
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!