You know it. You love it
It's no surprise that Ape Escape is well loved by fans and well hated by Sony who refuses to revive the damn series but will still port every damn game onto newer consoles ( Besides 3 ). With that being said this game is very special to me and my childhood as it's probably my all time favorite PS1 game and will probably remain that way forever. I suddenly got the urge to play through the game for the 12932193821th time and seeing as it got a PS5 port with trophies I thought it was the perfect way to replay this masterpiece. Overall They did a great job with this port!
It still holds up
Look I know some people in recent times have claimed this game to be nostalgic only and doesn’t hold up well but imo it holds up very well. To explain , the controls can be awkward at first having you jump with R1 and constantly having you press L1 to focus the camera in front of you. However, with little time the controls are honestly not bad at all, imo people just refuse to get adjusted. Past that the levels still look great with its upped rendering on PS5 and traversing levels has never looked as great as it does now. The gameplay loop is simple, having you simply capture monkeys across multiple areas with you unlocking more gadgets as you progress. I wish some Gadgets had bigger roles like the Hula Hoop which honestly is a useless gadget past a few areas. However the overall pool of gadgets are very fun and will have you constantly swapping them out in later levels to get through specific situations. Look , you cannot expect a game that literally was a game changer in its genre being the first to use what are now known as Analog sticks to be perfect in every way. While the game has very few faults in certain areas the overall experience is still just as joyful and masterfully crafted now as it was when it was first released. Packed with a great OST you cannot simply ask for a better time if you just use a little time to get used to the controls. And hell I don’t care, I love the stupid voice acting which is 100% nostalgia bias so sue me LOL.
The few faults
I only really have a couple issues with this game so this will be pretty short. To begin, I think the camera works fine overall once you learn how to use L1 effectively to reposition the camera there are a few issues. Mostly in the later levels the camera will start to become a slight issue as it's simply in your face and some segments are a lot tougher due to this. To explain, in the final stage there is a segment where you are on a rollercoaster and will need to precisely jump to dodge roadblocks. However due to the camera being so in your face the time frame is VERY strict making this segment very annoying as you will constantly get hit since you won’t see things until it's too late. Besides this I personally have no issues with the camera overall and still find it fine to use to this day. My last issue is the random slowdown even for a PS5 port during certain segments in the game.
Overall
It's a classic through and through and one I will always recommend people to play and get used to. Ape escape is truly a holy trinity because all 3 games are great and not many series can say they have 2 good sequels. You will have a good time with Ape Escape 1 if you are willing to learn and adapt to a different era of gaming and you will not regret that choice!!!. This remastered port is $10 which is a good price imo or if you have PS Plus premium this game is included in that sub tier !
It's no surprise that Ape Escape is well loved by fans and well hated by Sony who refuses to revive the damn series but will still port every damn game onto newer consoles ( Besides 3 ). With that being said this game is very special to me and my childhood as it's probably my all time favorite PS1 game and will probably remain that way forever. I suddenly got the urge to play through the game for the 12932193821th time and seeing as it got a PS5 port with trophies I thought it was the perfect way to replay this masterpiece. Overall They did a great job with this port!
It still holds up
Look I know some people in recent times have claimed this game to be nostalgic only and doesn’t hold up well but imo it holds up very well. To explain , the controls can be awkward at first having you jump with R1 and constantly having you press L1 to focus the camera in front of you. However, with little time the controls are honestly not bad at all, imo people just refuse to get adjusted. Past that the levels still look great with its upped rendering on PS5 and traversing levels has never looked as great as it does now. The gameplay loop is simple, having you simply capture monkeys across multiple areas with you unlocking more gadgets as you progress. I wish some Gadgets had bigger roles like the Hula Hoop which honestly is a useless gadget past a few areas. However the overall pool of gadgets are very fun and will have you constantly swapping them out in later levels to get through specific situations. Look , you cannot expect a game that literally was a game changer in its genre being the first to use what are now known as Analog sticks to be perfect in every way. While the game has very few faults in certain areas the overall experience is still just as joyful and masterfully crafted now as it was when it was first released. Packed with a great OST you cannot simply ask for a better time if you just use a little time to get used to the controls. And hell I don’t care, I love the stupid voice acting which is 100% nostalgia bias so sue me LOL.
The few faults
I only really have a couple issues with this game so this will be pretty short. To begin, I think the camera works fine overall once you learn how to use L1 effectively to reposition the camera there are a few issues. Mostly in the later levels the camera will start to become a slight issue as it's simply in your face and some segments are a lot tougher due to this. To explain, in the final stage there is a segment where you are on a rollercoaster and will need to precisely jump to dodge roadblocks. However due to the camera being so in your face the time frame is VERY strict making this segment very annoying as you will constantly get hit since you won’t see things until it's too late. Besides this I personally have no issues with the camera overall and still find it fine to use to this day. My last issue is the random slowdown even for a PS5 port during certain segments in the game.
Overall
It's a classic through and through and one I will always recommend people to play and get used to. Ape escape is truly a holy trinity because all 3 games are great and not many series can say they have 2 good sequels. You will have a good time with Ape Escape 1 if you are willing to learn and adapt to a different era of gaming and you will not regret that choice!!!. This remastered port is $10 which is a good price imo or if you have PS Plus premium this game is included in that sub tier !