A childhood game that lived in the back of my head for decades, unsure whether it was mere nostalgia that made me look back fondly at this, or if it was an actual classic. Thankfully it holds up and was surprised just how incredibly innovative it is for its time. Ape Escape does a competent job at giving a simple story about confidence, growth, and animal abuse/exploitation. Somehow humanizing its cast and all being written/fleshed just the right amount to be able to focus on what is at the forefront - the dualstick controllers and gameplay.
Gameplay is intuitive and constantly ramping up difficulty at the perfect points in the story and game. This is a true example of what good pacing looks like in any game. The player's skill-set matches and the game's skill level cap sync up at the right moments, meeting the player half-way without any cheap deaths of the sort (aside from possibly fighting the camera, but that's a given of the time). Colorful, rich backgrounds dress the levels and motivate the level design in something I can only compare to Banjo-Kazooie in being an example of how to create near-perfect levels.
This is one of the few games I've ever taken the time to 100 percent and don't typically care to do, yet couldn't help but want to capture every single ape in order to read about their personalities and see what it has to offer. A disarmingly charming game all around, Ape Escape stands a part from other contemporaries of the time striving for realism and a mature tone; it's a unique and memorable gaming experience proving platformers can innovate as well as show not every game needs to take itself so seriously to be compelling or engaging. The drum and bass, jungle, and house music soundtrack are worth playing for alone and is on the list of being one of the greatest of all time that perfectly captures the vibe. It's well-worth playing after its initial release, and is a near-perfect experience only held back by its dated camera. Its a slight mark against it, but does not nearly dampen the experience, nor its legacy.
Gameplay is intuitive and constantly ramping up difficulty at the perfect points in the story and game. This is a true example of what good pacing looks like in any game. The player's skill-set matches and the game's skill level cap sync up at the right moments, meeting the player half-way without any cheap deaths of the sort (aside from possibly fighting the camera, but that's a given of the time). Colorful, rich backgrounds dress the levels and motivate the level design in something I can only compare to Banjo-Kazooie in being an example of how to create near-perfect levels.
This is one of the few games I've ever taken the time to 100 percent and don't typically care to do, yet couldn't help but want to capture every single ape in order to read about their personalities and see what it has to offer. A disarmingly charming game all around, Ape Escape stands a part from other contemporaries of the time striving for realism and a mature tone; it's a unique and memorable gaming experience proving platformers can innovate as well as show not every game needs to take itself so seriously to be compelling or engaging. The drum and bass, jungle, and house music soundtrack are worth playing for alone and is on the list of being one of the greatest of all time that perfectly captures the vibe. It's well-worth playing after its initial release, and is a near-perfect experience only held back by its dated camera. Its a slight mark against it, but does not nearly dampen the experience, nor its legacy.