Platform	PlayStation 2
Available	July 18, 2002
Price	5800 yen
Genre	Monkey-based platformer
Developer	SCEI
Publisher	SCEI

First things first: I'm a huge fan of the original Ape Escape. It's my favorite platformer of the last generation. After the hugely influential Mario 64, most developers artlessly mimicked that game's structure, giving us an endless glut of third-rate mascot-based platformers with 10,000 separate collectable objects. Ape Escape, in contrast, innovated with a fiercely original control scheme that required simultaneous mastery of both analog sticks and the use of any number of creative "gadgets." Instead of a main character custom designed for maximum marketability, we got an intentionally generic kid. It was the collectable objects themselves that were elevated to star status: an army of helmet-and-pants-clad, time-traveling monkeys bent on world domination. Though collecting objects in platformers can often feel like an exercise in OCD, the monkeys' strong personality and the wide number of useful tools at gamer's disposal made tracking down monkeys fun. Ape Escape, in short, rocked.

Last year's vacuum-based followup, Piposaru 2001, was a bold, experimental failure--very experimental, and very much a failure. Saru Getchu 2 (as the Ape Escape series is known in Japan) is the "true" sequel to the original game; as such, expectations are much higher. Is SG2 a good game? Yes, definitely. It's fun, it's colorful, it's cheerful. But how does SG2 stack up against the original? Here, unfortunately, the game falls short. In almost every aspect, SG2 seems slightly less engaging, easier, or below the creative highs of the first title. The game is far from bad; in fact, I would recommend that any platforming fan check it out without question. But there's a feeling that the critical and sales disaster of Piposaru 2001 scared Sony into making a very "safe" sequel. SG2 is one of the "safest" sequels I've ever played; though some fans will be happy just to get more of the same, for me, the crazy, off-the-wall creativity of the first was one of its strongest points.

The graphics are quite excellent, perfectly updating the original's simple, cartoony style without falling into the "easy out" of cel-shading that many developers are using nowadays. The levels are universally large, colorful, and filled with small environmental details that bring each of the more than twenty environments. Laudably, each of the different worlds features a different graphical theme, with absolutely no repetition betwen stages. In the first few levels alone you get a fenced-in New York park, a canal-filled Venician city, a haunted house, a Japanese castle, and an industrial, clanking factory. Each level's monkeys have small details that flesh out the theme; the Venecian monkeys, for example, feature striped shirts, cocked berets, and luxurious handlebar mustaches. Unique animations give monkeys in special settings or situations a bundle of personality. The game never stops throwing new visual experiences all the way until the end, a welcome change from the repetitive theme reuse found in most platformers.

Music is strangely mediocre. None of the tunes are memorable, and the tunes suffer from an inexplable "sampled" sound that should have ended two generations ago. Sound effects are well-done, but are hardly worth commendation.

The story is unimportant but should be mentioned for completion's sake,
so: Specter has sent his army of three hundred hyper-intelligent, hyper-adorable monkeys into the world to take over humanity; it's up to the player to capture them with a time net and stop Specter's Evil Plan of the Week. Tah dah.

The gameplay is mostly unchanged from the first Ape Escape. In fact, it's almost exactly the same in every way. EVERY one of the gadgets from the first game returns, with only three new gadgets joining the fold. Part of the joy of the first game was that each gadget was unique, offering a new control scheme and new possibilities for gameplay and exploration. When the same gadgets return in the sequel - obtained in exactly the same order, no less - the sense of discovery is lessened. Even more egregiously, two of the three new gadgets are environment specific, meaning they can only be used in single, obvious locations where the level designers have intentionally placed an obstacle Where The Gadget Must Be Used. The original gadgets are remarkable for their versatility; the hula hoop, for example can be used to gain speed (at the expense of control), for a sudden burst to dodge a charging opponent, to reach otherwise unattainable locations, as a shield against incoming projectiles, as a weapon against small enemies in your path, to gain a burst of momentum that knocks an opponent off a ledge, etc. The gadgets were a tool set at the player's disposal, and it was up to the player to use the best one for the job, or maybe their favorite, but never simply the "correct" one. The original gadgets are still remarkable and a joy to use, but most of the new additions seem strangely simplified in comparison.

In fact, in comparison, the entire game seems to have been simplified from the original. As a rule, Saru Getchu 2 skews younger than its predecessor. The addition of a cute baby monkey sidekick is one of the most immediate signs; others, like a more simplified, linear level design, are more subtle. The first game's sprawling stages have been replaced with more directed affairs; though never confining, the observant gamer will feel themselves being gently nudged towards the next goal. Monkeys are also more obviously located along the main path; even when backtracking at the end of the game to capture the missing simians, very few will present more than a few minutes searching, at most. The monkey searching scope is a bit more forgiving in his range. Additionally, a new late-game addition (not a gadget, precisely) makes locating the monkeys even easier. Though the later stages and more hidden monkeys of the original game were fairly challenging to nearly any gamer, it's not at all unlikely that more experienced players will finish Ape Escape 2 without ever seeing the "Game Over" screen.

One new creative and welcome feature is the giant "gatchapon" in your headquarters. (A gatchapon is a machine that takes 100 yen coins and dispenses small toys in lemon-sized plastic balls; the one in Ape Escape 2 reaches to the ceiling and dispenses balls the size of your character.) Every ten "gatchachips" picked up in a level can be redeemed for one ball, and the amount of unlockable content is staggering. To wit: a bestiary, "gag" pictures, development artwork both used and unused, a full sound test, video of the game's FMV sequences, 4-panel manga, alternative shapes for one of the gadgets, riddles from Specter, the research notes of your female friend, Natsumi; the diary of the scientist, Hakase; even fortunes. There's even a comprehensive archive of "Monkey Stories," traditional Japanese and Western fairy tales retold with a monkey twist. These multipage stories are a hoot, including such forgotten classics as Saru-Taro, Monderella, and the Gold and Silver Banana. There are literally hundreds of items to unlock with at minimal expense, and cashing in chips after each mission is a joy.

The game itself is short, though not unusually so for a platformer. My personal time was 9:30 to the end of the game, and 15:30 for all monkeys and all secrets unlocked. A replay mode after all monkeys have been captured makes some cosmetic changes to the title but leaves the gameplay completely unchanged, making it unlikely to encourage gamers to go through the game one more time.

Reading over these impressions, they seem inordinately negative, which is a shame, as the game is quite a lot of fun and extremely well done. Sixteen hours of gameplay in a single weekend, in my mind, is a fairly strong endorsement of a title. It's just rare to see a sequel that, while excellent in its own right, falls short of the original in many small but unignorable ways. Gamers who have not played the original should definitely check it out; it's a fun, colorful game whose control concepts have yet to be imitated, and series neophytes may find more to like, or at least feel thatless is "missing." Gamers who enjoyed the original should also check it out; it is, after all, the natural continuation of the first game, if not the evolution fans may have been craving. Really, then, everyone should check it out! Though not as breathtakingly original as the first, Ape Escape 2 is far from an embarassment to the series, and this game should help ensure the franchise has a long and continued life. Hopefully, the next game will see the pendulum swing back towards challenge and off-the-wall creativity the series is known for.


Andrew Vestal
EMail andrewv