Ape Escape scores 8/10 in the verdict of The Games Market editorial team.
Once Upon a Time
Ape Escape, crazy monkeys running wild through time!
by Simon Larocca·June 28, 2025
The endless plethora of platform titles that flooded the PlayStation is almost incalculable: it is truly difficult to imagine which might have been the most absurd and outlandish title ever produced on this machine.
Se it were up to me to name one, I would have little doubt: Ape Escape helped redefine not only the standard of fun, but also generate in my vocabulary, already colorful in itself, new and exciting swear words to hurl at the damn monkeys starring in the game!
Pubished by Sony in 1999, Ape Escape arrived in gamers’ homes thanks to the direction of the eclectic Masamichi Seki: a brilliant composer and great inspirer of musical themes for masterpieces such as GranStream Saga and the unforgettable (and very difficult) Resonance of Fate for Xbox360, Seki is one of those personalities who always knows how to leave his mark on every title he directs: Ape Escape is set in the near future where Professor Hakase and his brilliant niece Natsumi live.
The protagonist of the game is a young man named Kakeru, who will have to deal with an army of monkeys, many, many more than twelve if you catch the movie reference, escaped from an amusement park thanks to the intervention of a white-furred monkey named Spencer, who became extremely intelligent because of a helmet invented by Natsumi’s grandfather.
Ovviamente, the overintensification of intelligence did not lead the monkey to seek coexistence with human beings, but rather to cause problems and damage of every kind while roaming through time. Exactly. As if that weren’t enough, the Monkey Escape that gives the game its title refers to a journey into the past, and it will be Kakeru’s job to find a way to put things back in order, catch the monkeys in the most disparate places, and thus prevent the emergence of temporal paradoxes.
The goal of the game will therefore be to catch the monkeys by using tools of all kinds, overcoming levels with rather complex 3D architecture, if we consider the age on the game’s identity card, where timing will be only one of the skills needed to manage to get by. The monkeys will tease you practically every time you spot them, while you will have to rack your brains to activate the right lever and find the most suitable method to make them fall into the trap and catch them!
Nonostante le evidenti pecche tecniche, evidenziate più che altro dall’inesorabile trascorrere del tempo (26 years are a geological era in video game terms), Ape Escape boasts a unique and inimitable style, its crazy and over-the-top personality should not, however, be misleading because the level structure is designed in a way that is functional to the player's learning curve: this means that the very first monkeys will be relatively easy to catch, but as the game progresses things will become more complicated, and not a little. An important curiosity, highlighted from various sides also at the time of the title's launch, is that Ape Escape was the first game playable with the Dual Shock controller: with the left analog stick you control the good Kakeru, while with the right one you can navigate the quick menu and select various items and tools to complete the mission.
La saga of Ape Escape has generated spin-offs and many more or less successful titles, not least the PSP version, an interesting title but penalized by a downsizing of the controls that turns out to be awkward, and above all the bizarre yet unmissable special mission found in none other than Metal Gear Solid 3: in the shoes of Snake, Hideo Kojima’s hero who needs no introduction, you will have to try your hand at the Snake vs. Monkey minigame and… catch the annoying monkeys in the jungle!
I warned you: Ape Escape itself is a crazy game.
But it is so fun and dynamic that, once inserted into your PlayStation’s disc drive, you’ll hardly be able to tear yourself away from it anytime soon.
8
Pro
The idea of a platformer where it’s not important to survive falls and enemies, but to catch sneaky monkeys using creative traps and absurd tricks… well, that’s a winner.
Original levels that do not have the boring tendency to repeat themselves: every play area is a riot of colors and inventiveness
The monkeys’ getaway when they spot you and feel threatened: I’m writing this and I can’t stop laughing
Contro
In the long run, the gameplay mechanics might no longer seem so amusing, especially if frustration sets in, which is always lurking around the corner in platformers with increasing difficulty.
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
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