Ape Escape Review

Anannya Sen’s Review

Grilled monkey brain.

Ape Escape is apparently the mobile version of the latest game in the famous console series. I've never heard of it but that is probably because it only got released in the US and Japan (titled Saru! Get You!). Apparently it's quite popular, hence the mobile game.

I think that if you are familiar with the console games or the cartoon series, then this game could have some significance for you. That doesn't make it good though. The graphics and animation remind me of the Vic 20, let alone anything with processing power over 20K. 20K baby! The main hero, Spike, runs around like one of those bad animations from the old Decathlon games, except those were much better.

Sound isn't great either with the volume on max still meaning that I could barely hear what was going on. The controls are simple enough, move around with D or key pad. You press the left soft key to use your items and you can cycle through them with 1 or 3. They vary from stun guns, to monkey locators to other devices. Pressing 5 or the main button will cast your net. This allows you to catch or capture monkeys.

Which is basically the aim of the game. You wander around various levels in a Mario-esque world hunting for monkeys. They aren't always easy to find and they certainly aren't always easy to catch. The stun gun has to be used up close so you may be chasing them for a while. Get up close and they throw banana skins at you to trip you up and make you lose part of your life bar.

Stun them and they are easy to capture with your net. They aren't the only creatures in the levels and you get these little furry things bouncing around who also try and damage you, as do the things which pop up out of the ground. But a trusty stun gun spin and they turn into coins. Which is good because 100 coins gets you an extra life.

Apart from the dodgy hit recognition, my biggest gripe is that even with the monkey locator, you still have no idea where they are and you can be wandering around levels aimlessly trying to find that one elusive monkey. Maybe if a map was included things would have been better. Then there are the inacccessible areas which only get unlocked later in the game. And speaking of unlocking, there are locked areas too. How do you get in them? Pick up the fairly obvious key.

There are a number of worlds and levels, and to be fair you can duck in and out any time to try and catch all the monkeys. Also, each monkey has been painstakingly given a name and personality and some of the personality traits are quite funny. But these things can't help the fact the game is pretty poorly presented and executed and I never really found it that much fun to play. If you love the console series, you might but I doubt it.