Back in 1999 Sony released one of the greatest games ever made on the
Playstation. That game was Ape Escape. It was one of the first games to
require you to use those fancy analog sticks on the controller. The
left stick was used for movement and when you moved the right stick it
would use whatever gadget you had equipped. This gave you 360 degrees
of control with your gadgets. If the monkey you were trying to catch
was to your right, just slap that analog stick to the right and he
would swing the monkey net toward it and more than likely you would
catch the monkey. The controls were what made the game special and it's
still one of the best controlling games out there.
But as you already know the PSP only has one analog stick. Porting a
game that was made for a controller with two to a handheld with only
one doesn't make much sense and because of this the game doesn't
control well at all. In the original game you were able to map four
different gadgets to the four different face buttons (circle, X,
square, and triangle). Pressing those buttons would bring up whatever
gadget you had assigned and you tilted the right analog stick in the
direction you wanted to swing or use the gadget. Jumping was used with
the R2 button. The same applies to the PSP but since it doesn't have a
second analog stick,or a second set of shoulder buttons, you just press
the corresponding face button to use the gadget and for gadgets like
the Stun Club and Monkey Net you have to move the PSPs only analog
stick in whatever direction you want to swing it. This works ok but it
doesn't have the same precision or accuracy as the old game and you'll
completely miss catching a monkey more than you should in this game.
Even some of the easiest monkeys to catch are hard to get. You jump
with the X button. Using that button knocks down the total number of
gadgets you can have equipped from four to three. The control isn't the
only thing that gets in the way. The camera is also a huge pain. It
can't keep up and when you get it tight spaces is goes ballistic making
progression extremely difficult. You can snap the camera behind you by
tapping the L trigger but this never really helps much.
But with all that's wrong with Ape Escape on PSP it does have some
redeeming qualities. The charm is this game comes at you at full force.
It's a very kid friendly game (and very Japanese) but that just adds to
the charm. It never feels like your watching some kids show on PBS but
more like a show from your childhood that you feel nostalgia for. The
game is also pretty long. It will take you upwards of 10 to 15 hours to
finish. But after you feel like your done you have to go back and get
all the monkeys in the game to get the real ending. This adds a lot
more longevity. Too bad the controls almost ruin the experience.
I played this game back when it first came out on the PS1. I loved it
and couldn't get enough. I bought this game out of longing to play the
game again and I thought that the controls wouldn't bother me. But
after playing it on the PSP for a while I realized that the controls on
the PS1 were what made the game. The PSP version of this game just
can't cut it. If you have no way to play the original game on the PS1
then I guess this PSP version is worth a shot. If you never played the
original game you won't feel the disappointment of knowing what the
game controlled like back in the day. But you will feel a sense of
awkwardness with the controls.
