Ape Escape (series)

"Ape Escape" is a series of video games made by Sony Computer Entertainment, starting with "Ape Escape" for PlayStation in 1999.The series are widely known for their use of ape-related humor, its unique gameplay, its wide variety of pop culture references, and for being the first game to make use the DualShock controller mandatory.

Games

*"Ape Escape" (PlayStation)
*"Ape Escape 2001" (PS2) (Japan only)
*"Ape Escape 2" (PS2)
*"Ape Escape: On the Loose" (PSP) (a port of "Ape Escape")
*"Ape Escape 3" (PS2)
*"Ape Escape Million Monkeys" (PS2) (Japan only)

pin-offs

* "" (PS2) (Japan & USA only)
* "Ape Escape Academy", also known as "Ape Academy" (PSP)
* "Ape Escape Academy 2" (PSP) (Japan & UK only)
* "" (PS2)
* "Ape Escape Racing" (PSP) (Japan only)
* "SaruSaru Big Mission" (PSP) (Japan only)
* "Ape Quest" (PSP) (released exclusively on the PlayStation Store in North America and Europe, "Piposaru Senki" in Japanese)

Gameplay

The "Ape Escape" series is notable from its radical departure from the tried-and-true control method in most other games. It was the first PlayStation game to required the use of the DualShock controller; the left stick moves the character while the right operates whatever gadget the player has in his/her possession. Again, unlike many games which use to jump, both the R1 and R2 buttons are used, while the 'shape' buttons are used to cycle through the available items in the inventory.

In the PSP spin-offs, a more conventional control scheme must be used, due to the PSP's lack of a right analog stick.

Minigames

In the main series, you can unlock three minigames that you can play at the hub. These can be accessed by clearing the necessary amount of stages and/or having the necessary amount of coins. In "Ape Escape" and "Ape Escape: On the Loose", you had to collect a certain amount of Specter Tokens to unlock a minigame.

In "Ape Escape 2", you could obtain these three minigames by betting ten coins in the Gotcha Box, but here the stage-clearing was much more vital, yet it didn't mean it'd be based on your percentage on your record.

In "Ape Escape 3", because coins were far more abundant than "Ape Escape 2" and the fact that you could hold coins past 999, the prices went up for the mini-games as well. Another thing is that this time it was based on your percentage, so clearing stages, beating time attacks, or purchasing things from the shops would get you faster to making the mini games become available to purchase. The minigame "Mesal Gear Solid" seems fuller and more of a game of its own rather than just a simple unlockable. This game has a plot and more traditional gameplay of the "AE" series, and could be the start of more fuller minigames based on a series already established, like "Metal Gear Solid".

In "Ape Quest", the player randomly encounters mini-games in a very similar fashion to classic JRPG random enemy encounters.

Characters

Humans

* Spike/Kakeru (Protagonist in "Ape Escape", "On the Loose" and "Million Monkeys")
* Jimmy/Hikaru (Protagonist in "Ape Escape 2")
* Kei/Satoru and Yumi/Sayaka (Protagonists in "Ape Escape 3")
* Natalie/Natsumi (Katie in early UK versions)
* Professor/Hakase
* Casi/Charu
* Aki
* Helga/Haruka (Spike/Kakeru's crush)
* Dr. Tomoki/Dr. Tomuki
* Jake/Hiroki (Buzz in early UK versions)

Monkeys/Pipo Monkeys

* Specter (Main villain)
* Piposaru (the monkeys that must be caught and are occasionally playable)
* Pipotchi - Jimmy/Hikaru's pet; a baby monkey with a special kind of Peak Point Helmet that makes him kind and friendly, not mischievous and evil
* Dark Specter ("Pumped and Primed" and "Million Monkeys") - Specter's more evil counterpart
* Freaky Monkey Five - an elite group of five simians that were fed Vita-Z bananas and have above-average intelligence; consists of Blue Monkey, Yellow Monkey, Pink Monkey, White Monkey, and Red Monkey

Pipotrons

* Pipotron Blue (Defeated by Monkey in Ape Quest)
* Pipotron Yellow (Defeated by Monkey in Ape Quest)
* Pipotron Red (Defeated by Monkey in Ape Quest)
* Pipotron J (Recently alive, but gone)
* Pipotron G (Crushed by falling ceiling)
* Pipotron Meta (Terminated for failure)
* Pipotron Kuratsuku (Terminated for failure)

Worlds

The only 'world' that exists in most games is Earth, which is what Spike, Jimmy, Kei, or Yumi fight Specter on in order to save the human race. However, in Pumped and Primed, the Virtual World was introduced. This world looks very much like Earth, but here, the characters can't get physically injured. There is also Virtual Space, best known as Pipotron J's World or Dark World. In the anime and the game, Ape Escape Million Monkeys proves that the Ape Escape characters originate from Tokyo, Japan.

Cameo appearances

*"Monster Rancher 4"
*"Minna no Golf 4"
*""

Other media

*"Ape Escape (TV series)"
*"Ape Escape Cartoons" (upcoming animated shorts created by American studio Frederator Studios)
*"Manga (CoroCoro comics)"