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Fun gameplay and much good humor, hampered by some pre-teen, even offensive humor

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 04, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I really loved this game until two things happened. One was when my (young) kids were playing and I was reading one of the comics that you can "win" to them and the punchline was a fart joke. The comic didn't even make much sense - they were banking on the inherent "humor" in the word. It's disappointing as a lot of the humor in the game is fun and funny for both kids *and* adults. Still, it isn't a big deal and I would let it slide as an aberration if it didn't show up again (maybe it doesn't - I don't know).

Then the second thing happened, which was that I watched my kids play the 2nd boss and this monkey opponent is depicted as a huge, wobbly sumo wrestler with a massive outie belly button. He's clearly intended to be grotesque, and that to be "funny". He also happens to be depicted as flamboyantly homosexual, with a high pitched voice, ballerina moves and even sporting stars on his nipples. Now, don't take this comment wrong - I have no problem with homosexual, even flamboyantly gay characters in a game, in fact there should be more of them. What I have a problem with is the negative depiction of such a character for supposed "comic" effect, especially in a game so otherwise appealing for kids. Sure, have funny gay monkeys, perhaps dressed as Zorro. That would be great. It's a matter of how this character is depicted, and why it is suppose to be funny. It seems wholly out of place compared to fun stuff such as monkeys dressed as disco dancers and bull fighters, monkeys attempting to hide behind a leaf they are holding, etc. There's a lot of really fun and playful humor in the game, and then there is this idiotic stuff. Why?

The game itself - it is fun, no doubt about it, and if you're an adult without kids you will probably enjoy the game and probably wouldn't even give that boss a second thought, but for me it was very disappointing. It colored my experience of the game and my outlook for any other Ape Escape games, knowing the type of humor the developers are going for. I realize that not everyone is going to be as put off by this as much as me, but for those who might be, for those who want there kids to laugh at other, better things instead, this review is here so you can make your own informed decision.

Near-perfect platformer that never fails to amuse

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The wife and me loved Ape Escape 3. Next came Ape Escape 2, and it's been just as entertaining, just as clever. The simple play is wonderful, letting the humor and quirkiness take center stage. The game can be intense, but is also forgiving--generous when it comes to save points and restoring lives. The Ape Escape series is a welcome diversion from some of the video game brutality that's out there, its minimalist approach a nice alternative to some of the more complicated titles.

Ape Escape 3 gets a 5-star rating, while Ape Escape 2 gets 4+ stars. Why? While Ape Escape 2 has a solid, enjoyable soundtrack, Ape Escape 3 has one deserving of a Grammy. Also, the morph powers in Ape Escape 3, while frustrating at times, add another dimension of fun without confounding game play. And the monkey movies are neat. Too bad Pipotchi is gone.

Monkey Around

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: January 24, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Great escape for the gamer addict, not too serious and still fun to get through. Like all video games, builds excellent hand eye coordination, great for aging boomers as well.

EKKKK!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: July 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS THE FIRST APE ESCAPE GAME I EVER GOT. IT'S NOT AS GOOD AS APE ESCAPE 3 THOUGH. HOWEVER I DID ENJOY THIS GAME FOR QUITE THE WHILE. IT'S VERY HARD SEEING AS THERE'S SO MANY APES YOU HAVE TO CAPTURE. OHH! ONE THING. MONKEY=TAIL/APE=NO TAIL. THAT'S FOR YOU BABOONS(THE MONKEYS WITH BIG BUTS)WHO CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE.ENJOY!

Decent but the original is still the best

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 22, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ape Escape 2 is a game where you run around and catch monkeys...that's right son catch monkeys. As weird as that sounds, the game is pretty fun to play and has a unique control scheme.

For those who played the PlayStation original, you will be a little disappointed in this sequel. It's just not as fun as the original. The controls have changed slightly and the camera has gotten worse. This is still a very enjoyable game and is at least worth a rental. Ape Escape 3 is coming out and hopefully it will play closer to the original.

Much bettter than the first!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: October 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ape Escape 2 is a highly entertaining, fun game. The music is great, my favorite songs are from the Simian Citadel level and Lookout Valley. The other levels have great music too. It also has some new gadgets like the Bananarang, the Water Cannon, and the Magnet. New vehicles include the summerine, Snowmobile, and the Pipo Mech. In this game there are 300 monkeys out there to catch and over 20 vast levels. The storyline isn't to in-depth but it's creative. My favorite new feature it the Gotcha Box, where you can trade in your gold coins for some fun secrets that can be viewed at the entertainment center. These various extras include: Monkepedia, Enemy Photo Album, Secret Photo Album, Movies, Soundtracks, Monkey Fables, Art Collections, Bonus RC cars, and Mini-Games.

There were some problems in this game though. One was that they brought back the Boat. The boat is probably the most hard-to-control gadget in the game. I've tried and I've tried but I still can't seem to get the hang of it. Maybe you'll have better luck than me. The Tank is another ridiculous gadget. Another down side to this game is the 5th monkey in the Freaky Monkey Five. He is nearly impossible to beat. It is impossible to dodge his spinning attacks and his flaming attacks. I am still stuck on him.

Well anyway, I'd recommend this game for you if you enjoyed the first Ape Escape, it's even better than that one.

Not so good, but...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 8
Date: September 28, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ape Escape 2 is not so good but it works. Really. The graphics are good, the music is good, the voices are terrible and the gameplay sucks. The tank vehicle is so boring it has gotta be illegal. But this game isn't so bad. That's it.

Very creative - great fun for kids!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: July 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The reviews here really surprise me a lot. It's hard to believe that such a fun (and funny) game could get so many gripes. However I notice that most of those come from people comparing it to the original which preceded this title by 5 years. I think UBI Soft intentionally abandoned those players and aimed this game squarely at today's young children (5-12) rather than the teens that the original's players are by now.

Given the target audience, I think the difficulty level is appropriate and even challenging at times. This comes from the fact that the controls are very different from ordinary games, though they are perfect for this one. The buttons are used merely to switch between your many devices rapidly while all game controls actually are executed with the 2 joysticks. It works quite well once you get used to it. It also requires a bit of puzzle-solving and critical thinking for young children to determine which device is best for a specific job.

The main point is that the game is just plain fun to play. The action is fact-paced but not stress-inducing. The presentation is refreshing. The graphics are good but nothing stellar. A key is that the big bosses are very funny and novel. Who but the Japanese could present as a major enemy a petite, karaoke-singing monkey girl who grows enraged after you disrupt her chance at stardom? Others are equally zany.

Honestly my kids (5&9) love this game and revisit it often. My son often plays the Monkey Soccer mini-game even when he doesn't want to play the normal game; and it's knid of cool that the only monkeys that you can add to your roster are monkeys that you have already captured in the real game. My daughter loves the Dance Monkey Dance mini-game. Rare to find a game that girls and boys enjoy equally like this one. Highly recommended for kids... not good for teens or more edgy audiences.

Greatness gone bad.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: February 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

There was a hint of brillence in the first ape escape that you could really admire. The game tested you in many catagories, and in the end, you were a better gamer than before. But that was five years ago, and it seems that gamming standards have fallen greatly.
I think the biggest creative mistake the developers made was waiting so long to create a true sequal to the debute title. I mean think about it. The first game was made almost 5 years ago now, meaning the audience it was aimed for at the time is older now. If they had raised the E rating to T, it would have given the game a lot more potential for a more exciting and creative plot. It's safe to say that the 'original' fans of ape escape were pretty shocked when they played this game. You can really tell which of the reviewers on the cite played the first game and which ones didn't. This game pretty much alienates it's former fans with childlish dialog and way too easy gameplay.
As for the characters, you can't really be satified with any of them. With stereotypes of your everday after-school anime shows, this game really disapoints you. And no matter what some reviewers say, this "jimmy" is Ash from pokemon. Whoever said it wasn't, is beeing mistaken by the replacement voice over that the pokemon series used in later seasons. But that aside, it's really annoying, and I liked the original characters more.
Even with all the flaws that this game so readily displays, there is one fact that you cannot ignore. The graphics have without a doubt gotten much better. But obviously that wasn't enough to cancel out the rest of this games problems.
Even tho stories don't really matter in games like this, this story pretty much annoys you to the core. Sure it was sorta cute at first to see specter in the opening scene, but if it werent for that, the story would be flat out lame.
Well as you can tell, from my point of view, this game wash incredibly dissapointing. I don't think I'll ever think about ape escape the same again. It went from the coolest game ever, to the coolest game ever with the stupidest sequal. It's just amazing how many flaws this game had, campared to how awesome the first game was. After you beat the first game, you truly feel like you've accomplished something by beating such a difficult game. But when you beat the sequal, you feel as if you've finally completed some tedious never-ending chore.
Yes, many things went terribly wrong in the creation of this sequal, but you can never destroy the classics and that is a relief! But if you won't take my word, and the word of all the other 'original' fans, play this game and wittness the horror yourself.

Just to straighten things out.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: November 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I would like to say this: 1. You don't have to beat the game twice to get Spike back.[yes ,the game just doesn't revolve around Jimmy].You have to return to different levels to get the monkeys you haven't caught yet. 2. Jimmy's voice is not Ash Ketchum. Veronica Taylor [yes,Ash is a girl] had nothing to do with the game. 3. The camera can be reseted by pressing L1. I enjoy this game especially because of the music. There are 51 songs including the Pink Monkey music video, Escape the Ape. Control systems are very original compaired to what is available today. You can walk along with your RC card beside you. I hope this review helps to clear what the game is like.

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