"Monkeys Are On The Loose??"

Score: 8/10

In the history of video games, the success of hardware has often been defined by the success of first party software. There are countless examples of failure such as Nokia, 3DO, CDi, etc. while the companies that stick around are the companies that make games designed for their hardware. Sony knew this early on and has always had a few games in the pipeline at any given time.

Ape Escape: On The Loose is a remake of the original Ape Escape on the Playstation. They've really gone all out with the remake on the PSP, showing that the handheld is, without a doubt, far more capable than the PS1. Gone are the blocky figures and simple textures, replaced with detailed character models and seriously updated animations. The story and characters are the same, but there is a new appreciation for this game and the concept behind it.

A lot of the reviews of this game have berated the lack of a second analog stick, particularly since Ape Escape was one of the first games to really take advantage of the DualShock controller, but I'm not really interested in doing that. Ape Escape: On the Loose was released on the PSP and as such will be reviewed based off of the PSP's capabilities. It wouldn't be any more fair to compare the PSP controls to the PS2 controls than it would be to compare the GBA to the DS. It just doesn't work that way. That said, let's get into the review!

The Professor's monkeys have escaped. Following the white monkey, Specter, getting his hands on a mind-amplifying hat, he equipped his fellow monkeys with similar headgear and sends them back in time in order to change history in the favor of monkeys everywhere. As the victim of bad timing, you (Spike) get sent back in time as well in order to stop them. Good thing the Professor is on the case as well!

The graphics of Ape Escape: On The Loose are far superior to that of the original, as stated above. While some of the animations are "looped" and not really fitting to the situation of the moment in the non-gameplay moments, such as mission review, overall the animations are fluid and very lifelike. The scampering monkeys have all of their various personalities entirely intact, something that was a major part of the Playstation Ape Escape series. The landscapes are large and detailed, with a variety of paths that are entirely true to the original, pretty much down to the inch, allowing for the gameplay to remain intact.

As I said, I won't be comparing the controls and gameplay of Ape Escape: On The Loose to its PS2 brethren and will, instead, base it on its own standards. That said, the controls are extremely tight and very workable. The ability to retain three different "gadgets" at one time is completely intact, as well as a fair bit of control over the camera. Having come off of the Death, Jr. review, this is particularly welcome. Sometimes a bit of "fidgeting" would be required to get the camera where I wanted it, but it was really pretty minimal and with the wide open spaces of the levels it was rarely noticed. It took a bit of time to get used to the controls for the stun baton and net, but with a bit of gameplay the new controls that are implemented work admirably well and soon you won't even notice it.

The audio of the game is definitely worthy of notice. With the typical ape sounds come the audio that shows that this is a game with Japanese influence. That is to say, the dialogue is cheesy and overacted...something that is appreciated by many game players, ironically. Ambience and music are both well done and fit in well with the game itself.

Variety is the spice of life and often dictates a game's long-term success or failure. Since the original Playstation release, this has never even been thought of as possibly being a problem for Ape Escape. On The Loose retains all the original mini-games, from snow-boarding to boxing to ping pong..it's all there. There is a definite reason for going back to the different zones and collecting as many monkey and "Specter" coins as you can in order to unlock more mini-games.

Overall, this is probably one of the best platformers I've played in quite some time...but then, I'm a fan of the entire Ape Escape series. The fact that the controls take a little getting used to and the fact that some of the animations are "looped" means that I can't give this a ten. As it is, I give it a well above average eight out of ten and recommend it to platforming fans that have a PSP. A good game, a good purchase, and a game that you'll break out a year from now just to experience it again.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/05