- Ape Escape 3
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Ape Escape 3 
Developer(s) Japan Studio Publisher(s) Sony Computer Entertainment Composer(s) Soichi Terada[1] Platform(s) PlayStation 2 Release date(s) Genre(s) Platform game Mode(s) Single-player Rating(s) Media/distribution DVD-ROM Ape Escape 3 is a platforming video game published and developed by Sony for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It was first released in Japan on July 14, 2005, and was later released in North America on January 17, 2006, in Europe on May 5, 2006, and in Australia on May 18, 2006. It was re-released in Japan under the PlayStation 2 the Best label twice, on November 2, 2005 and July 5, 2007. It marked the return of Soichi Terada as the composer (He previously composed Ape Escape, but did not take part in Ape Escape 2, Koji Hayama composed Ape Escape 2)
Contents
Plot
It begins when Specter, the Pipo Monkey's Leader, finds a Monkey Helmet, and hires the human scientist Dr. Tomuki (Dr. Tomoki in the U.S. version) to aid him in his evil plans. They establish TV stations protected by the Freaky Monkey Five where they plan to broadcast TV shows worldwide. The television shows that are broadcast on every television put every human except the twins, Satoru and Sayaka (Kei and Yumi), their aunt Aki, and Natsumi (Natalie) into a mindless trance. When Natsumi informs Satoru and Sayaka that Kakeru (Spike), Hikaru (Jimmy) and the Professor were all infected by the television show, Satoru and Sayaka go out to catch the monkeys and thwart Specter and Tomuki.
Their mission was to go to every movie set and capture all the monkeys there and destroy the satellite there. Satoru and Sayaka easily capture White Monkey, Blue Monkey, and Yellow Monkey. When they reach the TV Station where Pink Monkey is, Satoru and Sayaka's attempts to capture her fail and she escapes. They manage to capture Red Monkey afterwards.
When they reach Tomuki City, Tomuki challenges them to a battle in his giant Tomo-King robot. Tomuki, after being defeated by Satoru and Sayaka, and being humiliated by Specter, lets them take his rocket to space to defeat his former partner. Once they reach Specter's outer space base of operations: Space Station SARU-3, they capture all the monkeys and deactivate the movie sets on their way to Specter. When they reach Specter, he tells them his plan about how he will use his space station to cut the earth in half and keep half of it for the monkeys (leaving the other half, originally meant for Tomuki, to the humans). Afterwards he gets in his new Gorillac Mech and tries to activate his plan. He is defeated and the two escape from the satellite, leaving Tomuki to give his life to deactivate the Twin Heavens. He survives. After Specter is defeated, Pink Monkey releases him and the rest of the Freaky Monkey Five, leaving them to be caught again in extremely similar missions. To complete the game one hundred percent, all the four hundred and forty-two monkeys have to be caught, all the time trials have to be completed with a gold time, and all the items, CDs, Video Tapes (except 28), Car Skins, Genie Dance tracks, books, etc. have to be bought. The game holds a total of four hundred and thirty-four monkeys if the secret code monkeys are not caught.
Gameplay
Though its gameplay is similar to its predecessors, Ape Escape 3 features new changes to the series. The game allows the player to choose between a playable male character (Satoru) and a playable female character (Sayaka) at the beginning of the game (they play the same, though some story cutscenes differ). It centers on one of the two playable characters venturing throughout television programs to capture invading monkeys. There are now 442 monkeys to capture in this game. While there are less gadgets in this game than previous entries, a new feature in this game is the ability to morph into different outfits through a device built by Aki.[2] Another addition to the game is "Monkey Steal!" If you attack a monkey too much not only will it try and face you head on, it may even steal a Gotcha Gadget. If that Gadget is the net, the player may get caught and will be brought back to the hub (The game treats you as though you had used Escape by letting you keep all the monkeys that were caught, returns any stolen items, and you do not lose a life from it). The stun club and the monkey net are the only gadgets that can get stolen. Also unlike Ape Escape 2, there is monkey radar data for Specter and the Freaky Monkey Five. This also doesn't have the Magic Punch unlike the other Ape Escape Games.
Mesal Gear Solid
A minigame featured in the game is Mesal Gear Solid, a spoof of Metal Gear Solid (the name is a pun on both the Japanese pronunciation of "metal" (metaru) and the Japanese word for monkey, saru.) In this game, players control Pipo Snake, a monkey loaded with Solid Snake's battle data, sent on a mission to rescue Snake and destroy a monkey-like Metal Gear. Gameplay is similar to Metal Gear Solid in which players have to use stealth and weapons to sneak around undetected and rescue prisoners. Players are equipped with a Banana Pistol for stunning enemies and Watermelon Bombs for breaking open flimsy walls. Similarly, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater includes a Snake vs Monkey mode in which Snake has to capture monkeys.
Unlockable Monkeys
There are some special monkeys that can only be unlocked through passwords. Spork and Shimmy, are monkeys that look like Kakeru and Hikaru. Shimmy is unclocked by putting the cheat screen( L1,L2,R1,R2,Start) and typing the password "2nd man". Spork is unlocked by the password "krops". Ape Ratchet and other apes (including the Pipotron Trio) are also unlocked through passwords.
Characters
Main article: List of Ape Escape charactersReception
The game received generally positive reviews upon release.
- X-Play gave it a 3/5.
- Game Informer rated it 8.5/10
- The highest score of 90/100 stated "This is the best and most spirited of the Ape Escapes, which is faint praise if you're only familiar with the recent half-assed PSP version. [Apr 2006, p.91] Computer Games Magazine"
- The lowest score of 60/100 stated "It's not badly done - a good, clean, simple, average game." EuroGamer
References
- ^ http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=48716&tab=credits
- ^ "Ape Escape 3 :: PS2 Game Review". Kidzworld. http://www.kidzworld.com/article/6386-ape-escape-3-playstation-2-video-game-review. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
External links
Main series Spin-offs Party games Related Categories:- 2005 video games
- Ape Escape games
- PlayStation 2 games
- PlayStation 2-only games
- Video game sequels
- 3D platform games
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