#Ape escape series#

One other cool way the game changes up its play mechanics is with the various vehicles it throws your way time and again. Specter, though there are still a whole slew of monkeys for your capturing pleasure. It's a nice change of pace and matches the storyline well as the end of the game focuses solely on capturing Dr. There are still monkeys about, to be sure, but progressing through the stages becomes your goal rather than rounding up a certain number of simians. The last two areas are actually focused more around flat-out platforming than rounding up monkeys. Jumping between large, moving gears, hopping between moving platforms, and needing to make large jumps in order to reach new areas are all part of the last few stages. While the beginning of the game largely ignores its platforming roots, focusing more on the hunt and capture of an assortment of monkeys, the later levels in the game really make you test your old-school skills and reflexes. Not only that, but they're all individualized enough that no two feel like cheap knockoffs of another form, helping to mix up the feel of the game each time you switch into a new form. On the whole, most of the forms offer at least a couple reasons to switch into them, and half of them are legitimately useful throughout the entirety of the game. On the other hand, the Miracle Ninja form is awesome in that it not only gives you more power than your base form, but it's faster and easier to capture monkeys with as well. Though the Fantasy Knight is more powerful than other forms, it's really only useful in the couple of instances where you need to repel fire, such as the Genie Dancer is only good for when you need to open 'musical' doors or pass through genie portals. Some forms wind up being more useful in the long run than others. For example, the Dragon Kung Fu Fighter form will allow you to punch buttons that you can't otherwise trigger, while the Fantasy Knight will allow you to repel streams of fire with its shield. Each one has special abilities unique to it, allowing you advantages during certain battles or even the necessary skills in order to pass to unreachable areas. By way of some curious device on your wrist, you're able to morph into one of eight different forms, which you'll gather over the course of the game.

#Ape escape series#

The main new gameplay elements that Ape Escape 3 adds to the series come in the form of morph modes. With small attentions to detail, like how your character will grab a hold of a ledge should you walk off the edge of a platform, there's a feeling of refinement in the controls that many lesser games lack. Player control is extremely tight and it's a joy to run either Kei or Yumi (the two selectable characters) through the monkeys' various television studio sets. Like the past games in the series, the game's controls are spot-on. It's generally not a major problem and something you can work around, though it can sometimes be hard to aim the camera exactly where you want it while you move in another direction, like during boss battles.

The setup still works as well as ever, though with the camera buttons assigned to the D-Pad and out of the way a bit, combined with the chaotic nature of escaping monkeys, there are still camera problems every now and then. It still utilizes a dual-analog stick design where the right stick controls all of your actions, be it swinging your Stun Club or firing the Slingback Shooter. The basic gameplay mechanics of Ape Escape 3 haven't changed much at all since the release of the first game on the PlayStation.

As far as setting, story and setup go, the game does a great, if entirely non-sensical, job of pulling you into the absurd world of Ape Escape 3. Should you happen to sneak upon a certain camera in each of the sets, you're even able to capture a small piece of the show that you can watch later.

Each of the levels is essentially a studio for one of the shows, ranging from a desert set where a mockery of Indiana Jones is being filmed to a spooky house and cemetery where the Monday the 16th crew has set up shop. Along with the overarching storyline, the television shows bring a lot of the humor to the game, something that the series has always been knee-deep in.