Software:Ape Escape 3

Ape Escape 3
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Japan Studio
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Naoto Ohta Yuzo Sugano
Producer(s)	Naoto Ohta
Composer(s)	Soichi Terada
Series	Ape Escape
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Release	JP: July 14, 2005 NA: January 17, 2006 EU: May 5, 2006 AU: May 18, 2006
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Ape Escape 3 is a platform video game published and developed by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 video game console.

The game has been rated for release on PlayStation 4 but no announcement of its release has been made.

Plot

Specter, the Pipo Monkeys' leader, finds a Monkey Helmet, and hires the human scientist Dr. Tomoki (Dr. トモウキ, Dokutā Tomōki) to aid him in his evil plans. They establish television 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 Kei and Yumi (Satoru and Sayaka outside of North America), their aunt Aki, and Natalie (Natsumi outside of North America) into a mindless trance. When Natalie informs Kei and Yumi that Spike (Kakeru), Jimmy (Hikaru) and the Professor were all infected by the television show, Kei and Yumi go out to catch the monkeys and thwart Specter and Tomoki.

Their mission was to go to every movie set and capture all the monkeys there and destroy the satellite there. Kei and Yumi easily capture Monkey White, Monkey Blue, and Monkey Yellow. When they reach the TV Station where Monkey Pink is, Kei and Yumi's attempts to capture her fail and she escapes, although they manage to stop her Specter TV broadcast anyway. They manage to capture Monkey Red afterwards.

When they reach Tomoki City, Tomoki challenges them to a battle in his giant Tomo-King robot. Upon being defeated by Kei and Yumi, Tomoki's afro is revealed to be a wig covering a Pipo Helmet grafted to his head, which he reveals was the result of a lab accident where he was a test subject for the original Peak Point Helmet. Specter arrives via video broadcast and mocks Tomoki, who, in response, takes the side of Kei and Yumi, granting them permission to 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 Tomoki, to the humans). Afterwards he gets in his new Gorilliac Mech and tries to activate his plan. He is defeated and the two escape from the satellite, leaving Tomoki to deactivate the Twin Heavens via the self-destruct button, seemingly losing his life in the process. However, during the game's credits, it is revealed that he has survived the explosion.

After Specter is defeated, Monkey Pink releases him and the rest of the Freaky Monkey Five. After Kei and Yumi re-battle and re-capture the Freaky Monkey Five, Aki pinpoints the location where Specter is hiding out, and so Kei and Yumi travel there to face Specter once more and capture him again.

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

Playing as either Kei (Satoru) or Yumi (Sayaka), gameplay follows that of the previous games in which the player must catch several monkeys by using various gadgets controlled with right analogue stick. While there are fewer gadgets in this game than previous entries, a new feature in this game is the ability to morph into different forms through a device built by Aki. Some monkeys may also try to steal the player's Stun Club or Time Net and use it against them, and can even force them out of the level by catching them with their own net. Playing as Yumi has an additional benefit; owing to her pop idol status, certain monkeys will go star-struck upon sight of Yumi, allowing for an easy capture.

Mesal Gear Solid

A minigame featured in the game is Mesal Gear Solid: Snake Escape (メサルギアソリッド, Mesaru Gia Soriddo), a spoof of Metal Gear Solid (the name is a pun on "metal" (メタル, metaru) and "monkey" (猿, 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 Pineapple Grenades for breaking open flimsy walls. Similarly, the original PlayStation 2 editions of Metal Gear Solid 3 include a Snake vs. Monkey mode in which Snake has to capture monkeys.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 77/100 Review scores Publication Score CGM Edge 7/10 EGM 6.17/10 Eurogamer 6/10 Famitsu 36/40 Game Informer 8.75/10 GameRevolution B GameSpot 8.2/10 GameSpy GameZone 8/10 Hardcore Gamer 4.75/5 IGN 8.3/10 OPM (US) The Sydney Morning Herald

Ape Escape 3 received "generally favourable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 36 out of 40. GamePro said, "Ape Escape 3 runs smoothly and is worth your hard earned dollar. It's a fun, perfect time killer—especially for the obsessive gamer who likes to complete 100 percent of the game."

External links

• Website (North America)
• Ape Escape 3 at MobyGames