A barrel of Monkeys
In general, Ape Escape is a fun, imaginative game. The graphics aren't anything special, but the scenery is pleasantly colored and the landscape-layouts are impressive. The plot is zany and inventive to say the least, but the dialogue and subplots associated with it tend to be overlong and uninteresting. However, what lacks in the story department is totally made up for with all those goofy gadgets you get to make use of throughout the game. I never get tired of pestering the monkeys with that RC car!
The biggest and most maddening drawback of Ape Escape has got to be its gameplay. The controls are illogical and needlessly complex, undoubtedly due to the game's requirement for the DualShock Analog Controller. You see, in order to boost sales for the rock-heavy joypad, Sony created a small line of games that required it in order for them to be played at all. Ape Escape was the first.
Overall, this is a fun game to play passively for a couple of hours, but only the really devoted gamers like myself will be willing to learn the complicated control-scheme needed to make it to the ending.