Retro Game Friday: Ape Escape 2

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a sequel to a classic game. It’s Ape Escape 2!

Plot: The plot is just as ridiculous as the first game, which is saying something as the first was rather slapstick at times.

Gameplay: The gameplay is much like the first game, with the player using various gadgets via the right analog stick and controlling Hikaru via the left stick and the shoulder buttons. In addition the game has new gadgets you can use which add to the wackiness, like a Bananarang to lure monkeys with it’s scent.

Characters: Kakeru, the first game’s protagonist isn’t really in the game, though you can play as him in the New Game Plus mode. Hikaru is our new main character, with Natsumi taking over for the Professor for the most part.

Art: The art of the original game has aged poorly, although there was a PlayStation 4 port with enhanced graphics that was released four years ago.

Music: It fits the game, nothing more really needs to be said.\

Overall: A fun game, and a classic that is often overlooked.

Retro Game Friday: The Legend of Dragoon

Hey all I’m back for this week’s Retro Game Friday with a game I played a couple times at a friends house way back when I was a kid. It’s The Legend of Dragoon!

Plot: The plot is okay, but not that amazing either. It’s got a fairly stereotypical plot, and honestly if I hadn’t come across the name dragoon and had a flash of memory about this game I would probably not remember it at all, let alone set myself a reminder to write about this for a Retro Game Friday post.

Gameplay: What little I remember about this game was that it was mostly Turn Based and had what we now call Quick Time Events in it’s combat. Frankly I’ve always hated QTEs, a sentiment shared by many gamers I know, so the precision required for these particular ones stuck out to me as being particularly frustrating. It’s probably why I didn’t bother playing it more than a couple times at that friend’s house. The fact that the dragon transformation was rather pointless was just further incentive to disregard the game.

Characters: Dart is our lead, and honestly is as stereotypical as you can get, destroyed village, kidnapped friend and overall lack of parental figures all make him one of the more bland characters from what very little I can remember. Honestly if I hadn’t read up on the plot while finding the producer and developer information for this post I probably wouldn’t even remember his name. The rest of the cast is little better.

Art: The art is very polygonal, which means it’s aged incredibly poorly since it was released, and the CGI movies are even worse in that regard.

Overall: A very skippable game and definitely not a must play game.

For those who like: JRPGs, Mediocrity, Stereotypical Stories and Cast of Characters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Ape Escape

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a real classic that truly deserves another game in the series. It’s Ape Escape!

Plot Synopsis: The story begins when Specter, a white-haired monkey who is well-known at his home in a monkey-themed amusement park, puts on an experimental Peak Point Helmet created by a Professor, which increases his intelligence beyond that of a regular monkey, but also twists his mind, turning him evil. Imbued with this new power, Specter gives Pipo Helmets to all the monkeys in the park and sets them loose, having them take over the local laboratory where the Professor and his assistant Natalie are currently building a time machine…

Plot: This was a truly revolutionary game and the story wasn’t half bad. It wasn’t super intense or detailed like a Final Fantasy game, but for a platformer the story wasn’t all that bad. I’ve definitely seen and played worse games.

Gameplay: The gameplay was the first to require the DualShock controller due to the necessary use of both analog sticks to control both Spike and his tools. I had tons of fun, and frankly this was a one of the best platformers on the original PlayStation, if not the best.

Art: Sadly the art hasn’t aged particularly well. Maybe they’ll do a remake/remaster of the game sometime soon with updated graphics and possible additional features.

Music: I don’t remember much of it, but it was pretty fun to listen to from what I can remember.

Overall: If you’ve never played it, you really ought to.

For those who like: Platformers, Sci-Fi, Good Plot, Awesome Gameplay.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.