Ape Escape: On the Loose Critic Reviews

Pick it up for the kids, but don’t be surprised if you end up playing it yourself (paranoia or not).

Even with the adapted controls, Ape Escape: On The Loose is a splendid version of the enjoyable original.

It has all of the charm that the original had to offer with the portability of the PSP.

Had the controls been tightened and the camera more precise, we would have been looking at portable platform gaming at its finest, but this is still fun enough to keep fans of the series happy.

Of all the launch titles, while it may be the most basic visually, I find Ape Escape the most entertaining. Once a great game, always a great game.

The audio is equally delightful. The cheerful music complements the jovial sound effects very well. The voice acting is purposely sharp, though it is hardly annoying.

With vibrant colours, decent sound and a new control scheme for the PSP, this portable version of this series will keep gamers busy for awhile.

Hardcore fans will probably snap this game up immediately, and if you’ve never played an Ape Escape title, this is a good place to catch up on the platforming that other gamers have enjoyed for years. However, you’ll have to take part of that with a spoonful of salt, because some of the magic just hasn’t crossed over from the console version to the portable rendition.

The finely tuned control that made the first game such a hit seems to have been lost in translation, but the game still has considerable charm.

The bright colors and cheery graphics design make this platform title as much fun to look at as it is to play.

The controls were not perfectly translated to the PSP, and the loading times are just too much of an annoyance. These factors make the game much less appealing than it otherwise would be.

While it was a decent games for the PSOne, especially popular with the kiddies, it seems a waste of the PSP.

Fans of the series will probably miss the second analog stick, but having gadgets mapped to the PSP's face buttons works well, just not as well as before, and definitely not as intuitive.

It also carries the baggage of dated graphics, cumbersome controls and scavenger hunt mentality that was all the rage (get it?) back in 1999.

Although it has a few noticeable flaws, there's nothing so bad that game stops being a lot of fun to play. At worst, it just gets a little frustrating at times.

But just be prepared for some frustrating controls and a somewhat unforgiving camera.

The coolest thing about Ape Escape besides capturing monkeys with lights on their heads is all the gadgets. They really make this one fun to play and gives you reason to revisit old levels just to run around with a new gadget.

The game is long enough to keep most fans pleased, with the small multiplayer mode adding some additional lifespan if you have a friend who also owns a copy of the game.

If you have the original Ape Escape, stick with that.

Revisiting the levels to mop up adds some replay value to the otherwise rather short game.