Ape Escape

Lore & Background

The first game was developed in 1997 under the name Sarugetchu, and was the first game to explicitly require the DualShock controller. It was a success, going Platinum, entering the Greatest Hits series in the US, and entering the 'Best Of' releases in Japan. It was reviewed positively and compared to games such as Super Mario 64. Ape Escape 2001 was released in 2001, the first in the series for PlayStation 2. Ape Escape 2 followed in 2002 in Japan and 2003 in Europe and North America. In 2003, SCEI worked on a multiplayer party game and the sequel to Piposaru 2001. Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed was released in Japan through Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and in the US through Ubisoft in 2004. Ape Escape: On the Loose, a remake of the original game, was released globally as one of the launch games for the PlayStation Portable. In 2005, Ape Academy (also known as Ape Escape Academy) was released for the PlayStation Portable. Eye Toy: Monkey Mania was a party game inspired by Mario Party which was only released in Europe and Japan. In mid-2005, Ape Escape 3 was released to positive critical reception. After the release of Ape Escape 3, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe showed interest in publishing Ape Academy 2 and Ape Escape: Million Monkeys; however, Sony Computer Entertainment America showed more interest in developing its own game. Ape Academy 2 was released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable to mixed success and sold very well in Japan, entering the 'Best of' category, but failed to perform well in Europe, due to Sony focusing on Million Monkeys. Million Monkeys was released in Japan in July 2006, making it the last official PlayStation 2 game in the series. The game was planned to be released in the United Kingdom in late 2006, but the game was postponed and later canceled. Its impact in Japan led to the inclusion of its iteration of series protagonist Spike in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in 2012. In late 2006, PipoRacer was released in Japan for PlayStation Portable. In 2008, Japan Studio and h.a.n.d. developed Ape Escape: SaruSaru Big Mission. Both titles were never released outside Japan. In 2006, Sony placed an advertisement in a Famitsu magazine with interest in hiring staff for an upcoming game, showing four monkeys holding covers of Ape Escape, Ape Escape 2, Ape Escape 3, and a '?' cover. The fourth entry was in development but is still unreleased. A tweet by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan on January 5, 2016, read, '2016 Year of the Monkey. Today, SCE will begin working! #Monkey #YearofMonkey' alongside an image of a Pipo Monkey. In 2019, the 20th anniversary of the franchise, the official Japanese website for the Ape Escape series was updated and an official Japanese Ape Escape 20th anniversary account was made on Twitter. Ape Quest, a role-playing game, was released in 2008 on the PSN store in North America and Europe and in March 2009 in Japan. It was co-developed by Shift and Alvion and published by Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide. It was the first game in the series to be a PSN-only game, excluding Asia, where it received a physical release. In 2009, a game titled Ape Escape was announced along with the PlayStation Move. Critics speculated that it was the fourth entry in the series, after Sony's 2006 advertisement. In Q3 2010, PlayStation Move: Ape Escape was officially announced under the party genre, and with a different name for every region. It was released in Japan in December 2010, Asia in January 2011, and the UK and Europe in mid-2012 as a GameStop exclusive. In the US, the game was only made available on the PSN store. After the release of PlayStation Move: Ape Escape, no games were announced in 2012, making it the first year since 2002 that no Ape Escape game had been released and the first year that no game had been announced within each region.

Reader's Guide

The Ape Escape series is notable for its radical departure from the tried-and-true control method in many other games. It was the first PlayStation game to require the use of a DualShock or Dual Analog controller; the left stick moves the character while the right operates whatever gadget the character has in its possession. Unlike many games which use a button to jump, both the R1 and R2 buttons are used, while the 'shape' buttons are used to cycle through available items in the inventory. In the PSP spin-offs, a more conventional control scheme must be used, due to the lack of a right analog stick. The main objective through the majority of the games is to use the available array of gadgets to locate and capture monkeys. When a monkey has been found, it must be caught with the Time Net gadget. On the first playthrough, players will have a set number of monkeys to catch before progressing towards the next level. Once each level has been completed, they can be reentered with the gadgets necessary to catch the remaining monkeys. The series includes unlockable minigames in the main series, accessed by clearing stages or collecting coins. In Ape Escape 3, the minigame Mesal Gear Solid is described as fuller and more of a game of its own, with a plot and more traditional gameplay of the series, and could be the start of more fuller minigames based on a series already established, like Metal Gear Solid. The series has guest appearances in titles such as Monster Rancher 4, Everybody's Golf 4, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Ratchet: Deadlocked, LittleBigPlanet, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Super Bomberman R: Shiny Edition, Astro's Playroom, Astro Bot, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

Did You Know?

• Ape Escape: On the Loose was a remake of the original game and a launch title for the PlayStation Portable.
• The series protagonist Spike from Million Monkeys appears in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
• A fourth main series entry was advertised in 2006 but remains unreleased.

Origins and the DualShock Debut

The Ape Escape franchise traces its roots back to 1997, when Japan Studio began developing what was then called Sarugetchu. The project carried a notable technical distinction: it became the very first title to explicitly mandate the use of Sony's DualShock or Dual Analog controller, making the controller an essential part of the experience rather than an optional add-on. When the finished product launched in June 1999, it struck a chord with players and critics alike. Reviewers drew favorable comparisons to Super Mario 64, praising its inventive capture-based gameplay, lighthearted ape-centric humor, and a dense layer of pop culture references woven throughout the levels. Commercially, the game was a clear hit. It achieved Platinum sales certification, earned a spot in the PlayStation Greatest Hits line in North America, and was included in Japan's "Best Of" re-release program. This strong foundation established the franchise's identity and set the stage for Sony Interactive Entertainment to build an entire library of monkey-themed adventures over the following decade.

A Franchise Spans Every Sony Platform

What began as a single PlayStation title quickly ballooned into one of Sony's most prolific franchises, touching virtually every console the company produced. The mainline entries spanned the original PlayStation in 1999, the PlayStation 2 in 2002 and 2005, and the PlayStation Portable in 2005. Beyond those core releases, the series spawned a remarkable array of spin-offs and party games. Pipo Saru 2001 brought a different flavor to the PS2, while Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed delivered a multiplayer party experience in 2004, notably published by Ubisoft in North America. The PSP era saw Ape Escape Academy, Ape Academy 2, and the racing title Pipo Saru Racer. On the PS3, PlayStation Move: Ape Escape leveraged motion controls for a party-style take. Ape Quest, co-developed by Shift and Alvion, marked a departure as a role-playing game and became the first entry distributed exclusively through the PlayStation Store in North America and Europe. Even the PSP saw a collaboration with h.a.n.d. on SaruSaru Big Mission. Together, these titles demonstrate Sony's commitment to keeping the monkey crew active across formats, genres, and regions throughout the 2000s.

Regional Gaps and the Unreleased Fourth Entry

Despite its broad ambitions, the Ape Escape series suffered significant regional inconsistencies that left many players outside Japan with incomplete access to the franchise. Several titles, including Pipo Saru 2001, Saru! Get You! Million Monkeys, Pipo Saru Racer, and SaruSaru Big Mission, were released exclusively in Japan and never saw a Western launch. Million Monkeys was slated for a United Kingdom release in late 2006 but was ultimately postponed and then canceled entirely. Ape Academy 2 found strong sales in Japan, entering the "Best of" category, yet struggled in Europe partly because Sony's marketing attention was directed toward Million Monkeys instead. Perhaps most intriguingly, a 2006 advertisement placed in Famitsu magazine depicted four monkeys, the fourth holding a cover marked with a question mark, hinting at a fourth mainline entry that was in development but never materialized. The franchise also experienced a notable silence in 2012, the first year since 2002 in which no Ape Escape title was released in any region, marking a quiet period before the motion-control party game finally arrived in Europe and the United States.

Monkeys in Other Worlds: Legacy and Cameos

The cultural footprint of Ape Escape extends well beyond its own titles, with the franchise's characters making memorable guest appearances across Sony's broader game catalog. Spike, the protagonist from the Japan-only Million Monkeys, was featured in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale in 2012, a direct result of that game's strong domestic performance. The Pipo monkeys have also appeared in Monster Rancher 4, Everybody's Golf 4, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Ratchet: Deadlocked, LittleBigPlanet, and Super Bomberman R: Shiny Edition. More recently, the franchise has shown up in Astro's Playroom, Astro Bot, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, keeping the brand visible for new generations of players. The story itself, centered on the white-haired monkey Specter, his intelligence-boosting Pipo Helmet, and his army of helmeted monkeys threatening world and space domination, has become a recognizable comedic premise within the PlayStation universe. In 2019, marking the franchise's 20th anniversary, Sony updated the official Japanese website for the first time in over five years and launched a dedicated anniversary Twitter account, signaling continued affection for the series.