Following up on the clamor generated by a newApe Escapetwitter account–Sony Japan released a retrospective video in celebration ofApe Escape’s 20th anniversary.
The video opens with the unnerving, unbreaking gaze of someone in an ape suit sharing the news that it’s been 20 years sinceApe Escapereleased for the PlayStation in Japan. We’re then taken through a goofy look back at all 14 entries in the series, from the original in 1999 to 2010’sPlayStation Move Ape Escape.
The first entry in the series had you play as Spike, a young boy armed with a stun club and a time net tasked with capturing apes to prevent them from rewriting history. While the controls were somewhat awkward and made sneaking up on those slippery primates a challenge, they were the first controls that ever explicitly required the DualShock controller. Some future spin-offs branched out from third-person platforming to try their hand at weird beat ‘em up mini-games, card trading, and kart racing,
It’s been years since we saw the release ofApe Escape 3for the PS2–the last mainline entry. That was back in July 2005 for Japan and January 2006 for North America. Between this new video, a new Twitter account, and aremake forApe Escape 3that never happened, anticipation for some kind of news is at an all-time high.
WhenApe Escape 3was re-rated for the PS4 in 2016, many people were hoping for some kind of remaster à laCrash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy. Alas, nothing came out of it. The first tweet from that newTwitter accountroughly states “Twenty years since then. I’ve been running around for a long time, but I wonder if there is anyone out there to chase…?” Hopes of a remaster, if notApe Escape 4, are once again running high.
If your desire to playApe Escapehas been reignited and you have an original PlayStation and DualShock controller, you can order a copy offAmazonfor $99.
