Genre: Party
Developer: Sony Computer Entertanment Inc.
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: October 20, 2004

Buy 'APE ESCAPE: Pumped and Primed': PlayStation 2

Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed suffers from a predicament that is odd at best, and hurtful at worst.

Despite the franchise name that it carries, this is not a true Ape Escape sequel. News of this disappointed many fans of said franchise when it reached them. This is a party game instead of a platformer, which, to be fair, is quite the stretch. Visions of failures such as the abysmal Sonic Shuffle begin to permeate the minds of jaded gamers everywhere. It’s inevitable, really.

The predicament here is that, once one actually takes the time to analyze the game, they will realize that it has the hardcore Ape Escape fan in mind; in terms of storyline, character, control, accessibility and overall style. And thus the vicious Catch-22 perpetuates.

This game’s presentation is the first thing that hits you when you first boot up the game—and not in the obvious way, either. From the first time you take it in, it makes a lasting impression. The game employs cel-shading to give it a childrens’ anime look; which is fitting due to the fact that roughly the cast is made up of animated children. The rest are monkeys that range from the cute-and-cuddly to the evil-and-deadly, and the villains themselves. The game takes place on an island which hosts a tournament—a technological island made up of architecture that hearkens back to the reflective, angular environments one used to see in games like Phantasy Star Online. It’s surreal and quasi-futuristic, but natural at the same time.

The looks aren’t the only things that are Dreamcast-esque. The music in this game is distinctively old-school. There are no hundred-instrument orchestrated scores to be found here; no grand pieces that aim to overwhelm your senses; the music here is simple, upbeat, and there to either entertain or to give you a sense of purpose as you beat the living snot out of people, monkeys and machines alike. It’s happy and upbeat, and full of techno to match the squeals of the children and monkeys, and the hums of the various futuristic instruments used in battle.

To play Pumped & Primed is to play games the way one used to play them—for the mindless, aimless entertainment factor—in other words, to play because you can. The atmosphere and presentation reflect this; however, ironically, the gameplay itself has a tougher time.

Like any self-respecting game, Pumped & Primed features a diverse cast, derived of heroes, villains and monkeys from the Ape Escape mythos. Each of these characters have their own strength, speed and range attributes. Gameplay consists of a series of events running from standard fighting matches with “gadgets” such as stunclubs and slingshots, to boat races and fights, to tank battles, to matches where coins must be furiously collected, with a good amount of dirty pool injected for good measure.

All of these games and featured gadgets make very inventive use of the Dual Shock analog controller. Some of these are quite fun; others will tire your hands like nothing else. Play enough boat-racing events, where your thumbs are required to constantly rotate the sticks in tandem for minutes at a time—or even many of the other games that require furious rotation of just one of the sticks—and this game is a one-way ticket to carpal tunnel syndrome. Still, physical risks aside, the selection of events is quite diverse, and well-thought out.

The overall objective is to place as high as possible so that as many points as possible can be scored. Detailed yet easy-to-understand tutorials are provided so that people can jump right in after a few minutes, however, pretty much every event is “easier said than done”. The control setup requires a good amount of coordination just to get the hang of things, and due to the loose nature analog--especially frenzied, fast-paced analog—it’s very easy to make mistakes without meaning to, which can take away from the fun.

Objectives can change depending on the mode one plays. In versus tournaments, points are required to win, and that’s all she wrote. Story Mode, however, provides cutscenes and actual boss battles. A full-fledged Ape Escape sidestory plays itself out as you pick a character, and battle through the tournament, aiming to win enough points to advance to the next round. During this mode you learn about the game, and are gradually given new abilities and special attacks. These special attacks are the most significant things that set each character apart from each other.

Story Mode allows your character to fulfill certain requirements so that the game’s secrets can be unlocked. These unlockables come from the “Monkey Fan Club”—a bunch of monkeys with unique personalities that, when prompted, give you fanmail, equipment, outfits, items, and will even join your team on occasion. Yes, even in this party game, you end up catching monkeys. In turn, they will work for you through summon spells that can be cast in mid-battle when your character’s special technique meter is full.

In addition to all of this, you can save your character’s progress, equipment and special abilities to a memory card, and take it over to a friend’s house to unleash your custom creation on the mindless masses. As one can see, there’s quite a bit to this game, and lots of service paid to fans of the Ape Escape franchise. In other words, this game tricks everyone it comes across.

Pumped & Primed is one of those games that tries to be ahead of its time, and tries to bend a genre to its will. Games that attempt the latter tend not to do a very good job; just look at Guilty Gear Isuka. Truth be told, this game has its problems. However, it’s got possibilities, it’s got the fun factor that lasts a time or two through Story Mode, and on the microscopic chance that you can teach three other people to play the darned thing, you have a recipe for complete and utter chaos that proves to be deceptively fun. Confusing, but fun. It also contains likeable characters, and a heaping helping of charm to boot.

Rent it, at least. Buy if you’re an Ape Escape nut—or better yet, if you’re one and you know others that are.

Score: 7.7/10