Ape Academy

PlayStation exclusive

Ape Escape Academy sees you taking on the role of one of the cheeky monkeys from the Ape Escape series. Choose your chimp, then prepare to tackle various classes in Academy Mode. Each 'class' is actually a mini-game. Your goal is to complete as many mini-games as possible from the 9x9 grid, and score as many lines as you can (sort of like Noughts and Crosses). Mini-games range from mind-bending quizzes to wacky sports games, to the just plain silly, like protecting a roast banana from oncoming apes, or flying through the sky delivering parachutes to plummeting primates.

Released: 30 December 2004
Platforms: PlayStation Portable
Genres: Puzzle
Developers: Japan Studio
Publishers: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Series: Ape Escape
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Themes: Party
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E10+
Languages: English

About

Ape Escape Academy, also known as Ape Academy in Europe and Piposaru Academia: Dossari! Sarugē Daizenshū in Japan, is a party video game developed by Shift and Alvion and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It consists of a collection of 47 mini-games, many of which borrow from elements of Ape Escape 2. The game was first released in Japan in 2004, in Europe in 2005 and North America in 2006.

By utilizing the PSP's Wi-Fi capabilities, up to 4 players can play at a time. The North American release was on the same day as Ape Escape 3.

Keywords

minigames

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

A monkey working for Specter, the player must work up from junior class to senior class by playing mini games by meeting certain criteria for each class. There are 9 mini games in each class to complete. Failing to meet the criteria rewards the player with an X, while meeting the criteria rewards an O, similar to tic-tac-toe.

Each level has a certain number of lines required to pass the class (one line consists of 3 Os, either horizontally, vertically or diagonal). The game also offers review lessons for players that have almost met the requirements. Usually, these are mini-games that the player has failed previously.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. Many reviewers criticized the difficulty of most of the mini-games, as the controls were not explained fully, often leading to a failure during the first run in these minigames, but generally liked the variations in the available mini-games. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one six and three sevens for a total of 27 out of 40.

Game Informer noted how the game focuses on mini games like the WarioWare series, said the game does give some quick thrills, and criticized the loading times between games diminishing the fast-paced feel in comparison to the WarioWare games; the magazine concluded: "Still, this unambiguous title manages to (mostly) hit its target." GamePro said that the mini-games "look nice, but just can't compete with Wario Ware's [sic] non-stop style of play that is best suited for the stylus-equipped DS."