Ape Escape 2 PS2

It seems the monkeys are back, wreaking havoc all over the place. Not the most inspired concept for this sequel but that is of no importance as all the quirky humour and fantastically original gaming concepts that typified the original are also back, as is the game's unique and intuitive control system. And besides, with a title like Ape Escape 2, what else would you expect? This time, the Peak Point Helmets that give the monkeys their super intelligence have been accidentally delivered to Monkey Park along with a shipment of monkey pants. Soon enough, one lands in the hands of monkey leader Specter, who subsequently starts hatching plans for world domination, to make a society fit for monkeys to live in, and declares war on humans. Oh dear! An outbreak of mischievous monkeys soon erupts and Hikaru, the guy responsible for all the trouble, is then charged with grabbing a big net and setting off on the hunt. What follows is a hugely entertaining, puzzle-based romp across an assortment of increasingly challenging levels. In each case you're given a target number of monkeys to catch and every so often a new gadget is thrown into the mix, helping you in some way or another to find and catch the little blighters. The monkeys can hide, for example, so it's a good idea to make use of the Monkey Radar to pinpoint their location. Some can be quite nippy, which makes the Dash Hoop come in quite handy. In fact the AI of the monkeys is very impressive overall - they run, jump, twist, turn, hide, attack, and generally provide you with quite a challenge in later stages. There are a total of 297 primates to pursue, so you've got quite a task on your hands if you're fancying yourself as a bit of a pro monkey catcher. And as you may be expecting, they won't be just sitting around drinking cups of tea, either.