To do:

Elaborate on the Japanese PocketStation support

Name changes in the UK version (Monkey names)

Ape Escape is a wacky game featuring a 10-year-old catching monkeys using a net. It was the first PlayStation game to require the use of a dual analog controller to play.

Debug Functions

Debug menus are present in all regions. The following cheat codes change the behavior of the New Game and Load Game choices on the Title screen.

Memory Addresses

Japan North America Europe New Game 30137744 XXXX 30137734 XXXX 30137754 XXXX Load Game 30137748 XXXX 30137738 XXXX 30137758 XXXX

Title Menu Codes

Replace XXXX with one of the below values

Behavior Code Value Time Station 0098 New Game 00AC Load Game 00B4 Option Menu 00B8 Mini Game 00C8 Sound Test 00D0

Time Station

301377?? 0098 sends you directly to the time station, skipping the intro movie and bypassing the first level.

Option Menu

301377?? 00B8 enables an unused option menu with light debug features.

The two boxes present at the top of the screen represent the Left Analog and Right Analog sticks. Rotating the right stick clockwise will cause the right box to flash green, while rotating counter-clockwise will cause it to flash blue.

Moving the right analog stick will cause red and blue waves to appear, flowing across the screen from right to left. The red wave represents the stick's raw Y-axis value, while the blue wave represents the stick's Y-axis velocity.

Action Stick relates to the right stick, and has two settings:

Objective is the default behavior

is the default behavior Subjective allows the player to hold a spinning motion without having to continuously rotate the stick, when using the relevant gadgets. For example: Spinning with the Stun Club. This functionality is imperfect and causes the camera to slowly turn with the player, with each rotation.

These settings can also be toggled in-game using one of the following codes:

Japan North America Europe Objective 300E5100 0000 300E54E0 0000 300E55A0 0000 Subjective 300E5100 0001 300E54E0 0001 300E55A0 0001

Stereo Type and Vibration are accessible in-game via the Pause menu.

To do:

Verify the purpose of Remote VIB — it appears to be an unused option.

Mini Game

301377?? 00C8 opens a debug menu where you can open mini games, though only Ski Kidz Racing and Specter Boxing can be selected from this menu — Galaxy Monkey is not present.

Quitting a mini-game will send you back to the title screen.

Sound Test

301377?? 00D0 opens an unused sound test. In the menu, press Start to open an option.

COMMON tests sound effects that are common for all levels.

Press the face buttons to play sound effects and Select to stop playback. Start exits back to the Sound Test menu.

SIGHT tests the background music for any given stage, and any sound effects that are unique to the selected stage.

Unused Graphics

Graphics of a spinning cookie (health) and T-shirt (1UP). It seems there were initially plans for these items to be flat sprites, but in the game they are 3D models.

If you look closely, you can see "KAKERU" spelled in the center of the cookie, which is Spike's Japanese name.

Also notice the shirt design is different from the one Spike wears in the game. This one has red and white horizontal stripes, while his final shirt is solid red with a single vertical white stripe.

Unused Sounds

Analog Controller Warning

While the Japanese version uses an audio clip informing the player to use a DUALSHOCK controller at the controller warning screen, the English version doesn't. Interestingly, there's an unused English audio clip informing the player to use a DUALSHOCK or Analog controller.

Unused Behavior

If you use the Infinite Jump glitch to get to the normally inaccessible street with the cars in TV Tower, and get hit by a car, you will instantly die. This behavior is not seen anywhere else in the game. Additionally, if you stand on top of a moving car, you will ride it until you reach the boundary, at which point you fall down.

The unused behavior can be seen at the end of the video.

Regional Differences

Name Changes

The main characters had their names changed between the Japanese, US, and European versions. Spike, Katie, Buzz, and Casi's names would get reverted back to their Japanese names in the European version for all later Ape Escape games (except the remake, Ape Escape P - known in the US as Ape Escape: On The Loose - mixing Japanese and US names depending of the character), as the PAL region would end up using the Japanese names for the main characters starting from Ape Escape 2.

Japanese Literal Translation US version EU version カケル Kakeru Spike ナツミ Natsumi Natalie Katie ヒロキ Hiroki Jake Buzz チャル Charu Casi

European Version

Despite the later release date, the European version is likely an earlier build than the US version, as it is slightly less polished and bears some similarities to the demo.

DualShock Controller Required

Europe US

The controller warning screens were rewritten in the US version to remove references to the original (pre-DualShock) Dual Analog controller, although the game does work with both. The US version also uses the same font for both screens.

Title Screen

Europe US

The European title screen features a rather bland WordArt-inspired logo that is notably monkey-free.

Anti-Piracy

The European version of the game disables controller input on the main menu if it detects itself to be a copy. The player may only skip the intro and view the title screen. The European version only recognizes the game to not be a copy if it is being played on an original PlayStation or PlayStation 2 from the PAL region. This unfortunately prevents the European version from being played on a PlayStation 3 due to the software emulation setting off this measure.

Dub

The UK release features a completely separate voice cast from the US release, although they remain uncredited. This feature of having a UK dub would exist in all later UK versions of Ape Escape games.

Japanese Version