NOCLIP Pocket E60 - Freshly-Jellied - Ape Escape

What’s happening? What’s wrong with you? Do you realize what you’re
saying? Do you know who you’re talking to? Snap out of it! Pull
yourself together! Can you hear me? Welcome back to the podcast!
For our second pocket episode for the very cohesive and not stupid
in any way themed month of Ape-ril, we’re going to be talking about
Ape Escape. This is a Playstation 1 title that necessitates the use
of the Dual-Shock analog controller. Which in the grand scheme of
things doesn’t necessarily sound all that important of a detail to
focus on, but playing the game it becomes very clear that its
purpose was really to showcase all of things that were possible by
having multiple analog sticks (as well as the L3/R3 button
concept), and does so in a really unique way. The control scheme of
this game is actually really clever, with the face buttons used to
switch between multiple gadgets that can be mapped by the player
and all use the right stick to function, as well as having jump
mapped to the R1 button to keep the stick always available to be
used. It was certainly novel at the time, and since we live in a
world now where every modern controller has multiple analog sticks,
it’s clear that the Dual Shock has had an impact with Ape Escape
having at least a small part in introducing this concept to
players. On top of that, the game is just solidly designed, having
a lot of mechanical complexity and player abilities, but with a
simple concept and mostly very tightly designed levels. This
overall simplicity meant that the player can focus on using
platforming, stealth, climbing and all of the different gadgets
without sacrificing the flow of the level. We’re going to be
talking about the successes and failures of the novel control
scheme, the legacy of the game and why it’s worth playing, and our
desire to see someone in a big foam Spike mascot costume. Thank you
for joining us this week! This game wasn’t an unknown quantity for
us coming in, but we were still surprised by just how well this
game held up, particularly in the face of some of the older games
we’ve played recently. It really is an interesting title with a lot
of good ideas that really haven’t been iterated on much outside of
its own series. Did this game introduce you to twin stick
controllers? Did you have an equally smooth time playing this one
in the modern era? Let us know down in the comments or over on our
Discord! Next time we’re leaving Ape-ril and entering into Mystery
May (and then hopefully taking a fairly long break from themes) and
we’re going to be talking about Gemini Rue, so we hope you’ll join
us for that!