An ape's personality can also be determined by the colour of shorts: yellow is standard, light blue means timid, and red represents aggressive.

As Spike (Kakeru) and his best friend Jake (Buzz/Hiroki) arrive at the laboratory, they find themselves transported by Specter, along with all the other monkeys, to the various reaches of time.

Spike must also face off against Specter, who has not only built himself an advanced Monkey Helmet further increasing his own intelligence but has also brainwashed Jake to his side.

Spike chases Specter to his deranged theme park, where he is holding a recently captured Professor, Natalie, and his friend Jake.

Spike frees Jake of his mind control, and releases both the professor and Natalie, and goes on to find Specter in an alternative universe he calls the "Peak Point Matrix".

Intrigued by the potential of the controller,[4] the team implemented its use in Ape Escape, making it the first video game to require the use of the DualShock for gameplay.

After a game director listened to Terada's track "Sumo Jungle", he was given the opportunity to compose the music for Ape Escape.

[6] Music from the game was included in Ape Escape Originape Soundtracks,[c] published on November 18, 2011, by Terada's label Far East Recording.

The English voice acting was recorded at Dubey Tunes Studios in San Francisco, California, with Sara Holihan and Hunter A.

[14] A remake, titled Ape Escape: On the Loose,[b] was announced on May 11, 2004, during Sony's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

[16] The remake features altered controls, due to the lack of a right analog stick on the PSP, as well as some slightly different graphics and mini-games.

[21] Reviewers praised the game's use of analog controls,[6][22] as well as its graphics[6][23] and music,[19][22] with minor criticism directed towards the voice acting.

[19] Edge credited the distinct stages and original weapons, concluding that Ape Escape "offers enough novelty to make it worth serious consideration for anyone tired of the many me-too platformers".

[6] IGN's Perry wrote the textures "aren't terribly stunning" and found the character design "rather fundamental", but felt the game's lighting and camera blended to create "a fantastic and gratifying effect".

[22] AllGame's Marriott similarly mentioned pop-up issues and other glitches, but ultimately commended the graphics, noting the "distinct Japanese style".

[25] Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot lamented the loss of the "finely tuned control" of the original, but felt that the game "still has considerable charm".

[17] GameSpy's David Chapman felt that, despite the noticeable flaws of the game, particularly the controls, it still remains "a lot of fun to play".

[27] Juan Castro of IGN praised the game's use of colour, noting its enhancement on the PlayStation Portable screen.

Castro also warned that "fans of the series will probably miss the second analog stick", but felt that the gadgets mapped to the PSP's face buttons would suffice.

[26] Parish felt that On the Loose served "to blemish the PSP's reputation ... as a dumping ground for warmed over 32-bit offerings far beyond their sell-by date".