Of course, things weren't entirely perfect. The camera wasn't always the best, nothing new in the realm of platformers, and the game had an annoying habit of throwing a player out of a stage once they met the level's capture quota, which made going back and capturing those last one or two monkeys, required for 100% completion, a bit tiresome. These problems weren't anything major, they didn't render the game unplayable, but they were somewhat annoying.

The 2003 PlayStation 2 sequel was, essentially, more of the same. Sure, it marked a return of the same great gameplay and added better graphics, new gadgets, new stages, and new monkeys, but the same quibbles, the same camera problems and annoyances regarding capture quotas, also returned. Again, these didn't render the game unplayable, but they were somewhat annoying.

Thus, it shouldn't be all that surprising to learn that Ape Escape 3 really doesn't stray from tradition. As they have since the first Ape Escape, camera problems crop up from time to time, such as a monkey or enemy running behind the player or an awkward camera angle making precision movement difficult. And as it has since the first game, a quick tap of the L1 button, which centers the camera behind the player, usually remedies this problem, and it only takes a few stages for the player to master this form of camera control.

Likewise, Ape Escape 3 still kicks the player out of a stage once they've captured a set amount of monkeys. The quota doesn't require the player to catch all the monkeys in a stage though, there are usually three or four left behind. And if a player has been capturing monkeys as the level progresses, those three or four monkeys left behind are generally located at the end of a stage. So in order to capture every monkey in a stage, again required for 100% completion, the player generally has to run through each stage twice. It's especially annoying when those last few monkeys are in a group and the player captures one of them, only to fulfill their quota and be booted out of the stage.

But the good news is that Ape Escape 3 not only inherits all the awesome gameplay of the previous two games, but also expands on it a bit. This time around, Specter has teamed up with a Dr. Tomoki to take over the world's television broadcasts, and in doing so, brainwash the world's populace. To do this, Specter has rolled out his own brand of programming, entitled Specter TV, which takes popular television shows and films and well, puts monkeys in them. So it's off to series newcomers Kei and Yumi to stop the broadcasts and capture Specter ...again.

To do this, Kei and Yumi must travel to the sets of the various Specter TV programs, capture the monkey actors, and shut down production. In other words, Kei and Yumi work their way through levels filled with monkeys acting out various parodies, spoofs and pop culture references, including Indiana Jones, Red Riding Hood, a football game, Star Wars, Transformers, a late-night infomercial, Spider-Man, Superman, Godzilla, Titanic, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Howl's Moving Castle, and many, many more, all of which are as amusing as they sound. Additionally, many of the levels provide video cameras which allow these spoofs to be recorded and watched at the Monkey Cinema.

Luckily, the monkeys aren't the only ones with costumes. In addition to the traditional monkey-nabbing gadgets, Kei and Yumi are equipped with the new Morph system, which temporarily allows them to gain new abilities and a new look. For example, Kei's Knight outfit grants him the ability to resist fire, awfully handy when fighting a mechanical dragon. Another costume, which seems a homage to Sega's Shinobi (complete with trailing red scarf), allows Kei to run on walls and dash through the air. Each Morph also features a unique monkey-capturing ability, especially handy as certain monkeys can be notoriously difficult to capture with the standard net. And as each morph brings with it a different style of gameplay, be it the shoot-'em-up Cowboy outfit or the fast-moving Shinobi garb, this system helps to keep things from getting stale.

All of this comes at a price though, being the title's short length. It'll only take most players five or six hours to work through Ape Escape 3's story mode. Though there's still a lot of gameplay left in the title after the ending, including the various mini-games, time trials, and capturing the monkeys left behind, it's up to the player to decide as to whether or not any of this makes a difference.

Speaking of mini-games, the Mesal Gear Solid mini-game deserves special recognition. It is, quite literally, Ape Escape's controls meet Metal Gear Solid. The player, a monkey trained with Solid Snake's battle data, is send into a secret base to rescue Snake himself. What follows is a surprisingly-lengthy quest, in the area of four or five hours. A la Metal Gear Solid, the player must infiltrate the base through stealth and carefully-selected fights. The gameplay is right out of Metal Gear Solid, complete with sneaking and crawling, the only difference being that everyone is a monkey and firing the banana-gun is handled by flicking the right analog stick. Available after beating Ape Escape 3's story mode, Mesal Gear Solid is a nice, unexpected bonus.

My only complaint with Ape Escape 3 is that the translation seems lacking compared to the previous games. Former Ape Escape titles often gave the monkeys clever names. But most of Ape Escape 3's monkeys seem to be direct translations of the Japanese names, with lots of Ukki and Saru and -mon. Occasionally there's a monkey with a clever name, such as Apey Jones, but it's sad to see the potential of monkeys dressed like Superman, Kate Winslet, Leondardo DiCaprio, and Darth Vader wasted when their names don't make reference to their appearance.

Ape Escape 3 also has a problem maintaining a constant framerate. This didn't really bother me, as the action never got distractingly choppy, but some may not be as forgiving.

With its charming sense of humor and great gameplay, Ape Escape 3 is probably the best Ape Escape yet. It is short though, easily beaten in the span of a rental, and even with Mesal Gear Solid and all the replay value, some may still consider the game too short to buy. But be it purchase or rent, Ape Escape 3 is still a lot of fun, both for series fans and those of platformers in general.