The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
Today’s entry sees us taking a gander at the downloadable PSP party romp, Ape Academy.
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Developer: Shift
Region(s) available: North America, Europe, Japan
Players: 1-4
In strike contrast to the core outings in the series, mini-game marathon Ape Academy plonks players on the other side of the fence, viewing things from the perspective our pesky primate pals. Well, sort of. While this time around you aren’t gallivanting around as some spiky-haired anime ankle-biter, Ape Academy is really just an excuse to indulge in some party-based shenanigans, with little attention focused on plot.
Here, players assume control of a mischievous primate who is currently undergoing training to become a loyal flunky to franchise monkey mastermind, Specter. Training is split by grades, each of which offers nine mini-games to plough through in random succession. Your progress is charted via a tic-tac-toe style board, which marks your accomplishments or failures with a circle and X, respectively. The idea is to rake in as many of the former as possible, creating “lines” on the board which you must meet in order to pass a grade. Some require only one line to pass, while others need many more to succeed.
There’s around 40 mini-games in total to test you might against, and they’re fairly diverse to boot. Some require your monkey mate to indulge in physical activities such as bowling or wrestling, while others are more cerebrally challenging, with numerous puzzle/memory-based tasks up for grabs. Oh, and then there’s the obligatory banana-based games, where your pint-sized primate must protect or obtain hordes of the much-loved fruit.
There’s a fair few things to do once you’ve graduated too, such as replaying past grades to acquire rare monkey statues, indulging in your favourite mini-game without the academy trappings or having a pop at the multiplayer mode. The latter allows for wireless play for those who have their own copies of the game, though up to four players can squeeze in on the action via a single PSP unit.
Join us again tomorrow for another poke around Inside PlayStation Network.