Prologue: What is Ape Escape?

Ape Escape (サルゲッチュ Saru Getchu) is an action platformer released for the Playstation in 1999. The game was well known for its innovative usage of the Dualshock dual analog controller implemented in its control scheme. The game follows a similar model other 3d collectathon games such as Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie but with one major difference; the "collectables" in Ape Escape are actively evasive. The apes run away from the player and, in many cases, actively fight with them to avoid capture. With this active approach to collecting your prizes, the game opens itself up to an interesting set of mechanics that I will attempt to breakdown and make clear in order to shed some light on the game's workings.

For more information on Ape Escape, check out the Wikipedia page here.