Ape Escape/YMMV
- Alternative Character Interpretation: The Pipotrons in the anime are VERY different to the ones in the games.
- Awesome Music:
- Some were particularly fond of the Crumbling Castle theme, as well as the music that played during the final section of Specter Land in the first game. The boss stage music was pretty cool too.
- There were quite a lot of catchy tunes. From Ape Escape 1, there was also (*deep breath*) Fossil Field, Molten Lava, The T-Rex's Lair, Thick Jungle, Dark Ruins, Crabby Beach, Inside Dexter's Body, Sushi Temple, Wabi Sabi Wall, Underground Sewers, Specter's Factory, TV Tower, the BGM for your challenges against a Brainwashed and Crazy Jake, the Ski Kidz Racing Theme, and the Galaxy Monkey theme (which is doubly fitting as the BGM that blares during your Final Battle with Specter at Peak Point Matrix, his final outer space stronghold). Even the title screen BGM and normal ending credits are great.
- From Ape Escape 2, there's Gadget Trainer, Liberty Island, Breezy Village, Vita-Z Factory, Enter The Monkey, Pirate Isle, Code C.H.I.M.P., Moon Base 2, Theme of the Freaky Monkey 5, Freaky Monkey 5 Battle, and (best of all) the imposing theme for your battle with Specter. The title screen, stage intro, stage clear, Monkey Soccer, Kick Off!, Monkeys' Gonna Getchu!, and Monkey Climber are this with a side helping of Ear Worm.
- Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed had two that stand out. On being the Pipotron Theme, the other being the Grid Core Theme. And yes, the lyrics in the Pipotron Theme are the same as in Shudder.
- Ensemble Darkhorse:
- Sayaka/Yumi to the point she received her own (mobile only) spinoff game while her brother is nowhere to be seen.
- Despite her few appearances, Casi has gotten quite a fan following. Her prominence in the anime helped a bit too.
- Fandom Rivalry: With Banjo-Kazooie.
- Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Oh dear Specter, let me count the ways. White-Haired Pretty Boy/Evil Albino? Check. Evil Genius Mad Scientist? Check. Not really a human but not quite an animal either? Check. Evil army at his disposal that bows to his every will? Sits atop a bad ass flying throne? Looks damn good in a suit? Oh baby, check please!
- Chika Sakamoto's voice acting doesn't help matters much either.
- First Installment Wins: Even though the sequels have made their share of improvements and have their fans, the first Ape Escape is regarded as one of the all time classic games for the PS1, and is definitely the most recognizable of them all. It also received a remake in 2005 titled Ape Escape: On the Loose for the PlayStation Portable.
- Foe Yay: It's not exactly thick with UST, but Specter seems more than just casually interested in Spike.
- Game-Breaker: Invoked. The Magic Punch is the most powerful weapon in the games: doing more damage than the Stun Club and essentially replacing it. What keeps it from becoming the Infinity+1 Sword is that you cannot get it until after beating the Final Boss and, it's required for 100% Completion.
- Goddamned Bats:
- Monkeys in green pants will not only sense you approaching much more easily than other monkeys, but they fire homing missiles at you. The red-pants monkeys from the first game were like this except they also punched you.
- The red-pants monkeys from the first game are far worse than their green-clad counterparts, almost to the point of being Demonic Spiders. In addition to the homing rockets of the green-pants monkeys, they also carry machine guns and throw bombs at you. From the second game onwards, they're not as dangerous due to trading in their arsenals for boxing gloves, but they can still be annoying to deal with.
- Most of the flying enemies, mainly due their tendency to hang around areas where they can easily knock you off of ledges or into bottomless pits.
- In the third game, all the monkeys when not stunned have a very high probability of dodging your net to capture them. This can lead to some epic nerd rage.
- Moe: Tsukushi appears to be one.
- Most Wonderful Sound: "GOTCHA!"
- Narm: The voice acting in the first game.
- Polished Port: Due to a region mismatch, the European PlayStation Network version of Ape Escape 2 ended up being the full framerate North American version.
- "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny: The first game was the first to require the use of the DualShock controller. Back in 1999, this was a big deal. Thanks in part to this game, the DualShock became the standard controller for the PlayStation consoles.
- Sidetracked by the Gold Saucer: Mesal Gear Solid is a gigantic minigame with its own story and gameplay. Leaving the main game for hours of sneaking is common.
- Squick: Yellow Monkey's second boss battle requires you to smack his rotting green teeth out of his gums.
- That One Boss: King Gorilliax. Hey, whichever character's driving the Flying Turtle! Stop flying under the jet exhaust!
- That One Level: The final levels in every game are ridiculously long and have annoying platformer elements. Ugh.
- Uncanny Valley: The Pipo-Monkeys, with their enormous unblinking eyes, unfortunately fall into this at times, particularly during cutscenes.
- Vindicated by History: Aside from the Porting Disaster on the PSN versions, Ape Escape 2. A lot of fans back in the day experienced Hype Backlash yet as time went on, it became seen as a pretty good example of the collect-a-thon subgenre.
- The Woobie: Specter in the Playstation Move reboot. Here, he was a monkey raised by a female scientist who was forced to be launched into space against his owner's wishes. He was later rescued by the descendants of other monkeys launched into space and was made their leader. He is shown to be rather bitter and sad about all of it, in contrast to his previous portrayal.
- Helga, especially in Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed. Everyone else's intermission videos range from light-hearted to comedic to just plain strange, but Helga's... they're just plain depressing.