Welcome to the Ape Escape Trophy guide! This seminal piece of gaming history has been released alongside the new PSN service and includes Trophies. This classic comes with 17 Trophies to earn and is a relatively stress free list to complete.
- 2/10 Estimated Difficulty
- 10 Estimated Hours to Platinum
- 1 Playthrough With Level Select for Cleanup
Nothing here is missable and will take at least one playthrough to earn the Platinum. You’re going to need to complete the game once and then go back and clean up some collectible Specter Coins via level select. You can also go back and capture monkeys to reach the needed 100 for the “Pro Catcher” Trophy. It is possible to capture 100+ monkeys during your initial playthrough but if you don’t, they can easily and quickly be captured via level select. There are 204 monkeys total, so you don’t need to find them all in order to get the Platinum.
As previously mentioned above, there are collectibles. You’re going to need to find and collect 40 of the 60 Specter Coins. These are relatively easy to find as the maps are not that big or intricate like you’d expect from a game released today. After all, we’re talking about a game from 1999 on the original PlayStation here.
A majority of this list will be earned automatically by simply playing through the story. So, level select clean up should be at a minimum.
Different Regions
There are different versions of Ape Escape being released on the new PSN service. In Japan, the NTSC version has been released. The PAL version has been released in the Asian markets. Aside from performance differences, the names of the levels are different as well. Both level names will be listed in the guide below.
Rewind
There is a new rewind feature for the PS1 Classics. This is not game specific thing, but a system feature. If at any point you die, fall of a ledge, startle a hard to catch monkey, take too much damage or just wanna restart, you can press the Options button and scrub through your gameplay and choose where you want to start from. It is a very helpful feature and will make this game very easy to complete.
No Ape Can Escape!
Collect all other Ape Escape Trophies.
Rookie Catcher
Capture your First Monkey.
See the “Pro Catcher” Trophy below for more details.
Established Catcher
Capture 50 Monkeys.
See the “Pro Catcher” Trophy below for more details.
Pro Catcher
Capture 100 Monkeys.
The whole point of Ape Escape is to capture monkeys. There are monkeys in every level that need to be captured. Capturing the monkeys is how you complete levels and move on to the next.
Some of the monkeys in each level will be inaccessible until you have unlocked all of the gadgets. However, it is possible to capture 100 monkeys during your initial playthrough As there are a lot more than 100. There are 204 to be exact.
There area a few levels where capturing monkeys isn’t the objective, but they are still in the levels. These levels have a lot of monkeys. So, be thorough when playing those and collect as many as you can.
If you’re spotted by a monkey, it’s going to run and sometimes attack you making things a little more difficult. So, you’re going to want to try your best to sneak up on them by pressing in 
. When you’re close enough to a monkey, equip the Time Net and swing at it by using 
. You can also stun them with your other gadgets that you will unlock by progressing through the story. When stunned, you can easily scoop them up with the Time Net.
The majority of the monkeys are not particularly well hidden. If you’re having trouble finding them, make sure to use the Monkey Radar. This will point you in the direction of nearby monkeys. You can also hear them if they’re near.
The monkeys are categorized by the color of their pants. They will have different attributes based on what colors they’re wearing.
- Yellow Pants – Common monkey types.
- Blue Pants – Fast monkeys.
- Red Pants – These monkeys have high attack.
- Green Pants – These monkeys will see you more quickly and fire rockets.
- Black Pants – These monkeys will fire their weapons at you immediately after they’ve spotted you.
- Light Blue – These are skittish and are often found in harder to reach places.
Don’t forget to make use of the Rewind feature by pressing Options if need be. This will make things easier on you if you mistime a jump, fall off a ledge, take too much damage or get spotted by a hard to catch monkey.
Penny Pincher
Collect your First Specter Coin.
See the “Money Bags” Trophy below for more details.
Moving On Up!
Collect 20 Specter Coins.
See the “Money Bags” Trophy below for more details.
Money Bags
Collect 40 Specter Coins.
These are big golden coins that are found hidden through out the various levels. There are 60 Specter Coins in total, so you don’t need to collect them all.
You won’t be able to collect all of them until you have all of the gadgets. These can be found underwater, behind locked doors, up on poles/trees or even out in the open. They’re pretty easy to find as the maps are not very big. You will likely come across a majority of these as you search for monkeys to capture.
- Fossil Field / Ancient Plain – 1 Coin
- Primordial Ooze / Raining Lake – 1 Coin
- Molten Lava / Dinosaur Valley – 1 Coin
- Thick Jungle / Jungle River – 4 Coins
- Why Here Ruins / Dark Ruins – 4 Coins
- Who Built This Ruin / Cryptic Relics – 1 Coin
- Stadium Attack / Buzz Attack Pt. 1 – 5 Coins for winning
- Crabby Beach / Primitive Beach – 1 Coin
- Coral Cave / Primitive Ocean – 1 Coin
- Dexter’s Island – 3 Coins
- Snowy Mammoth / Frozen Ocean – 1 Coin
- Frosty Retreat / Icicle Cave – 3 Coins
- Monkey Hot Springs – 2 Coins
- Gladiator Attack / Buzz Attack Pt. 2 – 5 Coins for winning
- Shushi Temple / Tranquil Temple – 3 Coins
- Wabi Sabi Wall / The Great Wall – 3 Coins
- Crumbling Castle / Trick Castle – 4 Coins
- City Park / Urban City – 3 Coins
- Specter’s Factory – 2 Coins
- TV Tower – 2 Coins
- Monkey Madness / Specter Land – 10 Coins
Get Wet!
Obtain the Water Net.
The Water Net will be acquired as part of the story. After completing “Ancient Plain”, you’ll go through a tutorial on how to swim an use the Water Net.
The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
Who Are You Looking For?
Obtain the Monkey Radar.
The Monkey Radar will be acquired as part of the story. After completing “Dinosaur Valley”, you’ll go through a tutorial on how to use the Monkey Radar.
The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
Hands Up!
Obtain the Slingback Shooter.
The Slingback Shooter will be acquired as part of the story. After completing “Dark Ruins”, you’ll go through a tutorial on how to use the Slingback Shooter.
The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
Do the Hula!
Obtain the Super Hoop.
The Super Hoop will be acquired as part of the story. After completing “Buzz Attack Part 1”, you’ll go through a tutorial on how to use the Super Hoop.
The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
Take to the Skies!
Obtain the Sky Flyer.
The Sky Flier will be acquired as part of the story. After completing “Frozen Ocean”, you’ll go through a tutorial on how to use the Sky Flier.
The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
For Those Hard to Reach Places
Obtain the RC Car.
The RC Car will be acquired as part of the story. After completing “Trick Castle”, you’ll go through a tutorial on how to use the RC Car.
The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
Put Em Up!
Obtain the Magic Punch.
The Magic Punch is acquired by beating Specter during the final level called “Specter Land.”
After the credits and cutscenes have played, you’ll be back in the main hub area. Choose to play any level and you’ll be given the Magic Punch and automatically taken to the tutorial for it. The Trophy will pop upon completing the tutorial.
Frosty Monkey
Play the Ski Kidz Racing mini game.
In order to play the Ski Kidz Racing mini game, you’ll need to have first found at least 10 Specter Coins.
From standing in the middle of the main hub room facing the mission select screen, turn left and enter the room. Ski Kidz Racing is the game on the left. All you have to do is start the game to pop this. You do not have to win or even play the game. This will pop as soon as you interact with the game.
Warrior Monkey
Play the Specter Boxing mini game.
In order to play the Specter Boxing mini game, you’ll need to have first found at least 20 Specter Coins.
From standing in the middle of the main hub room facing the mission select screen, turn left and enter the room. Specter Boxing is the game in the middle. All you have to do is start the game to pop this. You do not have to win or even play the game. This will pop as soon as you interact with the game.
Space Monkey
Play the Galaxy Monkey mini game.
In order to play the Galaxy Monkey mini game, you’ll need to have first found at least 40 Specter Coins.
From standing in the middle of the main hub room facing the mission select screen, turn left and enter the room. Galaxy Monkey is the game on the right. All you have to do is start the game to pop this. You do not have to win or even play the game. This will pop as soon as you interact with the game.