Ape Escape cover art

Ape Escape

The player controls Harry the Ape who is attempting to climb a 150 floor tall office tower. The player can move up, left, and right, as the building scrolls vertically. The player must avoid closed windows, as…

31 December 1984

Ape Escape is an arcade developed by Terry Mason, released 31 December 1984 on Apple II and Commodore VIC-20.

Verified Sources: IGDB

What Ape Escape is

Ape Escape is an arcade game developed by Terry Mason and released in 1984. It was published by Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc.. It is available on Apple II and Commodore VIC-20.

The premise, in the publisher's words

The player controls Harry the Ape who is attempting to climb a 150 floor tall office tower. The player can move up, left, and right, as the building scrolls vertically. The player must avoid closed windows, as they offer no handhold, and will cause your ape to fall. As the player ascends, they must avoid a zookeeper on a scaffold, falling bowling balls, earthquakes, and helicopters dropping nets. Occasionally a balloon will float up the left side of the building, and the player can hitch a ride on these to climb faster. The left side of the screen has a progress bar that shows how far the player has climbed the building. The player has one life to climb the building, and if they fall, they…
Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

It is played from a side view perspective. Its themes are action. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.

What it launched against

Ape Escape launched on 31 December 1984, within three weeks of Impossible Mission, Jet Set Willy, 3D Starstrike and Bomb Jack.

Released around the same time: Impossible Mission, Jet Set Willy, 3D Starstrike, Bomb Jack.

Screenshots

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Quick answers

Ape Escape — frequently asked questions

When did Ape Escape come out?
Ape Escape was released on 31 December 1984 for Apple II and Commodore VIC-20.

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