Ape Escape Academy (2004) — Release Date, Cheats, Price & Requirements

Ape Escape Academy

Ape Escape Academy sees you taking on the role of one of the cheeky monkeys from the Ape Escape series. Choose your chimp, then prepare to tackle various classes in Academy Mode. Each 'class' is actually a…

47 30 December 2004

What Ape Escape Academy is

Ape Escape Academy is a puzzle game developed by Alvion and released in 2004. It was published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is available on PlayStation Portable only.

The premise, in the publisher's words

Ape Escape Academy sees you taking on the role of one of the cheeky monkeys from the Ape Escape series. Choose your chimp, then prepare to tackle various classes in Academy Mode. Each 'class' is actually a mini-game. Your goal is to complete as many mini-games as possible from the 9x9 grid, and score as many lines as you can (sort of like Noughts and Crosses). Mini-games range from mind-bending quizzes to wacky sports games, to the just plain silly, like protecting a roast banana from oncoming apes, or flying through the sky delivering parachutes to plummeting primates.

Description from the publisher · source

How it plays

Its themes are party. It is a single-player game with no multiplayer component.

Where it sits in the Ape Escape series

Ape Escape Academy is the seventh of 16 entries we hold in the Ape Escape series. The next entry was Ape Escape 3 in 2005. Its critic score of 47 is almost exactly the series average of 47. The highest-rated entry is Ape Escape 2 at 78.

See all 16 Ape Escape games in release order →

How it was received

Ape Escape Academy holds a critic score of 47 out of 100. That places it above 5% of the 2,791 rated puzzle games in our database, which average 72. Games released in 2004 averaged 70, so it scored 23 points below the year average.

What it launched against

Ape Escape Academy launched on 30 December 2004, within three weeks of Resident Evil 4 (2005), Resident Evil 4, Gran Turismo 4 and Cave Story. All of them reviewed better.

Released around the same time: Resident Evil 4 (2005), Resident Evil 4, Gran Turismo 4, Cave Story.

Ape Escape Academy — frequently asked questions