Astro Bot has a whole level dedicated to Ape Escape that lets you play as a Bot version of Spike.
While Astro's Playroom was absolutely stuffed with easter eggs and references to PlayStation games and characters, Astro Bot takes things even further.
Astro Bot features an entirely new Ape Escape-inspired level, recreated faithfully in the style of the original games. It appears at the end of the first world, giving it the significant position of being the first level in Astro Bot inspired by a classic PlayStation game.
You play a Bot version of Spike and traverse to level to find ten escaped apes. You get a couple of gadgets for use in completing the task, like a net and noisemaker. Team Asobi did a fantastic job of bringing the feeling of Ape Escape into Astro Bot.
This shouldn't come as a surprise considering the role Ape Escape played in the history of Astro Bot developer Team Asobi. Asobi was originally an internal studio within Japan Studio, the developer of (most) Ape Escape titles, before being spun off into an independent studio under PlayStation.
Astro Bot is shaping up to be one of the best-reviewed games of the year,...
