Sony Japan Studio: 28 Best Games They Helped Create
24. Ape Escape
Having two analog sticks on your controller is a gaming standard nowadays.
Well, before 1999 that wasn't a thing, until Ape Escape came out, and the DualShock controller (custom-built for the title) became part of gaming history.
Releasing in 1999, along with Legend of Dragoon, it marked the second game that year that Japan Studio had made on their own laurels, and it couldn't be more different: kid-friendly, light, and a heap load of silly fun.
You play a spiking hair protagonist, who needs to travel across 3D plains to catch a bunch of monkeys...that's it. As tame as the concept is now, back in the day the revolutionary control scheme and a shake-up of the collect-a-thon formula (chasing monkeys instead of coins) made it an innovative little title.
It became a durable franchise for PS, but the tendency to shoehorn the series into every genre possible - from cart racing to Arcade Shooter - eventually had it fizzle out in the last decade.
1999 was a landmark moment for Japan Studio: with Dragoon and Ape Escape, it showcased Sony had found its first-party studio to created diverse, satisfying, and quality games.