When you’ve satisfied the right requirements more areas on the world map will open up for you to conquer which ultimately opens up a boss arena and a card shop. Points to buy cards in the card shop are accumulated by winning matches. When you win your end match hp is converted into card buying points. In the card shop you can buy many of the more common cards from the current area and even buy packs of cards which include three random cards from the area. If you manage to take out the boss, who isn’t always easy, you’ll be presented with the bosses own personal card and mini-game and open up a whole new island on the world map. There are four islands in total within the entire world map and over 100 cards and 100 mini-games.

From secret cards, to common cards, to cards that feature monkeys in crazy costumes and great mini-games the, “Gotta catch em’ all”, mentality really drives this game close to greatness. You can unlock Terminator monkey, Santa Monkey, Little Red Riding Hood Monkey, and even Security Scanner Monkey. Besides costumes there are of course the mini-games that go along with them which range from tight rope walking, to baseball, to the 1 meter dash, to football, to dancing, to flying, and many more. Out are the old worthless mini-games from the first game and in are the worthwhile monkey adventures of part 2.

Which mini-game is present on your current selection of four cards can really make a determining factor in whether or not you play it. Rock, paper, and scissor aside, the mini-games have three overlying factors which determine the winner. The first kind of card depends on plain old dumb luck, there is no way to gauge which monkey will win. The second kind of card is one where the position of the winner of the rock, paper, and scissor match up determines who gets the advantage in the game. For example, in the football mini-game you always want to be the winner as it’s much easier to block the running monkey with your cardboard cutout monkey linebackers than it is to be on the loosing end and have to try to run through them. The third kind of card is evenly balanced and truly depends on skill. The best part about this kind is that there are some evenly balanced games where the computer completely sucks no matter how far you are within the game so you can totally take advantage. Monkey games are definitely my kind of games.

The graphics in this monkey world are completely functional and seem near perfect for the game. The monkeys are modeled well, the textures are clear and crisp, and the environments the monkeys play in are always well constructed. While there’s nothing spectacular about the graphics in Ape Academy 2, they definitely get the job done. I really don’t see how this type of game could have better graphics on a portable system right now.

The sound is great because I really never noticed it and if I did notice it I was smiling. The monkey squeaks, the arcade like action effects, and the background soundtrack all fit well and play out just as well. Like the graphics I don’t think there is much room for improvement for the immanent Ape Academy 3.