
Snake tries to catch a monkey.
Snake vs. Monkey is a minigame featured in the PlayStation 2 versions of Metal Gear Solid 3 that serves as a crossover with Sony Computer Entertainment's Ape Escape series.
Players control Solid Snake as he is sent on a mission by Roy Campbell to capture a group of monkeys causing mayhem in the jungle. All the stages are set in locations from the main Snake Eater campaign and Snake's own character model is the same one used for Naked Snake in the beginning of Operation Snake Eater, but permanently equipped with the Banana camouflage. The minigame was designed for players of all ages and thus, Snake only uses a "Monkey Shaker" (a renamed EZ Gun) and stun grenades to immobilize the apes. Completing this minigame will unlock items for the main campaign.
The minigame originally consisted of five stages in the North American and Japanese versions of Snake Eater, but the later European version added two exclusive stages. These exclusive stages were later included in every version of Subsistence, which contained the minigame in the second disc. The minigame was absent in The Essential Collection due to the omission of Subsistence's second disc, and was later omitted in the multiplatform HD Edition and Snake Eater 3D releases due to Ape Escape being a Sony property (as Snake Eater 3D was released on the 3DS, belonging to Nintendo, and one of the systems HD Edition was released on was the Xbox 360, made by Microsoft, both of which were rivals of Sony in video game console development), although the Monkey Mask and the sound files could still be accessed via datamining the respective games, the latter due to holdover data from Subsistence.
Contents
Plot
Spike and Jimmy (Kakeru and Hikaru), after being released for summer vacation from school, decides to daydream their vacation away. Despite this, however, the apes have once again escaped, this time into the jungle. The Professor then requests Roy Campbell's assistance after declaring a state of emergency. Campbell decides that he knew the man needed: Solid Snake is, ironically, dragged out of a vacation by Campbell at around 2:00 AM to head into the jungle. He isn't too happy about it, although Campbell explains that they need Snake. Snake then asks why they chose him. He makes it clear that he will not accept a mission that involved taking down Metal Gears, or rescuing VIPs or some old man.
Campbell states that the mission isn't anything like that. Snake mentions that he'd think about taking the mission if it involves "some hot damsel in distress." Campbell reveals that, while it's not a damsel in distress, it is a rescue mission... involving apes, or rather, monkeys. Snake is shocked at the nature of the mission, constantly asking if Campbell did actually say "monkeys." Campbell is quick to explain that they aren't ordinary monkeys, and that Snake needs to infiltrate the jungle and capture all the monkeys as his mission. Snake then mentions that monkeys aren't really his thing, and that the Colonel should have contacted Spike or Jimmy about the mission if monkeys were the mission.
Campbell explains that neither Spike nor Jimmy were available, causing Snake to remind him that he was dragged out of his vacation for this in exasperation. Campbell then stats that they need him, as no one else would do it. Snake tries to explain that there are other sneaking experts who can participate in a sneaking mission, like Gabe or Sam. Campbell reminds Snake that he is the one who turned the leaf every time in the genre. Campbell then admits that he asked Snake to do the job as a request from the professor (Natalie's grandfather) himself. When Snake asks if he was the one who invented the Monkey Helmet, Campbell reveals that was actually his classmate from high school who invented it. He also explains that he is Otacon's friend, and in fact it was because of the Professor that Otacon came up with several of his inventions.
Snake begrudgingly accepts the mission, and mentions that while he isn't against catching monkeys, he'll "rather be collecting pants." Campbell then explains that the monkeys fled into the jungle, and he needs to knock them out for capture; after collecting all of the monkeys, his mission will be complete. He also advises Snake to shout out the password once he captures a monkey.
Stages
Original stages
- Escape from the Jungle
- Dragnet of the Apes
- Dawn of the Apes
- Ape Fear
- Gone with the Apes
Extra stages
- Return of the Living Apes
- The Apes of Wrath
Rewards
Monkey Mask.
Banana Camouflage.
References to other works
In addition to mentioning Spike, Jimmy, the Professor, and Natalie from the Ape Escape series, Snake also references Samuel "Sam" Fisher from the Splinter Cell series and Gabriel "Gabe" Logan from the Syphon Filter series.
The names of the stages are parodies of various movie titles, at least two of which also partially reference the Planet of the Apes film and novel series:
- "Escape from the Jungle" is a reference to Escape from New York, which was also an inspiration for the Metal Gear series.
- "Dragnet of the Apes" is a reference to the detective series Dragnet and the movie series Planet of the Apes.
- "Dawn of the Apes" is a reference of Dawn of the Dead and the Planet of the Apes (coincidentally, a movie from the latter franchise, released almost a decade after Subsistence, was titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).
- "Ape Fear" is a reference to Cape Fear.
- "Gone with the Apes" is a reference to Gone with the Wind.
- "Return of the Living Apes" is a reference to Return of the Living Dead
- "The Apes of Wrath" is a reference to The Grapes of Wrath.
References in later games
Although the minigame is never referenced in later entries to the Metal Gear series, including various re-releases of Snake Eater, it was given an indirect reference in the second round of Solid Snake's classic mode in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, titled "Weapons and Equipment OSP", where his challenger is Diddy Kong from the Donkey Kong series.
Gallery
External links
See also
- Mesal Gear Solid: Snake Escape, a counterpart minigame in featured Ape Escape 3.
- Camouflage (Metal Gear Solid 3)
- Metal Gear Solid 3 secrets
- Metal Gear Solid 3 Walkthrough