Two more PlayStation Portable titles have been added to Japan's PSP The Best series. This line of budget titles is similar to the Greatest Hits line in the U.S.

The first new addition is Alfa Systems and Namco's Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. First released in Japan in December 2006, this title is a spin-off of the popular Tales RPG series. It also holds the distinction of being the first Tales of the World title to be officially released in North America.

SCEI's Ape Escape Racing has also been added. Known as Saru Get You: Pipo Saru Racer in Japan, this title is a quirky racing game where players get to "build" their own monkey racing machines by adding engines and tires to the monkeys in the Ape Escape series.

Both of these new PSP The Best titles are available in japan for 2,800 yen (US$ 24).

If you're looking for a deal on your PSP, you might as well check out Play-Asia.com. They're currently offering Ape Escape Racer for US$ 14.90 and Bleach: Heat the Soul 2 for US$ 24.90.

That's pretty tempting. Ape Escape Racer was released last year in Japan (still no signs of Europe or North America releases). It features players building their own monkey racers - well, literally. It's like a cross between Mario Kart and the 80's cartoon The Centurions as you'll have to outfit your monkey to be the fastest racer on the track.

Meanwhile, Bleach: Heat the Soul 2 takes players to the world of the death gods (Soul Society) and four friends adventure into it (or fighting the people in it). Of course, Ichigo, Sado, Orihime, Ishida, and Rukia are in attendance, along with some of the Captains and Lieutenants. This title was also only released in Japan.

There you have it. If you're looking to import, this might be the best time.

Ape Escape Racer or Ape Escape Racers or Ape Escape Racing (take your pick), known as Sarugetchu Piposaru Racer or Saru Get You: Piposaru Racer in Japan, has hit Japanese stores. If our sources are correct, the official date of release is December 7, 2006.

But despite the abundance of different names for this game, there's a huge empty chasm in terms of news about an American release.

It's too bad too. Unlike other Ape Escape titles, this one isn't another minigame collection. This one is a racing game where the vehicles come in two variants: one set of vehicles is built for speed while another is built for the fine art of drifting.

Like other racing games that star the mascot-characters of previous games, this racing game lets you use weapons to slow down your opponents.

This game has a cool (and strange) artistic design twist: the apes don't race cars. The apes are the cars. The apes have tires and engines and spoilers, and they zoom down the track. If you want to see it for yourself, just check out the screenshots or try to get your hands on the demo.

Like other Ape Escape titles, Ape Escape Racers is developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI).

phatmax_666 was able to find an eboot of the Ape Escape Racers demo and he bagged it up on the QJ forums. It's just a demo, presumably from TGS, and it contains only one track. Despite this, it's still a good demo, as demos usually go.

To make the demo work:

• create a folder - file:/psp/game/UCUS98655
• transfer the Eboot.PBP into that folder.

Controls:

• X: Accelerate
• Square : Brake
• Circle : Use power-up/weapon
• Triangle : Horn
• L+R : morph to "rocket mode"

Now, now... one of the files works on firmware 2.81, the other is a hex edit for 2.80. So if you guys want to upgrade your units, just be sure you know what you're doing.

Currently, phatmax_666 is hosting the file on RapidShare. And we all know how difficult that could sometimes get. As of the moment, we can't host the download link just yet, but soon enough, we'd post it here. HOWEVER, we have the file on our forums, so for now, you can go there (linked below) to check the demo out.

Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

 

Monkey see, monkey do. And they're doing more than just seeing, hearing, and speaking no evil. They're racing. In Japan, it's called Sarugetchu: Piposaru Racer. In the US, quite simply, Ape Escape Racers. Konami is expanding their Ape Escape franchise, in the same sense that Nintendo came out with Mario Kart. While you've always had racers that drive your carts, this time around you get your racer turned into the cart itself.

Your monkey-drivers have various cart-parts strapped into them: wheels, rims, spoilers, and all. The point of the game is customization. The more races you win, the more money you can get to tune up your monkey-cart. There's over 40 kinds of machinery that you can mix-and-match onto your racer, and sometimes speed is not always the best way to go. You might be going real fast, but once someone bumps you, you're in for a spin.

Well, for those who are Ape Escape fans, this game looks promising. The idea of mechanically turning a monkey into a car is a bit disturbing though, but hey, that's the fun of video games. Everyone has "mad scientist" tendencies, don't they? Or maybe that's just us...

We just can't get enough of the apes, can we? And Konami is hell bent on giving us more of these manic apes with their game Ape Escape Racers. The basics of this game involves a monkey and series of engines and wheels to make that monkey run faster. The game has over 46 types of machines available, and this still doesn't include the possibilities that you can do with customization.

According to Famitsu, the monkeys get completely overjoyed once you give them the machines. They are motivated by the coconuts prize so they would do anything to get faster. Going faster would mean going beyond the speed that no other monkey can do. And you can only do this through customization.

So far, they released two types of engines. First is the American type of engine, which comes in normal, long, and wide engine. They've also released Formula One engines. From these, you can start customizing your monkey by giving them special colors, hats, and turbines. You can get money for your customization with every race that you win! Well, if you're a rabid monkey, then there should be no issue on how to get those coconuts.

Back in 1999, Ape Escape was released as a platform game for the PlayStation. It launched a series of videogames (Ape Escape Academy 2 and Ape Escpae: On The Loose), the latest of which is Ape Escape Racer for the PSP. It's officially called Sarugetchu Piposaru Racer in Japan. As such, it's slated for a Japanese release later this year.

Ape Escape Racer will feature the adorable monkeys of the Ape Escape franchise. This time around, they race one another - using weapons and special items - to get to the finish line. What'll set this game apart from other cart racers is that instead of boarding the vehicles, the apes equip themselves with tires and engine, after which they would speed down the track just like any other race car. The game will have 46 racing "vehicles", each can perform drifts and acceleration.

To give the game a boost, Playstation.com (Japan) has put up the official site for the game. As the game is headed for Japan, the site is (you guessed it!) in Japanese. Again, you'd have to brush up on your Japanese skills to get more info about the game. But if you look at the pictures from the site, you'll get an idea of the several features of the game. So, it really wouldn't hurt to check out the site. If you've enjoyed playing the other Ape Escape games, chances are you'd also get a kick playing this racing game, if and when it hits US retail shelves.