The first video game released in the Planet of the Apes franchise. It was created as a tie-in to the 2001 film, though the plot is inspired by the original novel and the 1968 film.
The PC/PlayStation version of the game follows an astronaut named Ulysses, who crash-lands on a planet inhabited by intelligent apes. The Game Boy Advance/Game Boy Color version is based on the 1968 film and its sequel, and follows the human Ben as he searches for Taylor, the protagonist of the 1968 film.
Contains examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The PC/PlayStation game takes place in the year 3889 AD. The astronauts came from 2125 AD.
- Bat Out of Hell: Mutant bats in the PC/PlayStation game.
- Checkpoint Starvation: There are no checkpoints anywhere. No extra lives or continues either.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: The map to the "Forbidden Place" is split into three relic pieces, which must be retrieved.
- Expy:
- Ulysses is one to Taylor from the original movies and Ulysse from the original novel.
- Ben in one to Brent from Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
- Fake Difficulty: Aside from not having any checkpoints throughout the levels, it can be confusing to find your way around the levels and there are many enemies who are hard to beat. Most unfair is that they have the ability to block your attacks but you don't have a block feature. The Apes can even block knives, which is completely unrealistic.
- Guide Dang It!: The levels are very spacious and are filled with items that typically only work on one thing. For example, the earlier levels are filled with doors and you can find keycards, but each card only unlocks a specific door, forcing you to try them each until you get the right one.
- Save Point: The player can only save at the end of each level.
