| Game |  
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| Previous level | Wabi Sabi Wall/The Great Wall |
| Next Level | City Park/Urban City |
| Era | Medieval Mayhem/Recent Past |
| Specter Coins | 
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| Monkeys | 20 |
| Enemies Introduced | Nutty Knight Parky Walloon Knight Spec-a-lizer (boss) |
Crumbling Castle, or Trick Castle in PAL regions and Japan (からくりキャッスル), is the 17th level in Ape Escape and Ape Escape: On the Loose.
Description[]
As expected from the name, the Crumbling Castle is a massive medieval fortress carved from stone bricks and set on top of a tall mountain. It counts with a courtyard, the throne room, four cardinal towers, a watchtower and a system of dungeons that's linked with the water depository that grants access to the top of the castle.
Due to Specter and his monkey soldiers taking over, the flags, tiles and tapestries adorning the halls bear Specter's likeness as symbol of their occupation.
Walkthrough[]
Go Catch Specter![]
Spike starts at the farthest corner of the courtyard. With his main mission being catching Specter, Spike must open the watchtower's gate located in the building's roof In order to find the monkey leader.
To do that you must restart the waterworks by delving in the castle's basement, the only available entrance in the first run being through the throne room. To access the throne you have to catch at least 5 monkeys scattered across the courtyard and the left tower.
After exploring the left tower and reaching the roof, remember to hit the button to make a shortcut from the castle's exterior to climb back up once the watchtower is unlocked.
Once the door to the throne room is open you can descend into the dungeons by entering the door in the right hallway of the castle. After defeating the Walloon Knight you'll find the depository. Following this mostly lineal path you'll reach the waterworks guarded by a Red Pants Monkey and a Yellow Pants Monkey. By climbing across the moving gears of this room you'll see in the second floor a red button. Once pushed, the static gears nearby will move to their normal position, triggering the watchtower's gate to slide open.
Coming full circle and returning to the depository, you can leave pushing the button in front of the prison cell, which leads to the sewer back to the courtyard. When you reach the watchtower's inside a cutscene will play. Spike confronts Specter and Jake who then escape into the present via Specter's Battle Cruiser having brought the city under their control, but not before Jake promises he and Spike will face each other again in the near future, with Specter adding ominously "Only if you can defeat HIM..." just before they leave. Specter's warning becomes clear immediately afterwards as he will summon the Spec-a-lizer to fight Spike. You'll have to face off with the Spec-a-lizer and effectively defeating it will count as clearing the stage.
Despite you only need to catch 5 monkeys to clear the stage, 19 out of the 20 monkeys within the castle can be caught in the first playthrough. The four Specter Coins can also be collected without issue.
Go Catch the Monkeys![]
After the events in Specterland, Spike will be granted with the Magic Punch, needed to break the Monkey Capsule set in the left tower at the castle's exterior and thus catch the remaining monkey to 100% Clear the stage.
Specter Coins Locations[]
Courtyard - Walking the mountainside to the left you'll find a Blue Pants Monkey. From there you can see a distant platform by the left. You must use the Skydiver to reach the platform and from there you can see another one where the coin is resting.
Throne Room's Window - In the window where Wilhelm (Constable) is looking through, the Coin is floating near him.
Dungeons - In the room where you face the Walloon Knight you must go down both slides and jump at the end of the second one. The Coin is resting on the red trampoline commonly used to reach Figero (Suede).
Waterworks - Once you push the button that reactivates the watchtower's gate you can see the Coin floating above the main gear. You can use the Skydiver to reach it easily from the solid floor.
Time Attack[]
As the level's features reset like the first visit, the throne room will be permanently unavailable to explore during Time Attack, as the lamp requires 5 monkeys to be caught, but only 3 can be caught to finish the challenge. With this in mind the only viable objectives to catch are within the courtyard and the left tower.
The most common route to take is make your way to the mountainside to catch Igor (Ali), promptly reach the left tower using the Skydiver and capture both Charles (PAULA) and finally Neeners (Pascal). It is recommended to collect the energy chips scattered on the bridge and defeat a few Onions to slow down time even more.
Enemies[]
Monkeys[]
Robart 
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Euro Techno junkie Fussy about music
Igor Ali  |
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Gets beat up a lot Fought Cameron
Naners Mum  |
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Orders everyone around Bossy
Neeners Pascal  |
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Overly sensitive Sulks a lot
Charles PAULA  |
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Has a bad cold Good singer
Gustav Elvis  |
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Pretending to be a king The king
Wilhelm Constable  |
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Paints on castle walls Paints scenery
Emmanuel Suits  |
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Wants to visit the beach Career monkey
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Raises the roof Stuck in 1980s
Calligan Corpse  |
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Feeling very relaxed Seems settled here
Castalist Chill  |
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Buzzed on Espresso "What's espresso?"
Deveneom Hairy  |
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Loveably unstable Even for apes
Astur Rodin  |
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Deleted his hard drive Has no answers
Kilserack Prince  |
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Wants a bigger weapon Wants more freedom
Ringo Bowie  |
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Sneaks out to clubs Let's dance!
Densil Par  |
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Golf pro in his free time Likes golf
Figero Suede  |
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Grooves on 70's funk Keen on the 70s
Fej SID  |
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Studied piano with Ludwig Famous musician
Joey Flock  |
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Misses the sunshine Amazing hair
Donqui Gazza  |
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Sleeps in the dungeon Likes a pie
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"What the heck's an espresso?" "What on earth is an espresso?"
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Trivia[]
- Elvis, mentioned in the PAL version of Ape Escape, and his description is a reference to Elvis Presley.
- Ringo (NTSC-U/C), aka Bowie (PAL) may be references to Ringo Starr and David Bowie, respectively.
- Sir Gris, mentioned in Ape Escape: On the Loose, is a palindrome.
- In the original version of the game, upon first completion of the level, Natalie and the Professor will be absent from the level clear screen, foreshadowing their capture by Specter's forces in the present. In On the Loose, this does not happen.
| Characters | Casi · Jake · Natalie · Professor · Specter · Spike |
|---|---|
| Gadgets | Dash Hoop · Magic Punch · Monkey Radar · R.C. Car · Sky Flyer · Slingback Shooter · Stun Club · Time Net · Water Net |
| Prehistoric Era/ The Lost Land | Fossil Field · Primordial Ooze · Molten Lava |
| Cenozoic Era/ Mysterious Age | Thick Jungle · Dark Ruins · Cryptic Relics |
| Dimension/Dimension X | Stadium Attack |
| Primitive Age/Oceana | Crabby beach · Coral Cave · Dexter's Island |
| Ice age/New Freezeland | Snowy Mammoth · Frosty Retreat · Hot Springs |
| Dimension/Dimension X | Gladiator Attack |
| Recent Past/Medieval Mayhem | Sushi Temple · Wabi Sabi Wall · Crumbling Castle |
| Present-Day/Futurama | City Park · Specter's Factory · TV Tower |
| Present-Day 2/Specter Land | Monkey Madness |
| Dimension/Dimension X | Peak Point Matrix |
| Characters | Haru · Hero · Specter · Tohko · Tsukushi |
|---|---|
| Gadgets | Ape Vacuum · Banannerizer · Monkey Net · Slingback Shooter · Smasher |
| Levels | Wobbly Home · Mysterious Ruins · Monkey Carousel · Monkey Road · The Hot Springs · Dinosaur Glacier · Haunted House · Asian Town · Spa Gardens · Food City · Skull Volcano · Monkeyland · Steam Castle · Battery Tower · Monkey Station |