Ape Escape: On the Loose, also known as Ape Escape P in the UK/EU, is an action-adventure video game. Players take on the role of a brave young boy named Spike who must capture over 200 mischievous monkeys that have escaped from their cages and fled to the past with Specter, a trouble-making monkey wielding a powerful device called the Peak Point Helmet. The helmet has bestowed spectral intelligence upon Specter and enabled him to control his fellow primates and use them to try and change history by taking over the world. Spike's mission is to pursue them across eight vibrant worlds spanning twenty levels in order to prevent this from happening.