While AE2 might not be as creative or fresh as the original, it's just as wholesome.
The story picks up a few years after the end of AE. This time the player controls Jimmy, Spike's lovable, but bumbling cousin. Unfortunately, Jimmy sends some Peak Point Helmets to the zoo by accident, and Specter, who was revert into a normal and sweet primate, and several other monkeys get their hands on the helmets and zany ape antics and havoc begin anew. Now Jimmy (along with Pipochi, a monkey with a special helmet that doesn't make him evil) must traverse to the four corners of the earth to capture the monkeys and defeat Specter before more chaos ensues.
The gameplay largely remains unchanged from the original; you move around and attack with the analog sticks, select your gadgets with the face buttons, and jump with the shoulder buttons. The controls are as tight as ever and you shouldn't have too much of a problem getting used to the control scheme. All of the gagdets from the first game return, accompanied by a few creative new ones like a banana-scented boomerang that attracts monkey, a water gun (yes, that's right, a water gun), and a magnetic glove used for both pulling and repelling magnets. Once again, your main objective is to capture monkeys. This time, boss battles occur more frequently and are much more intuitive.
The graphics are much better than the original (but then again, it's like comparing the graphics of the first Mega Man to that of Mega Man 8). They're nice to look at and usually do a good job of conveying the various personalities of the ensemble cast of wacky characters.
The music is quite nice, as well. Each level takes place at a different section of the world, so the music reflects the style of the area (e.g. a Liberty Island-esque level has a tropical beat while a Ninja hideout has a stealthy jazz tune accompanied with Japanese beats).
The voice acting is an improvement over the original. This time, 4Kids (you know the guys that used to voice act in the Pokemon anime/ the guys that currently voice Sonic and co.) were pulled in to do the honors and trust me, it was a good decision. Who knew that the original voice of Ash Ketchum could pull off the voice of Jimmy so well?
While AE2 does improve on the fundamentals of the original, it doesn't really bring anything that innovative to the table. Still, AE2 remains a solid platformer that will keep you entertained for quite a time.