Publisher: Activision
Ages: ten and up.
Parental
Advisory:
Violence
Based on the DreamWorks movie, Madagascar lets players enter the world of four hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and master each animal's skills to journey through New York City and the island of Madagascar. In this first rate platform game, players interact with other animals and tackle obstacles and enemies in scenarios from the movie and beyond. It's a good adaptation of the movie that is mostly family friendly and fun to play.
The title follows the movie's plot and lets gamers play as the main characters from the film—Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the Giraffe. Players take control of different characters during different levels. As players progress, they develop new skills for their characters. Alex develops more powerful claws, roar and pounce; Marty jumps further and can execute a back kick; Melman's performs a helicopter spin and neck fling to throw objects and more.
The game offers various chapters. In "Manhattan Street Chase," players search for Marty on the streets of New York and in "Penguin Mutiny," players become penguins who are trying to overtake a giant cargo vessel. Three bonus chapters offer "Shuffleboard" to play as an array of characters in a variety of shuffleboard settings; "Tiki Golf," golfing with natives on tropical-themed courses and "Lemur Rave," a rhythm game. The bonus chapters offer additional characters that include lemurs and penguins.
Madagascar is a satisfying platform game for youngsters. You don't have to know the movie to enjoy the title but it probably helps.
8/2/05 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
