In the jungle, the mighty jungle...
In a nutshell, Madagascar is a 3D platform game with a few action sub-games thrown in. For most of the game you’ll control one of the four main characters, Marty the Zebra, Alex the Lion, Melman the Giraffe or Gloria the Hippo… and you’ll also sometimes play as characters they meet on their travels, most notably the penguins. Each section is suited to the unique ability that each character possesses, and as this game is aimed at kids, the first few levels really focus on each character in turn so kids get a proper idea of what the characters do.
For example, Alex the Lion can jump higher than the others, so you’ll spend a couple of levels leaping all over the place with him. Marty the Zebra can kick stuff to topple it or crouch to crawl under low objects… most bizarrely of all is Melman’s ability to ‘helicopter’… a full grown giraffe spinning like a top and hovering around is something to see, I assure you.
Anyway, all of these antics are very entertaining for the kids who find this sort of thing hilarious. My two were laughing like drains, even though the dialogue for the game is down by voice actors in the style of the film’s actor’s voices… but it isn’t them. Of course, I could tell the difference, but my kids couldn’t and were quite happy with what was on offer. There were a few moments that made me giggle, but have no illusion, this is firmly aimed at the kids.
The gameplay itself follows the film almost exactly, starting with you wandering around the zoo, breaking out and then being captured, crated up and shipped off. But the penguins break out, take over the ship and you end up being washed up on a tropical full of lemurs. At this point, the game takes a turn towards more open play from the linear levels before with much larger levels with areas best tackled by different characters with the aim of achieving a certain common goal such as collecting different plates of food for a celebratory feast.
