Oh those crazy New York Zoo animals. Causing trouble wherever they go. They crashed into Madagascar, barrelled through Africa, and now they’re turning Europe into a place of wackiness and insanity. And, of course, with the release of the third Madagascar movie, D3 Publisher have provided us with the tie in game for fans of the quartet.
Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman return to the big screen, and the gaming world, travelling around Europe, completing missions to get a circus up and running. Gameplay is geared towards co-operation between two of the main characters, who work together to make it through various obstacles, or accomplish various objectives. It’s your usual “characters have varying abilities, each must complete a unique task” sort of game, with the addition of multi-player cooperation.
What I find appealing is the simple controls and easy to learn gameplay, which is great for a parent and child playing together, which is presumably who this game is aimed for.
Of course, it’s no walk in the park to beat the game. Animal control have gotten wind of your escapades, and will do their best to nab you in the act. Luckily, all 4 heroes are masters of disguise… by donning a pair of sunglasses, and sneaking by them. Now, that’s all well and good, but I think the creators of the game missed a trick, here. When you need to escape from your pursuers, you can simply jump to higher ground and hide from their view.
I think they could add an extra level of gameplay here, by allowing the players to lay down traps to knock out animal control. You know, a bag of marbles here, a plant pot there, just something that could make the co-op play a bit more entertaining.
Despite this, Madagascar is a fun game that a gamer dad and son can enjoy, with enjoyable main story, and a great collection of mini games.. Think of it as a stepping stone before you move up to Lego Star Wars and even Portal 2.
Developed by Monkey Bar Games, Torus Games
Published by Activision
Available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS