Madagascar – PS2 – Preview 2

The strains of “Born Free”
reverberate through the dream, only to have the wonderful African savannah
shattered by the scream of an obnoxious child wearing a lion mask.

Marty is a zebra celebrating his 10^th
birthday, and life at the New York City zoo is less than satisfying. Does this
sound like a recipe for adventure? You bet it is, and it will lead Marty and his
friends across the ocean to Madagascar, with a generous mix of mini games and
arcade-like action tossed in for good measure.

DreamWorks, Toys for Bob and
Activision have teamed up for Madagascar, a PlayStation 2 title slated for
release May 24, in conjunction with the DreamWorks’ motion picture release, and
will also be available on the
Xbox, PC, NDS, GC and GBA.

The game starts off with Marty
seeking something more. Marty is voiced by Chris Rock in the movie, and a
sound-alike in the game. There are some notable differences, but not too much
that detracts from the game. After a quick lesson in how to collect cards to
unlock new abilities, players can work through the puzzles at the different
stops at the zoo as well as collect coins to buy some cool items in the Zoovenir
shop. You can also use the coins to unlock mini games, too.

The game has a wonderful cast of
other characters – including a self-involved lion, hypochondriac giraffe,
psychotic military penguins and a hippo that has no self-doubt at all.

The game features a generous blend
of in-game activities and while this was an abbreviated version (while some
levels said they were unlocked, they were not willing to load), the gameplay
was not that difficult to grasp. Each character has special abilities and there
were mini objectives in the different scenarios, with Marty acting more as a
tour guide for the exploits of his friends in the initial level, than doing
overly much himself.

The intrepid zebra does eventually
leave the zoo and his three main friends – the lion, hippo and giraffe – go
looking for him. This leads to a romp in New York and deportation back to
Africa, on a boat that is hijacked by penguins and winds up – you guessed it –
in Madagascar.

The graphical elements of this game
were bright and well realized, with a solid three-dimensional look, and nice
animations. The sounds were also a nice mix, with some sarcasm underscoring the
dialogue, but nothing that would be inappropriate for the younger crowd – for
which this game was obviously designed.

Madagascar is a solid little title
that will do well with the younger set. It looks good and plays well (at this
late stage in the development) and will bring delight to gamers who embrace the
fanciful tale.