Madagascar – GBA – Review

Madagascar’s
cast of four zoo animals (and five deranged penguins) begged to be utilized in
the game. Kids would be disappointed if just one character was playable. This
presented a serious problem for the developers: design a side-scrolling
action/adventure with four different characters, and make their purpose
relevant to the levels and the gameplay. Vicarious Visions, who is famous for
the Game Boy Advance versions of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, did not flinch. They
rose to the occasion and pumped out a game that anyone can enjoy, not just
kids.

Madagascar
follows the story of the movie very closely. Game Boy Advance has full motion
video capabilities, but the developers opted for cartoon stills and text
dialog from the film. They may be skipped, but this is one of the rare times I
didn’t want to skip them (not all of them at least).

In between
the brief story segments is the thing that gamers really want: good gameplay!
Play as Marty, the optimistic zebra who runs faster, jumps longer and can kick
harder than his energetic friends. Gloria, the glamorous hippopotamus, is
built like a tank. She’ll crush most enemies just by jumping on them! Level
traps like spiked plants are no match for her mighty girth.

If you know
what it’s like to be embarrassed, choose Melman. The next time you say to
yourself, "I wish I could crawl into a hole," stick your head in the ground
and pretend that no one can see you. Giraffes can’t see anything when their
faces are covered in dirt – who says the opposite ain’t true?

Alex is the
lovable lion with an extra loud roar. He struck fear in those he encountered
in the movie; now he’s striking fear in birds, rats, and creepy, crawly
spiders! (You know how he hates spiders. A pack of wild carnivores – they’re
harmless. But when a spider pops out of a tree, run!)

No
Madagascar game would be complete without its most lethal inhabitants: the
penguins. They’re not very suave and they’re not all that sophisticated, but
when duty calls they’re as deadly as a psychotic James Bond. Their moves were
taken directly from the film: duck and crawl to avoid being seen, and slap
pesky rats when they get in your way.

A hint of
Metal Gear Solid is there during these missions where players hide inside
boxes to avoid getting caught. The camera does a nice trick, pulling back so
that players can see the crew of the ship they are trying to take over.
Ironically, the humans have as much intelligence as the guards in Metal Gear.
They’ll see you, rub their eyes and walk away up to four times. On the fifth
time it finally dawns on them that what they’re seeing is real; they kick you
out and the mission has to be re-started.

There’s no
limit to how much time you can spend exploring one world. Madagascar
encourages the player to return to levels that have been completed by limiting
the characters that are available the first time through. Over 1,500 coins are
hidden in the game. Most of them are visible just by jumping around, but an
estimated 30% of them are specific to one particular character. Marty’s
crouching ability lets him crawl through tiny spaces. Melman sticks his head
in the ground out of fear; do it in loose soil and it’ll cave in, leading the
way to a different path and/or an additional coin. Gloria is the only one in
the whole bunch who can swim, and Alex is the only one with a double jump.

These
exclusive moves are one of many things that separate the characters. I was
very pleased by how each of them controlled. The hippo is the heaviest,
slowest and strongest; the zebra is the fastest; and fearsome giraffe is the
weakest. Alex’s attack is the worst. All he can do is scare animals away by
roaring. Ground animals aren’t affected since they walk below his roar. Birds
and spiders are it as far as he’s concerned.

Madagascar
may be a kids’ game, but that’s no excuse to bog the player down with a
lengthy tutorial. The developers agree, using small billboards to tell the
player what to do at key points in the game. Very little text is involved here
– the billboard uses button icons to show exactly what needs to be pressed. A
text explanation is given when the task is visited for the first time. When
you come to it again in a later level, all you have to do is look at billboard
to jog your memory. Those who don’t need it can run right past it.

Vicarious
Visions hasn’t failed us yet. Fun for all ages but designed for kids,
Madagascar is the perfect game for anyone who loves DreamWorks’s
computer-animated hit.

Review Scoring Details for Madagascar

Gameplay: 7.5
Thoroughly
enjoyable. Each character has a unique look and feel, as well as an important
move that is needed to either pass a level or to collect all of the coins.
Coin collection leads to bonuses. It’s fun locating and obtaining them just
for the heck of it, but with a reward involved, the search is more enticing.
The challenge is mostly limited to enable gaming fun for all ages, but there
were a few times when I couldn’t prevent myself from losing. Oblivious as they
may be, the ship crew is not as stupid as you’d think.

Graphics: 7.5
Generic 2D
imagery and 16-bit style effects. Not ugly, but not "Advanced" either.

Sound: 7.0
Fairly decent.
The music and sound effects share the same theme as the movie.

Difficulty: Easy
This mostly easy
adventure has a few slightly more difficult areas that’ll make gamers say, "Oh
man I can’t believe I just fell for that."

Concept: 7.5
Excellent use of
the film’s different characters; the levels are laid out effectively; and the
missions are entertaining (and action-oriented) without being violent. Believe
it or not, the penguins are more violent in the movie than they are in this
game.

Overall: 7.5
It’s really hard
to play an action/adventure and not be skeptical. Add a movie license and the
skepticism doubles. To that end Madagascar is a wonderful treat for young game
players, starring the film’s kooky cast and features the same locations
explored in this tale of a zebra who wishes to find himself. The variety of
gameplay types is considerably higher than most action/adventures, let alone
games with a movie license attached.