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> Results: Madagascar
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Based on the hit computer animated film, Madagascar on the three major game consoles is a fun 3-D romp. Marty the zebra lives in the Central Park Zoo, but yearns to run free in the wild. When some maniacal penguins clue Marty in on a way to escape, Marty's animal friends make a daring rescue in the busy streets of New York. Alex the lion, Gloria the hippo, Melman the giraffe, and Marty all get caught and shipped off to Madagascar. Now the four zoo pals must count on their wits and friendship to help out their new lemur pals and figure out a way back home!
Madagascar is a simple 3-D platformer starring the four heroes (and even the penguins). The plot follows the movie in that you'll help Marty sneak out of the zoo, help gather food for the lemurs' dance rave party, and in the best level of the game, guide the penguins to the control room of the ship through a kid-friendly mix of fun stealth and action. Each animal has their own abilities and weaknesses. Alex has a roar attack and a double jump. Marty can run fast and crouch down low to sneak past guards. Gloria has a charge attack that can break down walls. And hypochondriac Melman uses his spindly limbs and neck as a makeshift helicopter for slow landings.  You collect coins scattered throughout the levels to spend on goodies at the monkey's Zooveneir shop. You can buy extra health and other things to help you make the game easier along with mini-games like shuffleboard, a lemur dance game, and even mini-golf. You can also spend it on alternate outfits and accessories for your zoo pals, like a giant #1 finger glove for Alex to wear. Although the funny lemurs look a bit more animated in the movie, the graphics in Madagascar look just like the film. The music and spoken voices are great, too. The voices probably aren't the exact celebrity voices from the movie, but the imitators do a good job. There are truly some laugh out loud moments in the game. The tiny lemur Mort (the one you see in the previews bawling his saucer-shaped eyes out), steals the show all throughout the game. Even the tutorials of the mini-games are funny! Aside from the general awkwardness of controlling a hippo and a giraffe, play control is pretty good, too. The only problem with this game is that it is very, very easy. But it was made for kids anyway, which leads us to... 
This game gets four and a half stars from me, but would most adults like it? No, probably not. A seasoned gamer can beat this game in two days or less. But for a little kid, this is definitely a four and a half star game! The game is very easy and forgiving. If you get hit and lose some health, chances are a health restorer is right around the corner. One time I think I died near the exit of a level, and they still let me pass the level anyway. Younger players feel like they're playing a big kid game, and feel accomplishment without frustration. Since everything is spoken, reading skill is not required. The only violence is of the cartoon animal fighting kind, and aside from a couple of animal poop jokes and the use of the word "sucks," Madagascar is a very kid-friendly game with a lot of cute ideas. Pop all the helium balloons in the zoo level and Marty's voice becomes high pitched for the rest of that stage. What good does that do? Absolutely nothing! But it'll make kids laugh! The makers of this game really had kids in mind when developing this title, and that's a good thing. Kids need good video games, too! If your young ones loved the Madagascar movie or just silly zoo animals in general, this is a great game to get. If they're old enough to see the movie, they're old enough to play the game!
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