Xbox Solution: 

From Big City Zoo to Untamed Island

By Christina Mariannino and Jason Rybka

It's not often that we highlight just a single game in our articles here at Xbox.com, but there are several reasons for us to do this with Madagascar™. First off, it's a blast to play, and children will definitely get a kick out of it. Second, behind all of the humor and cartoon-type graphics, Madagascar offers some down-to-earth values that can be learned while playing through the game, and we simply could not overlook these.

The Story Behind the Game
Developed by DreamWorks and Activision, Inc., Madagascar is based on the movie of the same name, currently storming theaters across the nation. The game itself is rated E for Everyone, but is recommended for children 10 and older due to some cartoon violence and crude humor. In all honesty, though, the humor will just go over their heads of children under 10 anyhow, so we think it's a safe bet for kids a few years younger as well.

Madagascar is closely related to the movie in regards to the characters and the storyline. There are four main playable characters: Marty the Zebra, Alex the Lion, Melman the Giraffe, and Gloria the Hippo. Each of these characters is playable throughout the game, in addition to their penguin friends at certain times. If you and your children have yet to see the movie, here is a glimpse of what it's all about.

It is Marty's tenth birthday, and he wants to break out of the zoo in New York City and experience the real world. With the help of the penguins, Marty heads to the streets of Manhattan. Soon afterwards, his friends realize he is gone and go to catch up with him. To make a long story short, Marty and his friends are caught, crated up on a ship, and sent to Africa. But their crates fall off the ship and they end up in Madagascar, a wild and zany tropical island. While it is quite a journey just getting to the island, the real adventure only begins there.

Ready for the Zoo?
This platformer-style game has 12 chapters that resemble the sequences in the movie. Instead of just watching, your child takes control of each of the characters and uses his or her special abilities to help the other animals. This is noteworthy and is one of the key reasons we decided to focus on Madagascar, as the game teaches children the importance of teamwork and the value of friendship.

Marty makes it to Madagascar.

There is a very strong character bond between each of the animals and your child. Marty obviously wants out of the zoo, but Alex the lion can't seem to understand why, since he is the main attraction at the zoo and enjoys his life there. Melman the giraffe is a very loving creature, but is also a hypochondriac (for example, he thinks something is wrong with him because he keeps getting more brown spots on him). The hippopotamus, Gloria, is basically the glue that cements the bonds—she's a strong, take-charge type of hippo that keeps the friends together. The penguins have their own agenda while helping Marty escape—they also want out of the zoo and want to make it back to Antarctica. The bonds that your child develops with the Madagascar characters have the potential to really demonstrate the value of friendship.

Starting out as the movie does, Marty celebrates his tenth birthday and decides he wants to leave the zoo and explore the world like he's never seen it before. The introductory section of the game serves as a training session, and your child quickly learns how to perform different moves with each of the main characters. As a platformer, Madagascar requires good hand and eye coordination, and can help your child develop those skills as well.

By the time Marty reaches the boat, your child has controlled every character in the game. One of the best things about Madagascar, however, is the audio and voice talent used in the game. The character voices are very well done and should keep your kids entertained throughout the journey.

Fun on the island.

The Fun Begins
Now, we don't intend to give away the whole game, but to really get an idea as to whether or not your child may like it, you need to know just a bit more. Once the four friends are reunited on the island, they meet up with the Lemurs, the native creatures that populate the island. The Lemurs end up helping the four animals out, and in return, your child helps them out as well. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse when Alex stumbles onto the evil side of the island where the Foosa live, and they must be taken out to maintain order and peace on the island.

The gameplay is fast-paced, yet not so urgent that your child cannot play at his or her own pace. In addition to the main story, there are also plenty of mini-games, such as Races, Shuffleboard, and Mini-Golf. This just adds to the overall fun factor. Graphically, the game looks great and does a good job depicting the movie events and locations in a suitable manner that is vibrant and appealing.

Wrapping Up and Moving On
Madagascar is simply a blast to play, and teaches your child numerous real-world values. While we don't necessarily agree that the game is not suitable for ages under 10 (we personally think anywhere around seven years of age is more accurate), we do suggest that you make this decision on your own.

Go ahead and rent the game and take it for a test spin yourself. We played through the entire game and had a great time. We also had a couple of children play it in our home and they enjoyed is as much as we did, if not a bit more. The overall game is relatively short, but well worth it. It's great that Madagascar is entertaining and also delivers several important messages, and it's good to see that Xbox® is continuing to provide titles that appeal to a wide variety of age groups.

Stay tuned to the Xbox Solution area on Xbox.com for more tips and recommendations on kid-friendly games for the Xbox video game console!

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