Wii

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Lots of variety and funny cutscenes make the second Madagascar game a good reason to escape to Africa.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a great example of a kid’s property done right. It’s polished both visually and aurally, it’s accessible for its target audience, and it’s got enough variety and life to make it more than the brief diversion that other such licensed titles prove to be. What’s more, parents who sit down to play this one with their kids will find a surprising level of witty dialogue and funny situations. While hardcore gamers should disregard this game’s score and move on, causal players and parents looking for solid kids fare shouldn’t hesitate to pick this one up for the holidays.

Either way, this game is good, relaxing fun, and has high production values--some may be entirely satisfied with a purchase even at full MSRP. If you suspect you might be one in that group, by all means go ahead and buy it. And certainly if your children want it, rest assured they will get more fun from it than most of the tie-in products they have. Many of the mini-games have a multiplayer mode (accessible from the main menu), which means that up to four can play it at once provided there are enough Wii Remotes with Nunchuks attached--that's even more replay value. On the other hand, if you just thought you "might poke around and check out what people are saying about the game because it looks like it might be sort of fun," you're probably better off waiting for a price drop.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a solid licensed title, and one of the better games aimed at kids to release this holiday season. It’s not going to redefine the licensed-game market, but it will provide a reasonably good time to any little Madagascar fan who finds a copy under the tree.

Like most kids’ movies, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has gotten the video game treatment, and has been produced for nearly every currently available console in existence. And while the Wii version of this title may not be the absolute best, it does a good job of conveying the fun energy of the movie that inspired it, and kids will love the fun mini-game inspired play. While this game is definitely not meant to please the adult crowd, it is a fun family title, and just may make that special little someone you know a happy camper this holiday.

Even in light of the game's many flaws, it is still decent and even fun at times; however, a bit more time and effort would have made this game very good. While most adults may have a hard time finding enjoyment, the game's character and goofy nature makes for a great experience for the younger demographic.

Sans être réellement mauvais, Madagascar 2 est loin d'être convaincant. Vous y trouverez une succession d'activités qui n'ont pas toujours de rapport avec le scénario du film mais qui s'appuient tout de même sur les caractères et les spécificités des différents personnages. Ce jeu est donc destiné aux plus jeunes qui accrochent à l'univers doucement décalé de Madagascar.

I suppose a young gamer might get a kick out of this one if he or she is really into the Madagascar movies, but the bland gameplay and awkward structure do very little to provide an enjoyable experience. The best thing I can say about Escape is that nothing seems broken or fundamentally flawed, but that's not saying much. No matter how you look at it, Escape 2 Africa just isn't a good game. You'd be better served by diverting your attention to the virtually countless, fantastic titles that have hit retail in the last few months. Leave Alex and co. on the shelf.

There's just something entirely un-fun about Madagascar 2. I got a few slight chuckles from some of the dialog and launching a squirrel out of a slingshot was funny for a few times, but the game never felt like I was actually getting anywhere. I mean, I was going from mini-game to mini-game, but that's all I felt like I was doing. There was no sense of accomplishment with it. Of course, my sense of accomplishment is going to be way different than the sense of accomplishment of kids this game is actually intended for, I.E. young fans of the movie. Honestly, I don't think I could actually recommend this game to anybody, but if you know a kid who's madly in love with the Madagascar movies, and they have a Wii, they could probably do a lot worse.