PS3 Xbox 360

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Adventure

Time to beat: about 6 hours

Overview

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a platform game based on the film of the same name. It was released on the Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 and Java-based mobile phones. The gameplay is similar to the movie's first scenes with the same characters and moves, although the environment is in Africa. The Nintendo Channel released a playable demo of this game on the week of November 7, that shows one of the side-scrolling, Lemmings-like levels in which the penguins of the series are the main characters.

Eight years after the events of the first game, Alex, Marty, Melman and Gloria (alongside the Penguins, King Julien, Maurice, Mort and the Chimps, Mason and Phil) decide to return to the Central Park Zoo, and travel there using an abandoned plane which was repaired by the penguins. Mort stows away, and ends up making the plane crash before it can arrive. They realize that they are in Africa, their old home. Alex reunites with his father Zuba, the alpha male of his pride, but Zuba's evil friend, Makunga, reminds him that every new lion must pass a rite of passage before being accepted into the pride. Alex nearly succeeds, but fails the last task (yelling his catchphrase), and is not allowed into the pride.

Meanwhile, the Penguins scrounge up equipment to fix the plane by stealing it from a nearby human safari camp. Mort eventually manages to reach the watering hole and catch up to the Zoosters after going through a dangerous swamp.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa received "mixed or average" reviews, on review aggregator website Metacritic.