Based on the recently released animated Dreamworks film, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a 3D platformer title for the Nintendo DS. Putting you in the shoes of the heroes of the film, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is geared towards younger and less experienced gamers. However, the linear nature of the game and extreme ease will ensure that everyone else will likely grow quite bored after a while.

The story sticks to the plot of the film somewhat by following the four main protagonists of the film (Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe) as they attempt to return to New York following their exodus to Madagascar in the original film. However, they end up crash landing in Africa midflight, requiring you to help them through a series of action sequences and platforming in order to help them rebuild their plane and continue on to New York.

Structurally, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa plays out a lot like the original Crash Bandicoot games on the original PlayStation. The camera is fixed behind your character, as you mostly collect a variety of items to proceed. You can play as four different characters from the film at different parts of the game. Each one has their own specific skill, like double-jumping or hovering to give them a particular upper-hand in their set sections.

Aside from the standard 3D platforming elements, there are some minigames that you can play as well. There are a few different ones spread out sporadically throughout the game, including a rudimentary pinball game, a memory-style game, and a few others. There is a special mode that has you playing as the four supporting penguin characters, utilizing their unique strengths and abilities to progress through a series of side-scrolling platforming puzzles.

There’s not a lot of exploring to be done in Escape 2 Africa. The game gives you coins to collect, but seldom hides them in a way that requires you to search for them in any way. The level designs are extremely linear, requiring you to simply walk from point A to point B while gathering bottle caps and occasionally playing through a minigame and fighting off some bad guys.

Additionally, the combat and enemy AI is extremely basic. You simply need to swat at them by hitting the X button repeatedly and they’ll go down without much of a fight.

Graphically, Escape 2 Africa is a solid looking game. While the environments can get a bit repetitive, the characters look like the film counterparts and are fairly well animated for a DS title.

Soundwise, the game is also pretty good, with some nice voice effects and music. The music feels a bit repetitive, but still goes along well with the game’s overall mood and lighthearted theme.

While the simplistic nature of both the platforming and the combat should appeal to young fans of the Madagacar, the dumb-downed gameplay won’t likely appeal to most gamers looking for somewhat of a challenge.

Gameplay: 5.0
Very simplistic and linear stuff, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has a few different modes and characters, but won’t give much of a challenge to most players. The levels are pretty uninspired and very linear, and you’ll likely be bored after only a few minutes of play.

Graphics: 7.5
The environments tend to get a bit repetitive, but the character models look pretty good and the animations are decent.

Sound: 7.5
The sound effects and music are both pretty good and capture the game’s mood well, and the voice work is nicely implemented.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 6.0
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a simple game that kids should be able to get into easily, but doesn’t really provide a lot of substance.

Overall: 6.0
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’s lighthearted feel and basic gameplay should appeal to younger audiences and fans of the film, but the repetitive nature and lack of challenge will likely turn everyone else off.