Madagascar
We go hands on with Dreamworks and Activision's kid-aimed platformer.
Published: April 26, 2005
For as far as things have come in video gaming, the quintessential movie-licensed hop 'n' bop platformer is still the mainstay, even with fancy bolted-on gameplay modes and mini-games. That's not really a bad thing, we guess, since a really good platformer can show why these kinds of games have been a staple of the industry almost since its inception.
We're not really going to make any sort of predictions on how Activision and developer Toys for Bob's translation of the upcoming Dreamworks animated flick Madagascar will turn out, because it's still rather early along. Most of the levels in the preview build we spent this weekend with weren't playable, but what was there did sport a solid foundation.
The game does a pretty solid job of following the key points and working in the main characters, environments, and situations that pop up throughout the film. Things center around Alex, the star attracking of the New York Zoo. Born in to a life of privilege, Alex is more than content to live out the rest of his days being pampered by the Zoo staff. His friend Marty, however, isn't quite so happy with his living situation, and the curious zebra finally decides to make a break into the big city with the help of the always-scheming penguins.
Alex and fellow friends Melman (a hypochondriac giraffe) and Gloria (a sassy hippo with confidence to spare) discover Marty's escape and decide to break out themselves to rescue him before any of the zoo staff is the wiser. The trio finally tracks Marty down at Grand Central Station, but they're all tranqed and dropped in boxes headed across the Atlantic.
The penguins, not content with their new aquatic prison, quickly plan a mutiny. The plan to hijack the ship and steer it towards Antarctica is successful, but the ship quickly gets out of control when the penguins begin wrestling with the more sophisticated controls. Accidentally spinning the wheel causes the ship to lurch, tossing the rest of the zoo crew off the ship where they drift to, you guessed it, Madagascar.
From what we've played of the three levels available, there's a fair amount of adherence to the big screen storyline. We were able to play through three levels, the first serving as a basic training levels that introduced Marty, Alex, Melman and Gloria and the process of collecting cards that unlocked special moves. The second let us play as the penguins as they snuck through the ship, knocking out guards and commandeering a couple of cranes to pick up the bigger enemies that couldn't be knocked out normally, as well as manning a tranquilizer gun to knock out the crew. It should be noted that the penguins are abso-frickin'-lutely adorable.
The final level was probably the most meaty, plopping Melman, Marty and Gloria on a beach in an attempt to recovering pieces of a signal statue that will finally get the zoo crew off Madagascar. To do so, all three characters' special moves (now unlocked since the level takes place near the end of the game) to make long jumps and toss lemurs up to a high platform, bulldoze boulders with a little pepper-powered charge and use a swift back kick to take out a few nosy crocs.
Throughout all the levels, developer Toys for Bob's art direction shows an impressive ability to mimic the bright, colorful world that Dreamworks Animation whipped up for the film. Rich hues of greens and yellows and blues abound, and the game manages to run at a pretty smooth clip. Activision says there's still a bit of cleanup to be done on the animations, which are admittedly stiff, but the level of detail -- even if it's not all that complex -- still feels like it's taxing the system's resources, especially on the world map. Even in an unfinished state, the framerate stays relatively solid.
It'll be interesting to see how the final game shapes up. It's obvious that the target audience is a decade or two below our staff, but the effort certainly seems competent at this point. We'll have more as soon as we get a chance to play through some of the unlockable mini-games and the other levels.
We're not really going to make any sort of predictions on how Activision and developer Toys for Bob's translation of the upcoming Dreamworks animated flick Madagascar will turn out, because it's still rather early along. Most of the levels in the preview build we spent this weekend with weren't playable, but what was there did sport a solid foundation.
The game does a pretty solid job of following the key points and working in the main characters, environments, and situations that pop up throughout the film. Things center around Alex, the star attracking of the New York Zoo. Born in to a life of privilege, Alex is more than content to live out the rest of his days being pampered by the Zoo staff. His friend Marty, however, isn't quite so happy with his living situation, and the curious zebra finally decides to make a break into the big city with the help of the always-scheming penguins.
Alex and fellow friends Melman (a hypochondriac giraffe) and Gloria (a sassy hippo with confidence to spare) discover Marty's escape and decide to break out themselves to rescue him before any of the zoo staff is the wiser. The trio finally tracks Marty down at Grand Central Station, but they're all tranqed and dropped in boxes headed across the Atlantic.
The penguins, not content with their new aquatic prison, quickly plan a mutiny. The plan to hijack the ship and steer it towards Antarctica is successful, but the ship quickly gets out of control when the penguins begin wrestling with the more sophisticated controls. Accidentally spinning the wheel causes the ship to lurch, tossing the rest of the zoo crew off the ship where they drift to, you guessed it, Madagascar.
From what we've played of the three levels available, there's a fair amount of adherence to the big screen storyline. We were able to play through three levels, the first serving as a basic training levels that introduced Marty, Alex, Melman and Gloria and the process of collecting cards that unlocked special moves. The second let us play as the penguins as they snuck through the ship, knocking out guards and commandeering a couple of cranes to pick up the bigger enemies that couldn't be knocked out normally, as well as manning a tranquilizer gun to knock out the crew. It should be noted that the penguins are abso-frickin'-lutely adorable.
The final level was probably the most meaty, plopping Melman, Marty and Gloria on a beach in an attempt to recovering pieces of a signal statue that will finally get the zoo crew off Madagascar. To do so, all three characters' special moves (now unlocked since the level takes place near the end of the game) to make long jumps and toss lemurs up to a high platform, bulldoze boulders with a little pepper-powered charge and use a swift back kick to take out a few nosy crocs.
Throughout all the levels, developer Toys for Bob's art direction shows an impressive ability to mimic the bright, colorful world that Dreamworks Animation whipped up for the film. Rich hues of greens and yellows and blues abound, and the game manages to run at a pretty smooth clip. Activision says there's still a bit of cleanup to be done on the animations, which are admittedly stiff, but the level of detail -- even if it's not all that complex -- still feels like it's taxing the system's resources, especially on the world map. Even in an unfinished state, the framerate stays relatively solid.
It'll be interesting to see how the final game shapes up. It's obvious that the target audience is a decade or two below our staff, but the effort certainly seems competent at this point. We'll have more as soon as we get a chance to play through some of the unlockable mini-games and the other levels.
