DreamWorks Animation has always been a hit and miss studio from my personal standpoint. They didn’t get off on the right foot with their first computer-animated film Antz, but were able to correct their course with the mega-franchise, Shrek. After Shrek’s sequel, they followed it up with a disappointing film full of celebrity voices in Shark Tale but were able to fix their mistakes when they created the first Madagascar film. Since then, they’ve been hard at work trying to create new franchises in Over the Hedge (a surprise hit), Bee Movie (moderately successful), Kung Fu Panda (an overwhelmingly successful franchise) and have returned to the Madagascar series with a follow-up to the 2005 surprise hit with Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

After viewing the unsatisfactory Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in theatres, the hopes of a great video game on the license was quite small. Usually when the movie turns out to be a dud, the video game on the said movie doesn’t stand a chance of producing a quality video game such as Shark Tale’s video game on the PlayStation 2 or Spider-Man 3 for the any versions released. But alas, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa on the Xbox 360 turns out to be astoundingly well done in comparison to the film.

Escape 2 Africa is comprised of several mini-games and platforming challenges for gamers to wade through. Starting out in the single-player campaign, players will be learn the controls of the title which are on the easier side of things due to that they cater to the younger crowd. Controlling the four animals found in the film – Alex the Lion played by Ben Stiller, Marty the Zebra played by Chris Rock, Melman the giraffe played by David Schwimmer and Gloria the hippopotamus played by Jada Pinkett Smith – gamers should grow to like the ease of the controls as Escape 2 Africa is more oriented towards having an entertaining time rather than being difficult. Each animal has their own special ability such as Gloria’s ability to butt stomp, so everything is as you should expect when it comes to gameplay.

The biggest downside of playing through Escape 2 Africa is the exclusion of the original voice-actors. It’s definitely a huge distraction without Stiller, Rock, Smith, Schwimmer and the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer or even Andy Richter reprising their characters. The voice-actors that are in charge of mimicking their voices aren’t up to par and drag the entire presentation down a notch. But this shouldn’t stop children from enjoying the title as they might not even notice that Activision didn’t get proper actors to voice their favorite characters.

Taking only a few hours to run through the entire game, gamers won’t have to invest too much time to complete Escape 2 Africa. This should be an alluring option for gamers who like to ante up their GamerScore with earning Achievements on the Xbox 360. For the younger audience, there’s enough replay value to last them the holiday season, so you shouldn’t worry about your children becoming increasingly bored with Escape 2 Africa, especially if they enjoyed the hilarious original film or the sub-par sequel that the game is based on.

There’s a multiplayer mode that allows up to four players to compete in called Tournament Mode. This mode pits competitors in various mini-game activities that are found in the single-player campaign. Unfortunately, there’s no Xbox Live multiplayer to rejoice in as that would’ve pushed Escape 2 Africa over-the-top in terms of replay value for a licensed video game based on a children’s film. Next time, Activision should look into incorporating online features that would allow the younger demographic to compete in friendly mini-games online.

The best part of Escape 2 Africa happened to be that there weren’t any errors or glitches that ruined the gameplay. There’s usually a major glitch, such as a camera that gets caught behind an object, invisible walls stopping the characters from advancing and what not that detracts from the total experience in a licensed video game. Well, Escape 2 Africa is safe from any control and camera issues that would normally take away from the experience.

If you need to pick up a video game for your child this Christmas for the Xbox 360, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a smart choice since it has an amusing offline multiplayer, forgiving controls, funny characters and a heaping amount of mini-games to play through.

Gameplay: 7.5
The mini-games turned out to be better than the platforming aspects of the single-player campaign. Their fresh and original in comparison to other licensed video games based on animated films.

Graphics: 6.0
The graphics won’t astound you, but don’t have to since it’s a licensed video game marketed towards children.

Sound: 5.9
Activision needs to invest in bringing alive a character with the voice-actor from the film instead of finding copycat. This will not only provide more quality but it’ll also be easier on the ears.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 6.0
A movie-based video game isn’t anything new nor was the option to present the title through mini-games and platforming.

Multiplayer: 7.3
The offline multiplayer mode does enough to generate interest in the title after completion, but I’d love to see Activision and the developers go the extra step and include a full online multiplayer component for the fans to find replay value.

Overall: 7.2
Turning out to be better quality than the film it was based on, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a smart choice this holiday for a game for all ages. The only concern is that the older demographic won’t find much replay value after they push through and complete the single-player campaign so it’s recommended that they’d rent rather than buy if you are in that crowd.