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Setup & Timing
"Share Demo" is right on the main menu, making it impossible to miss. The opening credits could be shorter, but aren't ridiculous. Download time is under a minute.
Menus & Navigation
Large, tappable menu items make navigation simple. Menu item names make sense for easy navigation.
Ease Of Use / Play Control
The entirety of the demo consists of pressing a direction on the direction pad, pressing a button, and tapping on the picture nof the penguin you want to switch to (once they've been found). The game to do more to make it known who isn't available yet besides not allowing the character to be selected (a giant red circle with a slash through it. perhaps?), but that's the only complaint that can be made. Make sure you're where you want to be before you press a button and make sure you're looking the direction you want to throw a fish in (a gravity-less fish, apparently, as they never come back down), and you'll be fine.
Content
The entirety of the content is a mini-game demo The graphics are a pseudo-3D, and in a decent quality, too. The sound is "take it or leave it" -- there's some neat spy-like music in the background and sound effects let you know you've done something after you've done it -- so feel free to mute it and play your music.
I also have a huge bone to pick regarding the packaging of this game. The packaging indicates "Nintendo DS Single-Card Download Play for 2-15"; Shrek The Third did this. So, you might be wondering, why is this a problem? Well, unlike Shrek The Third where the demo could be downloaded by 1 to 14 people at a time (which is terribly misleading as to the content included as it is), the demo here can only be downloaded by 1 (one) (uno) (un) (achat) person at a time. There's no way to connect more than a single solitary additional DS to the host at a time. Why they put that, I don't know. Just don't be fooled.
Overall Fun
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa's Single-Card Download demo is not terrible, but it's also not extraordinarily fun. You've got a few minutes of good, solid play, and then no replayability. It's nice while it lasts, but there's no reason to come back to it. The dmeo gives an OK idea of the mood of the main game (not reviewed here), but it doesn't represent what you do in the main game, either - the penguins aren't the main characters that you spend all the time in the single player experience playing, after all. It's a big jump up from Shrek The Third (similar setup with the demo) because it actually provides an ending (which Shrek The Third does not). It's a HUGE step up from Madagascar, because it's much closer to the actual game. I had four "Next Game Requests" in the review for Madagascar: selectable characters happened, more than one mini game did not happen, and the speed of the foosa and a playable Melman & Gloria are not applicable here because of the shift in download and game type.
Correct the download numbers on the game's packaging!!!
Indicate when characters are not yet available.
Offer more than one demo.
Include voice-over for the in-game conversation text.
Provide a second demo with the main characters (or involve them in the storyline, even if they're not playable).
Overall Single-Card Download Rating: 72 / 100 (a.k.a. 36/50)
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