LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Educational Game: Madagascar

by LeapFrog

Product Features

• Interactive learning cartridge
• For use with the Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, sold separately
• Join the hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and friends for an adventure on Madagascar
• 4 action-packed learning games
• Teaches essential first and second grade spelling, grammar and math skills

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 5.5 x 9 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0008FUD0Y
• Item model number: 30433
• Manufacturer recommended age: 6 - 8 years
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,958 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Join the hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and their new friends for an unforgettable adventure on the Island of Madagascar! Along the way, you can play four action-packed learning games and learn essential first and second grade spelling, grammar, and math skills with Alex, the lion, Marty, the zebra, Gloria, the hippo, and Melman, the giraffe. Then plug into the TV for special bonus rounds!

Product Description

Join the hilarious Central Park Zoo animals and their new friends for an unforgettable adventure on the Island of Madagascar! Along the way, you can play four action-packed learning games and learn essential first and second grade spelling, grammar and math skills with Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo, and Melman the giraffe. Then plug into the TV for special bonus rounds! For use with the Leapster L-Max Learning Game System, sold separately.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practice Math, Spelling & Sentence Syntax All While Having Fun! A review of "Madagascar", March 26, 2006

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Educational Game: Madagascar (Toy)

There are four games on this cartridge that features the characters from Dreamworks Madagascar movie. Inside each game there are two levels of play, and in general I would say that even on Level 1 (the easier level) this cartridge is probably too advanced for preschoolers and even some kindergarteners since it requires some reading ability plus some basic math notions.

**Mango Math**
Melman (the giraffe) gets up a tree and Gloria (hippo) tries to get him down. This game starts out (Level one) with simple math equations such as 5 + 2 = X. Melman and Gloria bounce up and down grabbing mangos until the appropriate amount of fruit is collected to answer the equation. [Thus they need to grab 7 mangos].

[The `hint' button will take children to a page where the equation is shown and solved should they not know the answer.]


**Hi Stakes**
In this game Alex (the lion) is looking for Marty at Grand Central Station. On Level One your child will be practicing fractions. Alex will go up and down three different levels searching for the one and only shape that is divided into the correct parts -- shows fourths, or thirds, for example.

They will also be shown shapes, such as rectangle that is divided into parts, and asked to identify the numeric fraction that corresponds to the portion of the rectangle that is colored blue. For example, find a number such as ½ or ¼.

[One of the problems I noted with this game is that the numerical fractions are visually hard to make out clearly on the screen. Detail is not so good here.]


**Penguin's Password**
This is a fun letter shuffle game. Children are shown letters such as "a, e, c, k" and they need to reshuffle them to form a real word. In this case the word `cake'.


**Island Hopping**
Obstacle avoidance is part of this game as your child steers jet-ski riding Marty away from debris and incorrect words as they try to complete a sentence. You might see a sentence such as "The ___ laughs" or "The ____ fusses" and your child needs to find a noun that makes sense in this sentence.


Five Stars. [A-]. Although the `Hint' button provides good clues and even answers in many cases, children will need to be able to read and understand basic math concepts to get the most out of this cartridge. They will also need a bit of eye-hand coordination.

I personally find the characters annoying, but this cartridge has such good learning opportunities that I can't really complain. I haven't seen any games anywhere else that cover the same skills as well: learn math, sentence syntax, and spelling, all while having fun.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice adaptation of movie into game format, February 23, 2006

By 

Flyboy123 (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Educational Game: Madagascar (Toy)

This program is well written and focuses on beginning math and reading. It is achedemically advanced for my 4 year old who is just learning to read, but he still enjoys playing using the hint feature and just messing around. It is right on target for my kindergartener and will offer challenges for reading well into first grade. Navigating the games is easy. We also loved Math Mission for both boys but found the Spiderman a little weaker because the programming is less interactive, but still rate that one a 3 or 4 star.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars L-Max Game Madagascar, March 2, 2006

By 

Annaliese Rogers "I teach" (Boulder City, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LeapFrog Leapster L-Max Educational Game: Madagascar (Toy)

Good game for my 6 year old. A few of the skills are to advanced for him but he is catching on and has fun with it!