Madagascar on the GBA is one of those licensed games that actually surprised me—it’s not just a lazy movie tie-in. You bounce between playing as Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, and the rest of the crew, with each character having their own little quirks. Alex punches stuff, Marty’s got this weird back-kick move, and Gloria… well, she just sort of body-slams everything.

The levels are short but packed with hidden fruit to collect (because apparently escaping New York means eating a lot of bananas). The platforming’s simple, but there’s something satisfying about knocking out those pesky foosa enemies. Also, the art style holds up surprisingly well for a GBA game—bright colors, chunky sprites, and those little cutscenes that actually look like the movie.

If you’re into retro platformers or just miss early 2000s DreamWorks nostalgia, this one’s a solid pick.