Kao The Kangaroo – Review

With the remake of Kao the Kangaroo, Tate Multimedia is giving a long-forgotten but much-loved platforming mascot a second chance at success. Considering that the new game has the same name as the series, it’s clear that this is the right time to bring Kao back. These days, indie 3D platformers like Kao didn’t have to worry about getting lost in the shuffle when the big AAA platformers came out.

It’s true that Mario, Crash Bandicoot, Rayman, and Spyro the Dragon are the most enduring platforming mascots of all time, but they are hardly the only iconic protagonists in 3D platformers. Popular videos on YouTube and hashtags on Twitter helped bring this series back, and the fans’ efforts were mostly rewarded. Despite its flaws, this classic Kao the Kangaroo platformer is a lot of fun thanks to its devilish simplicity and memorable design in most respects.

Despite being a simplistic platformer with subpar voice acting and a dull plot, Kao the Kangaroo offers engaging gameplay in a colourful setting, proving that games from the platforming heyday that are less fondly remembered now have a better chance of being appreciated than they did two decades ago.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many game designers took lovable characters like animals, robots, or children and made them the protagonist of an action-packed platformer. Like Crash Bandicoot and Rayman 2, Kao the Kangaroo is one of these series, with the first three games being enjoyable if unambitious platformers.

Kao the Kangaroo, in its reimagined form, is as accessible as traditional 3D platformers from the N64, PlayStation, and Dreamcast eras, but with superior visuals and a more intuitive layout. In this platformer, the player’s objective is to reach the level’s conclusion while gathering as many items as possible. This new take on the Kao series doesn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of gameplay, but it does a good job of re-creating the feel of the original games.

The artwork of Kao the Kangaroo is colourful and upbeat. Kao the Kangaroo’s visuals are full of charm despite the animations not being as fluid as those in AAA games like Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time or Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Kao still takes big strides when walking, and he can still pull off some of his unsettling visuals moves, such as extending his neck while underwater or while hanging from nets.

The game’s levels are dispersed across four hub worlds, each of which has its own unique aesthetic and gameplay focus. Thanks to the distinct visual themes, colour palettes, and enemies found in each level’s hub, each area can be easily distinguished from the others. When compared to the later levels, where I feel like I’m exploring a spa resort on top of an icy mountain that’s been taken over by an evil force, exploring the relatively safe but jungle-filled Hopalloo Island is a very different experience.

While it may not be AAA level, it certainly looks and feels like a Kao the Kangaroo game. If you want to fully embrace the retro vibe, the game also comes with Kao’s original design as a costume.

Kao’s gameplay looks and feels like it was plucked from the early 2000s, and in a good way. Kao’s moves are more subdued than those of your typical platformer protagonist, consisting of a double jump, punch, ground pound, roll, and air spin. Kao the Kangaroo may not have as many bells and whistles as Super Mario Odyssey, but it gets the job done with a more laid-back pace and levels that are well-balanced for Kao’s speed and special moves.

Not the quickest or most exciting platformer to speedrun, but with Kao’s varied mobility, it’s possible to find short cuts in the game’s larger levels with practise. Fights are brief and to the point, despite the game’s simplistic combat (you’ll mostly use Kao’s basic three-hit combo). Additionally, players can spice up platforming and combat by augmenting Kao’s gloves with fire, ice, and wind for that particular level.

Kao may not be the most innovative platformer, but it does a good job of nailing the basics. Kao the Kangaroo is a great game that can be enjoyed by even the most inexperienced players due to its simple controls and enjoyable gameplay.

This prevents the game from ever becoming truly difficult. I met my demise only a handful of times throughout the adventure and wound up with more lives than I knew what to do with. That’s a bummer for players who crave a good challenge in their platformers, but thankfully, the rewards for searching every crevice for collectibles are comparable to those of a challenging stage. Kao the Kangaroo, in the end, feels like a throwback to a time when 3D platformers didn’t have to worry about reinventing the genre or featuring AAA animation and visuals while still being pure, simple fun.

Keep in mind that the first time through Kao the Kangaroo, you’ll have to sit through a boring story. Despite developers from Tate Multimedia admitting in an interview with Digital Trends that they couldn’t compete with AAA games in terms of narrative, the game still places an astonishing amount of emphasis on it.

The story follows Kao as he battles an evil Eternal Warrior and a dark spirit trapped inside his gloves while searching for his missing father and sister. It’s a standard “save the family and the world” story, and the villain’s twist is obvious from a mile away. In a series whose origin story involved Kao saving his friends from a villainous hunter, this plot feels overly ambitious.

A successful Saturday morning cartoon adaptation might have saved this story. Regrettably, it never reaches those heights due to subpar voice acting and writing. In particular, I feel like the voice actor for Kao never quite nails the delivery of his lines. because he always puts the wrong words in the right emotional emphasis. When the main character is so grating, it’s difficult to care about what happens to anyone or anything else in the game. Most of the voice acting in this game sounds very unprofessional, with even minor characters like Kao’s mentor Walt sounding clumsy in their delivery of lines.

The dialogue is cliche, and the jokes are all based on memes about the game’s deciding factor. There’s a particular exchange between Kao’s mother and Kao that has me scratching my head: she brings up the “arrow to the knee” meme from Skyrim, and the “rip and tear” mantra from Doom. Tate’s attempt to add in a more substantial story and more frequent voice acting detract from what made Kao the Kangaroo so enjoyable from the start. Thankfully, you can bypass any and all cutscenes, though doing so will cause you to lose some of the level’s context.

Overall, the plot feels like filler before getting to the fun platforming sections of the game. The platforming, while not particularly difficult, is thankfully enjoyable and satisfying. I’m hoping we won’t have to wait another 22 years to see this kangaroo again because Tate Multimedia knows how to make a fun 3D platformer. Not only the big names like Mario and Crash Bandicoot deserve modern sequels, but so do some of these lesser-known but no less beloved series.

Although it’s not the most original, challenging, or story-satisfying platformer, Kao the Kangaroo does a great job of covering the essentials. Thus, any fan of contemporary 3D platformers will find much to enjoy with this new take on Kao the Kangaroo, and they may even be prompted to seek out the original, long-forgotten classics in which he starred.