3D platformers were all the rage in the 90s and then fizzled out before the last generation. Suddenly nostalgia embarked upon us with various reboots from the Crash Bandicoot franchise and even a revival of Spyro the Dragon. We have seen some fresh ideas in recent years with games such as Super Lucky’s Tale and Yooka Laylee, so it is clear to see a market for the genre is still very much present. One game that passed me by with its release almost 22 years ago now is Kao The Kangaroo. Making its debut on Microsoft Windows, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance all those years ago, there will be a huge audience that has never admittedly heard of it, let alone played it. Developer and publisher Tate Multimedia certainly see a reason to restore the game back to life and bring a modern refreshed reboot to a new generation of gamers. Will this new adventure taking inspiration from some of the greats of the platforming heyday, be able to imbed itself amongst the classics in the catalogue?

Introduction

Kao The Kangaroo is a 3D platformer clearly aimed at a broad age range audience, so I was keen to jump on and see if this appealed to my four-year-old son. Not only this though, there was some intrigue to see if it would tick some boxes for me also. As someone who has played and enjoyed plenty of games in the genre, it’s often nice to kick back and relax with something calm and casual with familiar and fun mechanics. There is a story here for those who are interested, I am usually guilty of skipping cutscenes in games of this nature and seeking out the core gameplay. Without spoiling the adventure for those who do absorb every niggle of information though I’ll give you the general gist. Kao starts off his journey looking for his lost sister and on the way uncovering secrets about his dad. From the outside looking in, you will probably wonder why a kangaroo is wearing a pair of boxing gloves. These belong to his father and by wearing them, you’ll soon discover a wealth of skills and abilities. Sadly the storytelling is somewhat predictable and doesn’t progress very deep, there is some character building throughout with the usual over-exaggerated voice acting segments you see in experiences like this. I’d liken this to voicing you see in Spyro where he comes across almost like a teenager in his tone

Gameplay

Early on, you’ll be eased into the game and taught how to deal with combat scenarios, how to negotiate jumps, grip onto platforms, roll under stuff and the other general stuff you know to expect in a platformer. The control scheme is simple to pick up and grasp, even for the players with zero experience in gaming. Worlds are littered with enemies, coins are scattered everywhere and there are diamonds, runes, scrolls and more to find and locate. Crash Bandicoot and Spyro fans will be right at home with how the game handles as it is near identical in how it plays. What I really enjoyed was the encouragement to go and discover every nook and cranny throughout levels. There are blue diamonds and the letters K-A-O to collect alongside some other pickups for the players who like to 100% everything. I found hidden objects underwater, below waterfalls, and inside buildings among many more discoverable areas. Of course, you can just breeze through the levels and bosses if you desire and aren’t worried about full completion.

The Niggly Bits

For the most part, Kao The Kangeroo was extremely fluid in combat scenarios and hopping from place to place. Some niggling issues do exist though that do have you scratching your head. In the first world for instance there is a transition from shallow to deep water but no indication of this barrier. Death isn’t an issue in this game as you’ll respawn albeit losing a few bits and pieces you’ve picked up. There’s a variation of combos you can perform to attack and obliterate enemies but often I found on smaller platforms some of these attacks would send you careering off the edge, only to have to repeat the same loop all over again. Some animations you have to see through once committed to, such as when you’re rolling around, you can’t jump out of the roll and this can cost you valuable time if in a fight with enemies, bear this in mind when fighting bosses. Some questionable design choices exist, like breakable boxes with little in them or sometimes explosives. There was no positive outcome from bothering with these crates so often I ignored them.

Obtained coins can be used for stuff like extra lives and cosmetic items for Kao to change into, whilst they felt meaningful I’d like to have seen more purchasable items. Blue diamonds are another item you’ll come across as you play, these felt tacked on and serve literally no purpose even if it was fun to hunt them down and find them. Generally, though, the gameplay was too simple and not challenging enough for me. There are some minor puzzle situations that don’t have much difficulty but I would love to have seen more implemented. Gloves can be manipulated to cater for fire and ice attacks which will grant some visual changes in how enemies react when they freeze or dash around in flames. Powers for the gloves don’t alter the combat or make you feel any stronger, it’s purely cosmetic. Eventually, it got to the stage where the collectables were there for a fun element of extending your run-through of each level, there was no real incentive to look for them unless you are hunting achievements.

Graphics & Audio

I can’t knock the visuals much in Kao The Kangaroo. Each of the four worlds throughout the game is bright, warm and vibrantly rich in colour. Character design is well achieved and with Kao being the main man in the spotlight, he is illustrated magnificently in this new current generation as a cute bouncy marsupial. The overall presentation is smooth as butter with a consistent 60FPS established whilst gaming on my Xbox Series X. You can see that the design team were super passionate about getting this project displayed as great as possible as the level layouts match the gorgeous aesthetics.

Audio is a bit of a mixed bag across the board. Voice acting is mediocre at best which to be fair I kind of expected in a game of this calibre. Bring to the table with that, some rigid and blank facial expressions during cutscenes and it all falls a little flat outside the great gameplay. Sound effects do the job as intended but I did notice some erratic behaviour when it came to the music. Oddly it would cut out at certain stages and during boss fights, I was anticipating the music to ramp up with intensity and it just didn’t. It isn’t game-breaking stuff here but could have been done with more overall polish.

In Conclusion

Kao the Kangaroo is certainly up there with the best of the 3D platforming world in terms of its core mechanics. The revival of the franchise from Tate Multimedia is a solid comeback, but for me, it just wasn’t challenging enough to become one of the more memorable games in the pile. That said, my son absolutely adored Kao not just as a character but learning the art and technique of how to engage with a platforming title also. This game will appeal to gamers just starting out like my son, right through to the mid-teens for sure. For completionists and more experienced gamers though, you may not find this platformer much of a challenge. But if you adore the elements of what makes this game type great, which is linear exploration and collectables then there is a good few sessions of gameplay for you here. The game can be clocked in approximately 8 or 9 hours, but the completionists out there may take slightly more time to tick every task off until those boxing gloves wear out.

CX Score
  • 70%
    Overall - 70%
70%

Summary

Pros

  • A visually beautiful reboot of Kao The Kangaroo
  • For the younger audience there is a stress-free fun gameplay experience
  • The core combat and platforming mechanics are spot on

Cons

  • Not challenging enough for experienced gamers
  • Voice acting and character animations could be better
  • It’s short with not much encouragement to 100% everything

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