Kao the Kangaroo, a review of a retrospective 3D platformer

The history of video games is littered with characters in mothballs, who are now of moderate appeal and have been the protagonists of a handful of games that have since been forgotten. Many of them were not even producing negative results, but they were not figures that could withstand the exponential increase in production costs that have occurred in recent years. Thus, they forever stand still in the sarcophagus of memories displayed in the great virtual cemetery where the history of video games was created, celebrated as objects of worship and repentance with the laments of the most patient fans. However, it happens from time to time that someone manages to return from the nether world and has a second chance, as evidenced by it. Kangaroo Kao’s reviewThe unexpected game has come at the right time to give you some joy.

3D platform

Kangaroo Kao has never been a very prominent character. It became famous in the early years of the new millennium, especially in Poland, where the first episode for Windows and Dreamcast sold very well. Two sequels and a spin-off were produced, which were released for PS2, GameCube, Xbox, GBA, and PSP, but were never heard of again after 2006. Yet in some countries they continued to love him so much that Tate Multimedia, the developer of the original series decided to revive the franchise under pressure from the community’s demands. Obviously, the years devoted solely to motorcycle stunt games, and very well done, must have given the entire studio a certain nostalgia for the boxing kangaroo.

Let’s start with the basics: Kao the Kangaroo is a completely new chapter in the series (i.e. no remakes or remakes) with some of the characters from previous episodes returning, but still playable without knowing them. This is a platform 3D pure. At some moments it almost gets to the point of being cheeky.

At the beginning of the game, the young marsupial sets out to search for his father Koby and his sister Kaia, who have disappeared who knows where and who knows why. Her mother is very against it, but there is nothing she can do about it. Ours is accompanied by martial arts master Walt and Gadget, a pelican who is particularly knowledgeable in mechanics, who is responsible for repairing and guiding the vehicle that allows movement between the various connecting areas that reach real levels.

The second are variations on their theme. biome reference. For example, when Kao reaches the frozen mountain, he has to face levels filled with Tibetan-style buildings, but he also has to race through ice and valleys while battling against anthropomorphic goats led by a particularly hateful holy woman. But in the jungle the enemies will be monkeys and the levels will be full of lush vegetation and streams. In total there are four biomes for a dozen major levels.

objects

There progress Kangaroo Kao is very linear: each level can only be accessed after collecting a certain number of magic runes that allow you to bypass access barriers. Runes are found in the hub areas and the levels themselves, and are distributed so that only one level can be unlocked at a time. Other items to collect during exploration are coins, which are used to buy bonuses (heart pieces to increase the character’s health, extra lives, etc.), diamonds, and the letters that make up his name in the shops in the connecting areas. Main hero. Normally diamonds, gems and letters are well hidden and in the long run they become the main driving force to replay levels where at least everything is not found.

There are also gods around the maps. special accesses, leads to bonus stages, useful for obtaining other diamonds and collecting extra coins, as well as for testing yourself (on average more difficult than normal levels). These challenges, when unlocked, become accessible directly from the link areas, so you can repeat them whenever you want.

gameplay

in terms of gameplay Kao the Kangaroo is a platform game with a very classic environment. So expect to jump from platform to platform by hanging off a ledge and taking advantage of a few slides to run around the levels. There are hidden walls, elusive passages, tunnels to roll, ponds to be overcome by hanging on magic ropes, barrels to be avoided, and the rest of the entire collection one would expect from a game like this.

There are also some weirder mechanics. endless gloves We explain nothing about Kao (because they are bidirectionally linked to the main plot) in order to present real puzzles that are very simple in most cases, but sometimes quite challenging (without making it impossible at all). So Kao can activate gems that create energy fields that embody certain ethereal objects (usually platforms), use boomerangs to knock buttons and enemies in the distance, and most of all, collect orbs of fire, ice, and wind that give them their gauntlets. forces. For example, fireballs allow you to melt ice or free passages from cobwebs, as well as open furnaces and activate platforms. Ice globes allow the water to freeze, while wind globes are used to attract objects. The three forces are intertwined on all levels, some of which have entire divisions built around them.

battle system

The fact that you mentioned the enemies in other paragraphs should have made you realize that we are also fighting from time to time. After all, Kao is a boxer and wears responsive gloves, so holding hands is okay too. actually battle system It is the simplest part of the game. We don’t say weak because in essence it fits well with the rest of the game. Also, by playing the game, it becomes clear that the developers want to prioritize the platform part, as conflicts are usually less.

However, hitting is tantamount to punching enemies in the nose by repeatedly pressing a button to dodge if needed. After a few hits in a row, it is possible to use a super move that literally destroys enemies and becomes stronger if you absorb some orbs. Their enemies have fairly simple attack patterns.

Usually, they attack Kao head-on without coming up with who knows what tactics. However, there are also opponents who attack from afar and larger opponents that require a lot of hits to hit the mat.

Overall, it’s a basic system and very easy to master, so much so that throughout the game we never died fighting, other than that, we never died. Manager. The latter are larger and more unpleasant enemies with more structured attack patterns placed at the end of a biome visit. They are more challenging compared to normal enemies, but do not present a very complex challenge as it takes very little time to understand their attack patterns and react accordingly. In reality, it wouldn’t make much sense to make them too difficult, given the environment the experience was designed to flow as smoothly as possible. We took them as another variation of the theme, i.e. another way that the developers came up with to make the game more diverse. In this respect, they do their job perfectly.

immersed in the past

under profile technician Kangaroo Kao is infamous and unflattering. Compared to previous episodes, Kao’s model is more beautiful and detailed (God forbid), the episodes are bigger and more colorful, and the enemies are more diverse. On the other hand, we see that the team cannot benefit from endless resources, especially in animations and modest breaks. The whole has a strong classic flavor, a flavor that becomes stronger when you encounter countless quotes from the classics of the genre scattered across the levels. Yes, because those who made Kao the Kangaroo are well acquainted with the 3D platform games of the late 90’s and early new millennium. Inside, there’s Super Mario 64, Crash Bandicoot, Rayman 2, Spyro, and all the other characters born in those years, all that chilling and good-natured glee that are children of great enthusiasm and an equally great illusion. It’s the perfect game for a retrotopic society that struggles tremendously to find something interesting in the present, as well as trying to update the past. And the problem is, it works.

There’s a desire to speak ill of it, because the camera occasionally throws a tantrum and makes the action difficult to read (fortunately, not too often), with annoying bugs here and there that plagued us a few times. we start again from levels and stylistically we are facing a fair of creativity in sales, but after all we can’t say it’s bad because overall we liked it and not even a little bit. It’s one of those self-aware titles that shows its limits rather than trying to hide them. The levels are varied, designed with great wisdom and always offer new challenges and mechanics until the end of the adventure.

Also, as mentioned earlier, it’s full of secrets Objects to discover and collect that never let the saturation effect take over. This also helps clear the replayability to the roughly ten-hour period, which includes the funniest activities and not extending the broth of repetitive quests until exhausted (it will definitely take a few more hours for completionists). If you want to repeat the levels or challenges where you can’t find everything, you pass all the biomes, but you keep going and you reach the end without feeling any fatigue. Of course, nothing really surprising, considering that we are also talking about a medium-small production, but still there is great satisfaction in being able to have this experience without putting you under any pressure. A rarity these days.