Not quite a knock-out.
Kao the Kangaroo is a mascot platformer from over 20 years ago that I only remember from the various ads in EGM or GamePro and was a series of games I never once got my hands on. It’s also unfortunate that while there are three games across the series, each title was only available on select hardware and has yet to be playable across one single platform. While it is possible that the Kao trilogy could somehow find its official way to modern hardware one day, Tate Multimedia has instead rebooted the series, to varying levels of success.
When Kao 2 was re-released on Steam back in 2019, it showed Tate Multimedia that Kao could be worth revisiting, as the game did remarkably well and currently sits at almost 2,000 overwhelmingly positive reviews, though, to be fair, the game is also only $2.69 CAD at the time of this writing. Then, upon its 20th anniversary in 2020, TM announced that they had started production on a whole new entry that would serve as a spiritual reboot of the entire series.
After doing a bit of research on the fractured trilogy, there are certainly a few ideas and characters present in those games, especially from the second and third entries, that are brought back here in the simply titled “Kao the Kangaroo”. While there are no vehicle missions, paragliding, or any novelties such as those, Kao 2022 keeps things simple but allows for several fun and engaging mechanics to flow evenly throughout the roughly 8-10 hour adventure.
Pronounced the same way you’d naturally say K.O, Kao the Kangaroo is set forth on a mission to save his sister. Upon having a nightmare that she was in trouble, especially after their father has been missing for some time, Kao heads out on a rescue mission to track them both down. It’s not long into this effort that he finds his dad’s old gloves, a supernatural pair of boxing gloves that somehow can talk to Kao, informing him of their power and desire to help him.
As far as the overall story, Kao the Kangaroo is structured very simple and doesn’t attempt to deviate from that basic setup. Kao will fight a few bosses, each giving him a clue as to where to go next. While there is a supporting cast, they don’t do much more than reinforce that narrative or, in the case of Gadget, are only used to take Kao from place to place. Kao also has a mentor in the form of Walt the Koala, who joins him on this adventure and reminds me so much of Shifu from Kung Fu Panda.
Kao himself is joyful, brash, and very over-confident, and this plays to the game’s strength as you want that from such a character. I mean, that is the basic outline for every platformer character pretty much ever made. However, the performances that bring Kao and his friends to life are appallingly bad and go as far as to ruin anything this game is attempting to offer towards its story’s presentation. While I did sit through it all, I had my finger hovering over the “skip cutscene” button at all times.
Apart from spouting out one-liners we’ve heard from the lips of Duke Nukem to even a Skyrim reference, and yes, it’s “that” one, the actor assigned to Kao is stilted, wooden, and often seems unsure of anything he is saying. This holds true for most of the cast. Hell, there are no voices accredited to their respective characters in the credits, so I am unsure as to actually voiced Kao, but if the first name is any indication, it is their only acting credit.
Regardless of its dialogue, story, and performances, Kao the Kangaroo mostly succeeds in nearly everything else, creating a very light and often charming adventure. Levels are often spacious, allowing for paths that lead to various collectibles and secrets, and while there are some indoor locations where the camera isn’t great at keeping up, these are incredibly few and you are often exploring massive open levels that never seem to overstay their welcome. It also helps that this game is visually fun with some solid level design and overall presentation.
There is also a wide variety of ideas here that break up the platforming sections. From camera-facing chase scenes right out of Crash Bandicoot, grind rails ala Ratchet and Clank, to frozen slides ripped right from Mario 64. There is also a crystal in one level that when activated allows Kao to traverse gaps whereas inactivating it will allow him to traverse others, similar to some of the reality powers of Crash 4: It’s About Time. Kao uses these inspirations sparingly and thoughtfully, but the overall game can feel like it's a greatest hits of games you’ve already played. You’ll have some light puzzle-solving or switch flipping, but you never feel like you are doing one thing constantly, which would have dragged down the experience.
Kao will also use elemental orbs that coat his gloves, such as using fire to burn away cobwebs or melting ice blocks, to using cold to freeze water to traverse across it, or stopping a raging waterfall to scale up it. The wind power unlocked in the final area doesn’t quite get the same love, but overall, there are clever uses of these abilities almost everywhere that stands out and creates some fun, if simple, gameplay ideas.
Kao also has boomerangs to use, but these are limited to situations that require them. It’s a shame this wasn’t a regular part of his arsenal, as some enemies could have been defeated using them, and if you kept their use minimal to relying on pickups, it would have made their use feel far more impactful than placing their station next to the only place they are of importance. You can hit the boomerang station to transfer your current element to them, which allows you to throw that element out to affect the environment.
Combat itself is serviceable but never outstanding. You have a three-strike combo, and a meter that builds up to allow Kao to pull off a slow-motion attack, decimating nearly anything that gets caught in it. You do have a wide range of baddies from those that fire off sheep canons to larger foes that have a variety of melee weapons, but apart from having to jump attack some of the flying ones, which would have been great for the boomerang, the limited combat makes every single battle encounter the same experience.
Because of this simplicity, you don’t need to really have another tactic other than ‘hit them alot’ and that is unfortunate. You have elemental powers, but these don’t affect combat, which feels like a missed opportunity here. They do flourish your special attack, but it doesn’t set enemies ablaze or cast them away in a big wind explosion. There is a solid variety of enemies here, each with their own intro and fun design, but they often just fall the same way the previous lot did.
Kao’s attacks are the same from the moment you start, from him being inexperienced to when he is suddenly “ready” to take on the big bad. There isn’t any sort of progress either made from a narrative standpoint or one of combative experience. His mentor mentions how Kao is “ready” but there was never a point in the game where Kao makes some sort of strong developmental arc. You don’t level up Kao to increase his overall combat abilities, and this can cause combat throughout its time here to feel largely the same from the first hour to the last.
While Kao had neck powers in the previous games, largely used to keep his head above water, here, Kao uses his stretchable neck to drop lower when he is hanging from suspended horizontal platforms. You can double jump, which is pretty standard fare here, and several levels have bouncy trampolines that hurl Kao all over the place. You have moving platforms, some triggered by your elemental powers, and a variety of climbing or grind-railing segments that break up the action.
Boss fights are the highlight when it comes to what Kao offers from a design standpoint and how even the most basic attacks Kao has can lead to some fun encounters. There are not many of these fights, and some are more basic than others, but each boss fight is a multi-step battle with steps such as using fire to melt the ice around a series of mirrors so that you can trick the boss into blasting the mirror and reflecting their attack back at them. While you do end up using all your elemental powers to fight the last boss, the encounter is probably the weakest of the lot, but still enjoyable.
Across each level or the numerous hub locations you’ll visit, Kao will have a series of collectibles to track down. Floating purple ruins are used as currency to unlock levels, and coins are what you’ll collect to purchase additional heart components to build up your health or buy costume pieces that unlock as you complete certain tasks or track down the K, A, or O’s that float around each level. There are gems to collect, but these serve zero purpose and feel like an afterthought. It’s a shame the gems were not the currency used to purchase outfits instead and allowed the coins to build up your health or lives pool.
While I adored much of what Kao the Kangaroo offered, I had some pretty disappointing glitches. Rolling credits allowed me to jump back in to track down any remaining collectibles; however, my game decided that the Hot Springs level was the only place where my auto-save would work. It is a shame that Kao the Kangaroo doesn’t have any sort of manual save and this then relies on the auto-save to keep track of where you are. So, in order to continue to 100% the title, I would have to complete about 3 hours’ worth of the game I have already beaten. The game also has 2 achievements for defeating the final boss, but only one unlocked. I’ve also had the game crash numerous times, thankfully before the hot springs level decided to be my only point of saving, and a cutscene that ended and left me in a pink screen where I could hear Kao jump, but I was effectively stuck. Rebooting it pulled me back to the hot springs, which was about an hour back.
Kao the Kangaroo is a solid but very borrowed from platformer that is enjoyable if you don’t concentrate too hard on knowing you’ve seen this gameplay done better elsewhere. Its story, characters, and voice acting suffer, but its heart is in the right place. If TM refined what is here and brought more of its own spin on the platformer, as well as a total recast of its characters and less reliance on one-liners or pop culture references, then Kao could have a chance at being part of the conversation. As it stands, Kao is a serviceable reminder of the platform character era where everyone wanted a piece of the pie. Kao the Kangaroo doesn’t always succeed, but it’s still a very enjoyable experience that I do recommend diving into.
Developer - Tate Multimedia. Publisher - Tate Multimedia. Released -May 27th, 2022. Available On - Xbox One/Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows. Rated - (E 10+) Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Comic Mischief. Platform Reviewed - Xbox Series X. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.