My endless hunt for good 3D Platformers continues with Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2, yet another game Nitro Rad talked about. However, even he was pretty lukewarm on this one, so my expectations were tempered here.
Firstly, let me say that this is yet another case of IGDB having the clearly inferior box art. The US version's has not only far better use of foreshortening and color contrast, but also a great metacontextual commentary on the game itself. Oh well.
Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 is by far the most popular game in the series, and you still may not have heard about it. I picked it up at a retro game store near my home despite how cheap the game is on steam sometimes (Once even being free).
I can't really say that this game is all that great. It's a pretty serviceable platformer, but it's not really unique in any way. As inconsistent as a game like Glover can be, I really appreciated the uniqueness of the movement, level themes, and music. Wait, no, Glover is a masterpiece, I meant Demon Turf. Anyway, Kao Round 2 doesn't really do anything unique at all. In fact, it's extremely derivative of Rayman 2. You start in prison, the second level is called 'The Great Escape', you gain a hover ability, etc etc... However, this game also lacks a lot of what I liked about Rayman 2: The great, cohesive variety and the good use of mechanics focused around a simple moveset. In these regards, this game is extremely simple with few interesting mechanics. Like, I can't think of anything interesting right now. The movement is also very barebones, although I liked the infinite roll you can earn near the end of the game. Despite how simple it is, this game holds your hands pretty much throughout the entire game. I guess it is a baby game, and you can skip any dialogue, but this was still somewhat odd to me. I did appreciate a lot of the more obscure collectible hiding places though, even if the gems are pretty much useless.
Despite that, this game does have better combat than Rayman 2. That's not because this game's combat is great or anything, and moreso because the combat of Rayman 2 is so mediocre. We have a 3 hit combo, aerial attack, roll, ground pound, and boomerangs. It's fine as far as 3D platformer combat goes, but the hit detection can occasionally be wonky. It also has boss fights, which was something Rayman 2 lacked. They're fine.
The story of this game is interesting. You have to get 3000 dabloons to go fight the boss, which may make you think this is a collectathon where you're given freedom in your stage choices, but nah. 2000 of these have to be gained through the levels you play through in a completely linear fashion. At that point, I don't get why they didn't just use a different macguffin or something. Also, I don't get why Kao didn't just beat up the guy demanding money like he did with every other guy. He had no problem stealing a guy's money and beating him up, so it's not a moral issue, and the guy doesn't look particularly tough. I dunno.
I know I've been pretty negative here, and honestly the only thing holding me back from giving this a 4/10 is how charming this game can be on occasion. Kao sounds pretty cute and his neck stretches out in water. So, 5/10 I guess. Maybe I'll lower it to a 4/10 later.
You know, I should really play the first one, especially since I have a Dreamcast. Let me go pick up a copy on eba-
O_O
Firstly, let me say that this is yet another case of IGDB having the clearly inferior box art. The US version's has not only far better use of foreshortening and color contrast, but also a great metacontextual commentary on the game itself. Oh well.
Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 is by far the most popular game in the series, and you still may not have heard about it. I picked it up at a retro game store near my home despite how cheap the game is on steam sometimes (Once even being free).
I can't really say that this game is all that great. It's a pretty serviceable platformer, but it's not really unique in any way. As inconsistent as a game like Glover can be, I really appreciated the uniqueness of the movement, level themes, and music. Wait, no, Glover is a masterpiece, I meant Demon Turf. Anyway, Kao Round 2 doesn't really do anything unique at all. In fact, it's extremely derivative of Rayman 2. You start in prison, the second level is called 'The Great Escape', you gain a hover ability, etc etc... However, this game also lacks a lot of what I liked about Rayman 2: The great, cohesive variety and the good use of mechanics focused around a simple moveset. In these regards, this game is extremely simple with few interesting mechanics. Like, I can't think of anything interesting right now. The movement is also very barebones, although I liked the infinite roll you can earn near the end of the game. Despite how simple it is, this game holds your hands pretty much throughout the entire game. I guess it is a baby game, and you can skip any dialogue, but this was still somewhat odd to me. I did appreciate a lot of the more obscure collectible hiding places though, even if the gems are pretty much useless.
Despite that, this game does have better combat than Rayman 2. That's not because this game's combat is great or anything, and moreso because the combat of Rayman 2 is so mediocre. We have a 3 hit combo, aerial attack, roll, ground pound, and boomerangs. It's fine as far as 3D platformer combat goes, but the hit detection can occasionally be wonky. It also has boss fights, which was something Rayman 2 lacked. They're fine.
The story of this game is interesting. You have to get 3000 dabloons to go fight the boss, which may make you think this is a collectathon where you're given freedom in your stage choices, but nah. 2000 of these have to be gained through the levels you play through in a completely linear fashion. At that point, I don't get why they didn't just use a different macguffin or something. Also, I don't get why Kao didn't just beat up the guy demanding money like he did with every other guy. He had no problem stealing a guy's money and beating him up, so it's not a moral issue, and the guy doesn't look particularly tough. I dunno.
I know I've been pretty negative here, and honestly the only thing holding me back from giving this a 4/10 is how charming this game can be on occasion. Kao sounds pretty cute and his neck stretches out in water. So, 5/10 I guess. Maybe I'll lower it to a 4/10 later.
You know, I should really play the first one, especially since I have a Dreamcast. Let me go pick up a copy on eba-
O_O
2 Comments
@FrozenRoy Not sure how you can't see the several layers of genius with the US box art. The PAL box art isn't bad but it's far more conventional and lacks the artistry of the US version.
FrozenRoy
11 months ago