OneTrooBloo
Kao the Kangaroo 2022
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Platforms Played
I'm a big 3D platformer fan, and I've always wanted to play the original Kao the Kangaroo games (or at least the second one, anyway), so when I heard the series was getting a reboot, I was excited. However, I ended up with mixed feelings about this game. On one hand, it seriously lacks polish and is extremely janky, but on the other hand, there was definitely some sincere effort put in here.
Gameplay:
Kao the Kangaroo is a 3D platformer where your goal is to make it from point A to B in a level, collecting things and fighting enemies along the way. The movement feels pretty good. There's some standard mechanics like double jumping, rolling, grappling hooks, ground pounds, and so on. There's also a spin attack you can perform in the air to give you a little extra height. My only issue with the platforming is that ledge grabbing can feel extremely janky. You have to stand and jump at a certain angle to grab onto ledges, and it can get really exhausting to fight with sometimes. The grappling hook is also inconsistent, and I often fell to my death because of it. There's a lot of actions in general that just never feel quite right.
There's a small emphasis on combat in this game, though it's nothing too complex. You'll mainly be mashing the attack button, but you can also build up a combo meter to unleash a finisher, which slightly helps in breaking up the monotony. There's a surprising amount of enemy variety too. The enemy types didn't really shake things up, but the effort is still commendable. Though the combat tries not to overstay its welcome, I still found myself getting pretty fed up with it by the end of the game. The boss fights are okay at least, requiring some thought with the use of Kao's abilities.
The level design is fairly competent. Levels are a decent length with interesting, though sometimes confusing, paths that branch out into hidden collectibles. The levels feel like they take good advantage of all of Kao's abilities, including the elemental power-ups. The power-ups might have been my favorite mechanic, as the ability to store up to three and use them at any time led to some creative moments. The wind(?) power-up was kind of questionable though, as it wasn't implemented very well. The one thing about the level design that really bothered me was the amount of breakable boxes. There's piles of breakable boxes around every corner that drop tons of coins when destroyed. Luckily, they can be ignored since coins are a non-essential collectible, but seeing them everywhere gets old fast. Speaking of collectibles, they all kind of feel pointless. The runes unlock new levels, but you never have to go out of your way to collect them. I'm unsure of what the purpose of the gems and letters are, but I'm guessing they unlock more costumes which you can buy with coins. The only useful collectibles are the heart pieces to expand your health bar, and getting more hearts is nice because for some reason this game has lives, and it's easy to take a lot of damage from falling due to this game's plethora of glitches.
Story:
Kao the Kangaroo's story is about Kao going on a journey to save his dad and sister. He is accompanied by his mentor and a talking pair of gloves that are connected to a magical force. The story tries to have some twists and turns, but nothing ever feels like it has much weight. The ending definitely had me scratching my head, and I felt like I missed something. I didn't care for any of the characters either, not even Kao. It was underwhelming, even by simple kid-friendly platformer standards.
Sound and visuals:
The sound design is bad. A lot of sound effects seemed outright missing, and the mixing was pretty off. It isn't too in-your-face with its inconsistency, thankfully, though during the ending cutscene it got laughably bad. It was hard to hear any of the voices. Speaking of voices, the voice acting is pretty mediocre too, and the writing certainly doesn't help. Luckily, the music was okay.
On the surface, the visuals are quite good. The art style is pleasant, the environments look nice, and the character designs are pretty alright (mostly... there's a few really bad ones). The animations are where things fall flat though. Kao's core animations in gameplay are fine, but everything else is pretty sloppy. Sometimes I wasn't sure if my game was glitching or if an animation was really that bad. I guess it doesn't interfere with gameplay, but it is an unfortunate part of an already janky mess.
Conclusion:
Kao the Kangaroo is full of jank, glitches, and an overall lack of polish, which is really disappointing, because with some creases ironed out, this could have been quite good even if kind of generic. It's obvious that there was heart put into this game. I was surprised by how many levels and hub worlds there were, and to have them all be pretty well designed and of a decent length was nice. It really felt like the developers cared and wanted to make something cool. Sadly, there's just nothing here to justify recommending it over other 3D platformers of a similar price range out there.
Gameplay:
Kao the Kangaroo is a 3D platformer where your goal is to make it from point A to B in a level, collecting things and fighting enemies along the way. The movement feels pretty good. There's some standard mechanics like double jumping, rolling, grappling hooks, ground pounds, and so on. There's also a spin attack you can perform in the air to give you a little extra height. My only issue with the platforming is that ledge grabbing can feel extremely janky. You have to stand and jump at a certain angle to grab onto ledges, and it can get really exhausting to fight with sometimes. The grappling hook is also inconsistent, and I often fell to my death because of it. There's a lot of actions in general that just never feel quite right.
There's a small emphasis on combat in this game, though it's nothing too complex. You'll mainly be mashing the attack button, but you can also build up a combo meter to unleash a finisher, which slightly helps in breaking up the monotony. There's a surprising amount of enemy variety too. The enemy types didn't really shake things up, but the effort is still commendable. Though the combat tries not to overstay its welcome, I still found myself getting pretty fed up with it by the end of the game. The boss fights are okay at least, requiring some thought with the use of Kao's abilities.
The level design is fairly competent. Levels are a decent length with interesting, though sometimes confusing, paths that branch out into hidden collectibles. The levels feel like they take good advantage of all of Kao's abilities, including the elemental power-ups. The power-ups might have been my favorite mechanic, as the ability to store up to three and use them at any time led to some creative moments. The wind(?) power-up was kind of questionable though, as it wasn't implemented very well. The one thing about the level design that really bothered me was the amount of breakable boxes. There's piles of breakable boxes around every corner that drop tons of coins when destroyed. Luckily, they can be ignored since coins are a non-essential collectible, but seeing them everywhere gets old fast. Speaking of collectibles, they all kind of feel pointless. The runes unlock new levels, but you never have to go out of your way to collect them. I'm unsure of what the purpose of the gems and letters are, but I'm guessing they unlock more costumes which you can buy with coins. The only useful collectibles are the heart pieces to expand your health bar, and getting more hearts is nice because for some reason this game has lives, and it's easy to take a lot of damage from falling due to this game's plethora of glitches.
Story:
Kao the Kangaroo's story is about Kao going on a journey to save his dad and sister. He is accompanied by his mentor and a talking pair of gloves that are connected to a magical force. The story tries to have some twists and turns, but nothing ever feels like it has much weight. The ending definitely had me scratching my head, and I felt like I missed something. I didn't care for any of the characters either, not even Kao. It was underwhelming, even by simple kid-friendly platformer standards.
Sound and visuals:
The sound design is bad. A lot of sound effects seemed outright missing, and the mixing was pretty off. It isn't too in-your-face with its inconsistency, thankfully, though during the ending cutscene it got laughably bad. It was hard to hear any of the voices. Speaking of voices, the voice acting is pretty mediocre too, and the writing certainly doesn't help. Luckily, the music was okay.
On the surface, the visuals are quite good. The art style is pleasant, the environments look nice, and the character designs are pretty alright (mostly... there's a few really bad ones). The animations are where things fall flat though. Kao's core animations in gameplay are fine, but everything else is pretty sloppy. Sometimes I wasn't sure if my game was glitching or if an animation was really that bad. I guess it doesn't interfere with gameplay, but it is an unfortunate part of an already janky mess.
Conclusion:
Kao the Kangaroo is full of jank, glitches, and an overall lack of polish, which is really disappointing, because with some creases ironed out, this could have been quite good even if kind of generic. It's obvious that there was heart put into this game. I was surprised by how many levels and hub worlds there were, and to have them all be pretty well designed and of a decent length was nice. It really felt like the developers cared and wanted to make something cool. Sadly, there's just nothing here to justify recommending it over other 3D platformers of a similar price range out there.