Kao’s Boxing and Bounding to Save his Sister!- Kao the Kangaroo Review

Kao the Kangaroo is a modern reboot of an old platformer. While it might take note of beloved series like Banjo Kazooie or Crash Bandicoot, it tries to do its own thing. Kao isn’t short of positivity and has energy abound. He is a decent protagonist, even if he doesn’t say the best things, and might be a little daft. Kao the Kangaroo has a lot to prove if he’s going to show the people of Hoppaloo island that he’s a hero.

Kao the Kangaroo is a standard platformer collectathon similar to titles from the 90s. Kao will run through levels punching enemies, collecting gems, and other goodies, as he bashes his way to save his sister. There are several levels to take on, some more interesting than others. It’s decently challenging, but I’m also not the best platformer, so there’s that.

Kao’s sister is taken by the big bad of the game, and it’s up to Kao to save her. With the help of his father’s gloves, which talk to him, he has a lot of work to do to save her. Kao isn’t alone; he has a few friends, like Nigel the pelican and his master. Kao will meet several other characters that make the game feel whole.

Kao runs through different levels, collecting runes, gems, and even the letters of his name. Each level feels like a time trial because they measure how long it takes to complete each level. This makes it perfect for speed runners, as seeing the time count up always pushes people to get through it faster.

Each level is different enough to never feel too stale, even if the player has to play the level again. Having a timer also makes things feel better, as once the player figures out how to get through a section, they can lower their fastest time, which is nice. It feels like an old-school platformer which also makes it feel nostalgic. I will always appreciate old-school platformers because they remind me of simpler times.

Kao even gains access to a boomerang which changes things up. He can bond his boomerang with an element and send it out long-range to cut a web or take out foes. As a Kangaroo it’s only natural he’d have a boomerang, and I appreciate that he was given one.

Combat in Kao feels very fulfilling, despite being simple. Kao can quickly punch his way through foes, taking them out in a quick fashion. Each foe takes a few hits, and then Kao can take them down with a hard attack. The foes might be nimble, but Kao is always just a hair quicker. Some crabs dot the landscape of the hub worlds that Kao can punch. For some reason, it fills me with joy to knock these crustaceans around.

Kao gains the ability to meld elements to his gloves, like flames. He can punch obstacles to burn them away or activate switches. Each charge lasts for one hit, so it’s necessary to think a little before using them. Some totems offer up infinite element charges, which can help. If Kao loses a heart the charged areas will retain their charge.

Bosses in this game offer up another challenge and can be quite hard to defeat. The first boss, for instance, is tricky to beat as the game isn’t always so smooth. One wrong move and he might wipe out Kao before he knows what hit him.

There are several secret trials for Kao to find that, when activated, will bring him to special zones. Completing these isn’t necessary, but offers up gems and coins which are good to collect. Coins are important to gather as there is a shop in each hub world.

The shop offers up costumes, extra hearts, and lives, and buying these isn’t necessary but I love customization of any kind. Some of the costumes are just palette swaps, while others change his clothes or model him, after his original appearance. Having more hearts is always helpful, so it’s a good idea to buy these first.

The music in this game is a little weak and replays itself nearly constantly. I might be getting older, but something about hearing the same song over and over again doesn’t hit right anymore. I’m not a fan of the music in the game but it isn’t necessarily terrible, I’ve probably just listened to the songs a few too many times, and now I’m tired of them.

The voice acting, however, is quite cringey and I’ve not heard voice acting like this in a long while. Kao loves to talk and sometimes he might say something interesting but other times I wish I didn’t have to hear him talk. The other characters also talk; some sound fine, but Kao loves quips and the quips can be quite weak. I don’t know why it bothered me so much that he talked about an in-universe Youtube and Tiktok but it did.

The game itself was pretty buggy and recently had a glitch patched that would erase data. It’s never fun to lose save data, but hopefully, this glitch doesn’t find a way to appear again. It’s great to see these issues dealt with and the roadmap showing progress. In this day and age, as long the developers are willing to continue working on games even after release, it’s up to players to try to help, and the fan base has been loud and clear on what is wrong.

Kao the Kangaroo has a roadmap for the future with new costumes and patches. The game itself does need a little tightening up, but with the positivity, the team is getting about the game as a whole, they are sure to deliver. In a day and age where games are coming out with work needed doing, the developers of Kao are ready to fix the issues.

Kao the Kangaroo is a pretty solid game: and, by the fall, one that should have all its issues squared away. It’s a fun platformer when it does things right and offers up plenty of nostalgia for fans of collectathons. Kao might need to save his sister, but he’ll have fun along the way; will the player aid him?

Disclaimer: A review key was provided