Kao the Kangaroo (2022) (PS5)

The revival of 3D mascot platformers, while including the likes of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon, has also included some more unexpected and/or obscure ones, such as Bubsy the Bobcat and TY the Tasmanian Tiger. Kao the Kangaroo falls into the latter category, coming back with a new self-titled reboot on modern platforms after having not had a new game since 2005’s Mystery of the Volcano. I was excited to play this one after having recently explored the older games through Steam and GOG and played the demo through the former, though opted for a PS5 copy rather than PC. Since I’m a fan of physical media, I was disappointed that the US release was through Limited Run rather than the mass retail release in other countries, and so while I did pre-order a US copy in the event of any potential DLC, I also imported a physical copy from the UK just so I could play it in a timelier fashion. Although the game has some issues in a technical level, I still thought it overall one of the better entries in the series.

Kao wakes up from a dream about his sister Kaia, who has gone missing while on a mission to search for their father. While he expects resistance from his mother, she’s realized she can’t stop their family from fighting evil and lets him go, so long as he comes back in one piece. While following spirit walk visions of Kaia, Kao finds the Eternal Gloves, a pair of mystical boxing gloves wielded by his father, buried in a chest. Kao’s mentor Walt recognizes the gloves and says they are dangerous, however since they proved benevolent to Kao, he agrees to help him train to use them for good.

Compared with most previous Kao games, the plot of this game feels more fleshed out with some interesting ideas and a somewhat interesting cast of characters, if a little lacking and predictable. Still, the introduction of Kao’s family helps to flesh him out more as a character and the worldbuilding seems to set up some potential for future installments.

The core gameplay is similar to that of Round 2, with some elements of Mystery of the Volcano as well as some quality-of-life upgrades. Checkpoint bells and Ducats make a return, the former of which you can punch for additional hearts and Ducats, plus the aiming process is more automated with button presses rather than having to aim without a reticle. Rail grinding comes back from Mystery of the Volcano, however unlike that game, it now works as one would expect in that you hop between rails with simple button presses rather than having to do everything manually. The hub world of the previous two games comes back, only this time the idea is expanded further with four larger and sprawling hub worlds with four levels each. The ability to hang from the ceiling by your ears comes back, though now you can stretch your neck to reach some objects at the cost of movement. Finally, Kao can still stretch his neck while in shallow-enough water to avoid drowning.

The neck is back.

While Ducats were the main collectible and the price of admission to unlock new levels in Round 2, here they are used at shops to purchase lives and heart pieces that can also be found throughout the game, acquiring four of which of the latter grants you an extra heart/hit point. Ducats can also be used to purchase cosmetic skins, each of which has its own unlock condition through normal play, with two of the items based on Kao’s Mystery of the Volcano outfit and granting you a trophy for equipping both. You can also find ghostly Ducats that reveal themselves in a trail as you find them, although it is entirely possible for the trail to glitch and show itself first before you begin to follow it, plus they don’t work as well on rails since they don’t spawn fast enough to match your movement speed. In addition to Ducats, there are two more collectibles in the form of Runes and Crystals, the former serving as the new level unlock requirement and the latter serving no other purpose other than bragging rights. Two other new collectibles are hidden KAO letters and scrolls, the latter of which reveal additional lore related to the game and well worth reading to learn more about the characters and setting.

This game also introduces some new game mechanics of it own to expand on previous entries. In regular combat, fighting enemies builds up to a finisher that can deal massive AOE damage by pressing a button near an enemy (in this case Triangle) within a short time frame. There are also now three different elemental Charges (Fire, Ice and Wind) you can find and equip to your gloves for puzzle solving, though you can only carry three charges at a time and you can use the shoulder buttons to swap between your three charges where needed. While your current charge has no effect on combat, it can activate special animations on enemies when performing a finisher. One interesting detail is that if you have to respawn, which causes you to lose all your Ducats, Crystals and Charges, your gloves will be soft-equipped with whatever Charge is necessary to advance in that area, often a more common Fire Charge. While Crystals can be reacquired upon a respawn, Ducats cannot, which can be frustrating if you collected a sizeable number of them beforehand. Losing all lives, on the other hand, also resets Runes, but you do start over with a few extra lives as well.

Aside from Charges, the new primary game mechanic revolves around the Eternal Gloves and interactions with the Eternal World. At various points in a level, you can find Eternal Crystals that, once struck, allow timed access to the Eternal World in the form of platforms and grind rails that are often necessary to advance. At one point you also have access to the Big Crystal, which is a large crystal you must carry to a designated spot and can freely be turned on and off, providing an extra layer of challenge if you don’t know what to expect. A similar sort of mechanic is the Eternal Rope, which doesn’t require the use of a crystal, but essentially allows you to swing from a hook to traverse large gaps. You also have access to the Eternal Boomerang in designated areas, which, when activated, can spawn an infinite number of boomerangs that can strike targets from far away. The Charges you have equipped can also affect the boomerang itself when you strike it, with the boomerang gaining the properties of the Charge you had equipped at the time, which ties greatly into the various environmental puzzles. Finally, there are various hidden Eternal Wells that grant extra challenges, which become respawn points after visiting them once and can be replayed indefinitely form the hub worlds after successfully completing them.

While the levels can have some interesting designs, there are still some weird issues with the experience. One particular annoyance was the game having some spotty hit detection and odd hitboxes, particularly how some breakable objects wouldn’t actually break through a normal punch and only worked with a ground slam, which even included some Eternal Boomerang spots. The game also has some odd floaty crate and barrel physics, in that when in a room full of them, it’s possible to hit some crates and barrels on one side of an area, only to have others in the surrounding area and even on the complete opposite end of a room react and fly upwards, as if your punch was some sort of shockwave. I will also mention that one checkpoint bell is positioned in such a way that, upon punching it for Ducats and hearts, said rewards will spawn on the complete opposite side of the wall that it is placed against, and so the only way to actually obtain them is to hug said wall. On the subject of walls, I also once got stuck on a wall while retreading a level, forcing me to restart said level to get out of it.

It's also possible to float in midair while trying to walk on a roof.

While previous entries have a more cartoonish look to them, this game up the visuals to modern standards while still having a more stylized look to them. Kao himself has also been updated to more closely resemble an actual kangaroo while having his own unique flair, although those that don’t like the new look will be happy to know that Kao’s original design circa Round 2 can be unlocked as a skin fairly early in the game. His idle animations have their own personality to them as well, though he more noticeably retains his jump rope animation from Round 2.

Although the visuals are impressive for a Kao game, there were still some issues I faced that momentarily took me out of the game. One of the more glaring issues was how one early quest (Get the Special Wrench) briefly instead displayed a placeholder name (Quest Name) in place of the actual quest name. I also had it happen temporarily where, when swapping between glove charges, the middle choice glitched out into a black square, leading to some confusion between what exactly I was carrying and swapping between. On a more minor note, it is possible to destroy certain objects like barrels and tables and have whatever was placed on top of them literally float in midair, plus there was one interactable weight machine in one level that lacked a proper rope animation, with the bar just floating down as part of the rope literally detached itself from the rest.

Similarly to the basic game mechanics, the new Kao the Kangaroo features some familiar sound design from Round 2, including the Ducat collect sound and the checkpoint bell noises. As the game itself takes some obvious inspiration from the Crash Bandicoot series, including a level inspired by the series’ famous chase sequences, some of the music also sounds inspired by the series, with one that reminded me oddly enough of TimeSplitters: Future Perfect, though the end result is still good on its own merits. In a testament to the importance of good sound design for this sort of game, I have had the music cut out on me a number of times while repeating levels to grind Ducats for one of the unlockable skins, leaving me feeling like I was playing in some sort of weird void. I will also mention that the finisher noise sounded odd to me in that it sounds like a hard splash in water even on dry land. Since I happened to first perform it around water, I at first thought that was clever design, only to realize later that it was the actual noise.

Like the two games preceding this one, there is full voice acting, however this is the first game since Round 2 to feature full English voice acting. Kao’s voice actor also changes from Round 2, and I think whoever it is (I couldn’t figure it out) does an okay job, as does the rest of the cast, though he comes off as sounding like he has some indeterminable accent. Dialogue also makes reference to sites such as YouTube (as RooTube) and TikTok (alluded to, but misspoken as “TakTuk”) as well as hashtags, which isn’t inherently bad, but feels a bit weird when modern technology isn’t shown anywhere onscreen, with the closest thing we get being a camera on a stick for taking a selfie. One particular bit of dialogue also references an 11-year-old dead Skyrim meme (the infamous “arrow to the knee” line), which sticks out for all the wrong reasons. I will say, however, that the English localization is perfect, save for a single grammar error I spotted in one of the collectible scrolls, which is far more than what I can say for the abysmal English localization of Mystery of the Volcano.

Between the time I finished the game’s story and wrote this review, Tate Multimedia began announcing DLC in the form of a free costume pack, with further DLC coming down the line. Though I wasn't sure there would be any DLC at the time, this validates my decision to also pre-order a US physical copy, even if I won’t see it for quite some time.

DLC Roadmap, for future reference.

Despite some technical issues, Kao the Kangaroo (2022) is still a fun and interesting IP revival that shows some room for improvement. Existing fans of the series will still find something to like about it, while new fans and fans of mascot platformers can easily jump into this entry to see if they like it for themselves.