Kao the Kangaroo

The only thing Kao really needs are fixes to the aforementioned glitches and bugs that are the sole things holding it back from being a solid and enjoyable experience all the way throughout. Assuming these all get fixed, however, Kao the Kangaroo would be worth picking up for those looking for a fun and nostalgic platformer that hearkens back to the early 3D days, but with nice modern modifications.

Children are much more capable than we sometimes give credit for, and Kao’s by-the-numbers design would likely bore all but the most nascent of gamers. Kao the Kangaroo isn’t a total disaster by any means. It just feels aggressively average and forgettable which, sadly, has been the case for the mascot for years.

Kao the Kangaroo feels like a game with more potential that wasn’t executed on, but the vibrant visuals go a really long way. It’s a very clean mascot platformer foundationally, even if the world isn’t nearly as remarkable as it could have been. I would play a sequel in a heartbeat, and I think if the characterization was shored up, it could have had a chance of breaking out of a presumably niche market.

Kao the Kangaroo does an excellent job making me nostalgic for an old-school 3D platforming series I’d never played. It doesn’t try too hard to be gimmicky, packing a colourful aesthetic and light-hearted humor to carry it through the parts where it feels unoriginal. You probably won’t find it particularly challenging outside of a few tougher platforming segments -- combat’s rather easy, and some may find the collectathon premise off-putting.

Kao the Kangaroo’s core mechanics are solid and some of the things it adds to the series, like the elemental gloves, help keep things interesting, but it’s nothing that the genre hasn’t seen before, and some of those changes end up actively taking away from the experience. There’s good to be found here, but it’s weighed down by so much jank and a lack of innovation that it doesn’t feel like the welcome back that Kao deserves.

Kao The Kangaroo is platformer comfort food, not boasting any exceptional traits but still managing to be a genuinely enjoyable time for crowds desiring a simple, low-stakes experience. The engaging puzzles and varying aesthetics aid in keeping the stages somewhat diverse in execution, though the superficiality of the powerups and combat needlessly pads out these areas.