I love mascot platformers. I always have, especially games like Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, and Donkey Kong 64. I played a fair bit of the Kao the Kangaroo franchise back in the day too, along with its lesser-known cousin Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Instead of a remaster or remake though, Kao is back for an all-new adventure, the 4^th installment in the franchise.

In it, you play the titular kangaroo, who takes up his father’s old boxing gloves in order to both save his sister Kaia from a mysterious threat and discover the secret behind his father’s disappearance. The game plays about as you would expect. Kao can jump and utilize a variety of traversal movements, including spinning his tail to reflect projectiles in the air and get a little extra oomph.

His gloves get a variety of elemental abilities over the course of the game as well, and you’ll find yourself solving a variety of puzzles, including challenge arenas. In any given level (including hub worlds) you’ll be looking for gems, coins (which are used to shop), heart pieces (to get full heart containers) runes to open new levels, and scrolls that provide information and lore. Additionally, you can get scrolls from killing enemies, which give you information on the enemy you killed.

There are a lot of things to do and collect. On top of that, you can purchase cosmetic items for Kao at the shop, though you must unlock the different pieces before you can purchase them. While I have seen other reviews criticize Kao the Kangaroo for its story and its bugs, I think it is worth noting that this is a labor of love from the development team after 17 years have passed since the last release. This game oozes campy fun, and it is a love letter to a lot of great 3D Platformers that came before it, including the original trilogy of Kao the Kangaroo games.

Yes, there are some bugs, and I’ve seen several updates on my Nintendo Switch since launch fiddling with those bugs. I would also argue that some of the voice acting is a little bit janky at times. However, what game from that era wasn’t a little bit janky? Some of my fondest memories as a kid were accidentally going places I wasn’t supposed to thanks to a glitch or experiencing the weird jank of a game.

In an effort to get patches out more quickly, we have created a small form for users to submit bugs they've encountered.

We're extremely grateful for your feedback and want to ensure we steer Kao in the right direction!https://t.co/lKdyZtJAAL pic.twitter.com/O2ARQ7URuh

— Kao The Kangaroo (@Kaothekangaroo) June 1, 2022

Now, that doesn’t mean a game should be buggy, I’m just saying that the bugs don’t make it unplayable. I have not run into a single section of Kao the Kangaroo that I could not complete because of a bug. It is an accessible (yet challenging in places) platformer that sheds a light on what came before it.

The visuals and level designs are well made. The levels are colorful, and there is so much to see and do in Kao the Kangaroo. If you love old-school platformers like Croc, Spyro the Dragon, and some of the others, then take a chance on Kao the Kangaroo. You won’t be disappointed.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Kao the Kangaroo was provided by Tate Multimedia for this review.

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Kao the Kangaroo

$29.99 USD

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Colorful Levels
• Fun Classic 3D Platforming Gameplay
• Lots of Things to Collect
• Accessible but Challenging Difficulty
• Fun Characters

Cons

• Voice Acting Isn't Great
• Can be Buggy in Places