Kao the Kangaroois a downright charming, vibrant, and entertaining 3D platformer, especially for fans of similar games likeNew Super Lucky’s Tales, Super Mario Odyssey, andYooka-Laylee, just to name a few. The lastKao the Kangaroooutings were from over two decades ago which makes this completely refreshed take on the platformer feel new and exciting.Players who love this genrewill most certainly have a lot to sink their teeth into with this meaty 3D platformer.
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Kao the Kangaroostars Kao, a fun-loving and courageous kangaroo, who, along with his Koala mentor Walt, must search high and low for his missing sister and father. This game guides players through myriad colorful environments from beaches to forests to jungles to frozen mountains, withplenty of collectibles to sweep upalong the way. While not a challenging game by any means, there are still some good things to keep in mind when first diving into the experience.
7Explore, Explore, Explore
Kao the Kangaroois a highly explorable platforming game with plenty of hidden secrets (especially behind waterfalls). The game is broken up into multiple hub areas where players can freely roam around to find collectibles, chat with NPCs, or to move to the game’s various stages. Simply put, this is one of those platformers that encourages players to enjoy the freedom of movement and exploration.
The stages themselves which are made up of forests, jungles, caves, icy mountains, and ethereal funfairs, are lengthy and robust. The stages often take between 15 to 30 minutes to complete, depending on how much time is spent exploring and finding hidden areas. It’s a great idea to go into this game with an emphasis on exploration and just enjoying spending time in each new area.
6Understanding Each Collectible In The Game
Like many similar 3D platformers, there areso, so many things to collect in this game. There are coins to collect, runes to discover, gems to seek out, scrolls to find, and the letters K-A-O to uncover. Each of these collectibles helps make exploration rewarding and worthwhile, even if not all of the collectibles (gems, scrolls) don’t do much for the actual moment-to-moment gameplay.
Coins, the most abundant collectible, are used to purchase a plethora of items, including cosmetic goodies, for Kao. Runes are the most important collectible and are typically easier to find since they are necessary to move to new stages. The hub areas have runes as well but are often more hidden in these areas. Gems seem to be the most underutilized collectible. While there are tons of them, they don’t really contribute to anything apart from 100% completion. Scrolls are somewhat superfluous items that really only flesh out the lore of the game world, Finally, the letters K-A-O are the hardest to find and typically require some thoughtful platforming.
5What Is Kao’s Moveset?
Kao is a fairly agile character. He is able to perform the basic platforming move such as jumping, double jumping, and climbing up ledges. These aspects, for the most part, are handled well, however, some parts such as moving across ledges or swinging from hook shot points aren’t always as smooth and consistent.Kao the Kangarooisa traditional 3D platformingthrough and through, something that actually works in the game’s favor.
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Apart from these regular moves, Kao is able to pummel the host of quirky baddies with his famous boxing gloves. Combat in this game is fluid and based on momentum, somewhat like aBatman Arkhamgame. Kao can move from baddie to baddie, beating them into submission, building up a power bar, and finally, unleashing a powerful area-of-effect attack to wipe out multiple foes at once. While there are some deviations to these moves, they remain mostly consistent throughout the entirety of the game.
4Seek Out Eternal Wells
Apart from the traditional stagesand the hub areas, Kao can also happen across mini-challenge rooms called Eternal Wells. These super short and optional mini-stages are there to offer players a bit more of a challenge when it comes to platforming, combat, and sometimes a combination of both.
Eternal Wells are often well (pun intended) hidden in stages and are denoted by their purple, glowing, ethereal pools of water jutting from the ground. The rewards for completing an Eternal Well are a bit underwhelming and come in the form of more coins and gems. Players that want to return to previously unlocked wells can do so from any of the hub areas.
3Boss Fights Are Broken Up Into Multiple Phases
Where many platformers provide the traditional 3-hit rule when it comes to boss fights,Kao the Kangarooeschews this somewhat by actually breaking the fights up into multiple phases.Each phase of a boss fight is there to challengethe skills and abilities that players have learned up to that point in the game.
Fortunately, the boss fights themselves, although lengthy, aren’t really all that challenging. They will take some precision as most of them require a balance of combat, platforming, and using Kao’s special boxing glove moves. For example, the game’s first boss Terror, sees players avoiding purple flames, tornadoes, and a combination of those while finding the right timing to pummel him into submission.
2Using The Boomerang Item Successfully
One item and ability in the game that does take a bit more direction is the boomerang. While not complex by any means, many players might get a bit frustrated when trying to utilize this semi-frequent item lying around many of the game’s stages. Essentially,the boomerang is a temporary item pickupthat is used for puzzles, combat, or to open up new paths in a stage.
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While that may sound quite simple, actually using the boomerang is sort of frustrating at times. First and foremost, boomerang points of interest much first be punched in order to open them up. At that point, players must decide if Kao can use the regular boomerang or if a fire or ice variant is necessary to progress. Each of these aspects requires Kao to interact with the boomerang stand. Fortunately, the boomerang automatically locks onto the necessary hit area. With some practice and patience, the boomerangs become second nature during a playthrough of this game.
1Kao’s Multiple Boxing Glove Powerups
Probably the most unique selling point toKao the Kangaroo, apart from the excellent visual and level design, isthe ability to find powerupsfor Kao’s sentient boxing gloves known as the Eternal Gloves. The basic power is a sort of dark ethereal power that is used for the majority of the game. However, at certain points during the game, Kao can discover fire, ice, and wind abilities that are used for combat, platforming, and puzzle-solving.
In the lower right corner of the heads-up display is an area that shows which powerups Kao is holding onto. Each of these elemental powers must be used at certain gameplay intervals to progress, even in later boss fights. For example, the fire powerup can help Kao to burn specific wooden boards to open up a new path. The ice powerup can be used to freeze bodies of water to progress whereas the wind ability can give Kao the option to more easily move heavier blocks in the environment.
