KAO the Kangaroo Critic Reviews

A great little 3D platformer that does it's best to give players a solid and exciting experience featuring a much more refined and redesigned Kao core experience and story. Kao the Kangaroo should impress with its solid controls and strong visual design - if players can accept the drops in visual quality on Switch then this is a hearty recommendation to all players of such titles.

Kao the Kangaroo is a nice and colorful platform game suitable for all kinds of audiences. Unfortunately it suffers from being unoriginal and presenting small graphic issues that make the experience not as satisfactory as it should be. Still, it's nice to play and, if you like the genre, it's certainly a recommended option.

Kao the Kangaroo is a platformer that offers a good variety in its gameplay mechanics, although they take a while to hit their peak. Besides that, the exploration here is rewarding, but please don't rely on the game's saving system.

Despite some rough edges, this is a charming platforming experience.

Ultimately, Kao the Kangaroo has a lot of the same charm you’ll remember from the back half of the golden age of 3D platformers. Unfortunately it also carries with it quite a bit of technical baggage. Since I’ve only played on Switch, I can’t confidently say how much of this is exclusive to this version. None of it is insurmountable, but I can virtually guarantee you’ll encounter some sort of issue while playing. But once again, underneath that is a solid 3D platformer that deserves to be played. I very earnestly hope that the technical issues can be resolved as I think Kao the Kangaroo is worth playing, especially if you have a fondness for the forgotten 3D platformers of the early 2000s. For now, go in with some caution and be ready to battle some bugs along the way.

Kao's return after so many years is definitely a caress to the hearts of all those fans who enjoyed it during their childhood. It is also an invitation for all of those who were busy with Mario, Donkey Kong, Crash and Spyro to get to know and appreciate it.

Kao the Kangaroo is a fun reboot that should get your attention. The save-system bug aside, Kao the Kangaroo is a simple and fun 3D platformer that anyone can enjoy. Yes, it doesn’t provide much of a challenge and once you’ve played through you will have seen everything on offer. You’re not getting the next Mario Odyssey-like game in terms of quality; it’s clearly a developer trying to punch higher than it can really go. That said, the game itself is a lot of fun and a refreshingly easy take on the genre. If you’re looking for your next easygoing platformer or just something that anyone in the family can enjoy, you should check out Kao the Kangaroo.

Exploration, search for collectibles, clashes against enemies and bosses… the formula is ultra-known, but the work of Tate Multimedia offers a great adventure thanks to its successful graphics and an immersive cartoon atmosphere.

Kao the Kangaroo makes a valiant effort in this reboot, but it still feels like half the game it should be. Many mechanics feel unexplored, the final world is a single level with a boss fight, and it’s very glitchy. Still, it’s a fun enough romp for what it is and I hope we see more of this marsupial in the future.

If you’re after a game that captures the general vibe of that era’s 3D platformers, Kao the Kangaroo does an okay job. Every level gives you plenty of coins and baubles and collectibles to discover, which means that if you’re the type of person who wants to collect everything you can in one of these games, there’s plenty for you to do. Likewise, the levels are all pretty good sizes, so it feels like there’s a lot to explore, even if the levels are generally pretty linear. But these things are only enough to make Kao the Kangaroo feel like an average 3D platformer, not anything special. While that may hearken back to the series’ early days – and it makes this game a perfect continuation of what the series did back when it was a thing – it’s certainly not enough to make Kao the Kangaroo a game you need to play in 2022.

Kao the Kangaroo is the traditional game that does not keep the glory of 3D platform games. It's a nice game with a different character that show us what we already know without anything new. Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch version has very obvious graphical problems.

Kao the Kangaroo is a mixed bag. Far from bad, it offers decent platforming across several well-designed levels, though some issues hold it back. Some bugs certainly impact gameplay, with camera control also a gameplay-inhibiting factor. The lack of real challenge throughout most of the game will also be a limiting factor for replay value, though there is a level of exploration and several collectibles to find. While certainly not up there as one of the best platformers, Kao isn't a bad way to pass your time, and it's fortunately not priced as high as most new releases.

Kao the Kangaroo would not be the best 3D platformer even if it came out 15 years ago, but as a nostalgic return of the average and somewhat forgotten franchise, it brings more than we expected.

Kao the Kangaroo is an enjoyable revival of another once-forgotten mascot platformer, but its punches don’t hit hard enough to unseat any of its heavy-hitting contemporaries on Switch, and technical hiccups add an additional layer of ring rust.

Kao the Kangaroo's first outing in years is fun but not without fault. As nice as it is to see an old platforming IP with a new release on the Switch, the game shouldn't be at the top of your list. But if you're a fan of the genre, take Kao the Kangaroo with a grain of salt, and you may have some fun.

There are some enjoyable elements – the combat isn’t as mind-numbing as in similar titles, and there’s clearly been some effort made to make the presentation bouncy and light – but it never pops or gets your blood pumping. And for the high price tag that feels unforgivable. Even the excuse that this is made for younger players doesn’t hold much water, as your child will get a hundred times more out of your average Mario game than this. Add in some strange bugs and you have a 3D platformer that’s not worth it for even for more forgiving fans of the genre.

I really wanted to love Kao the Kangaroo. And while I did enjoy parts of it, the severe glitch I encountered kept me from progressing like I had expected to and effectively kept me from actually beating the game. Once Nintendo gets around to implementing the patch, I could potentially recommend the experience. But until version 1.2 goes live, I cannot recommend it to other platformer fans in good conscience.