Kao the Kangaroo

[i]Kao the Kangaroo is a great example of a game that would benefit from a "thumbs sideways" review option. It gets a thumbs up, but just barely, and with a few caveats. Let me explain.[/i] Kao is undoubtedly a charming little 3D platformer. I say this having never played the classic Kao games from the "before" times. I have absolutely zero nostalgia tied to this series, but I do think this version of Kao serves a specific kind of audience; that audience being young kids. I would say maybe kids around 6 - 8, [i]maybe[/i] 10, though I think that's getting to an age where one would want more substance from their games. I also say this as someone without children of my own, so take that as you will. Some of the gameplay mechanics are truly fun and creative. Things like extending Kao's (the titular character's) neck to reach lower areas when hanging from ropes. Meanwhile, I also found Kao's expressive animations to be fun and whimsical, which really fit in with the tone of our little kangaroo boxer being lovable and friendly. I would be lying if I said I didn't think Kao had some charming character design. Not only Kao himself, but his friends and acquaintances who we meet along our journey, as well. That's just the character designs, though. What really broke the immersion for me was, unfortunately, the voice acting. I'd almost rather they [i]didn't[/i] have voice acting, and used the tried and true method of dialogue boxes instead. In a way, the voices do kind of fit, but in way that's more akin to that of a group of friends in elementary school who have gotten hold of their parents video/film equipment and started recording lines to a home video version of Kangaroo Jack. Which is to say, not good. Charming, but not good. On another note of downsides, I'll add that I played the game to the end on Steam Deck; both docked with a JSAUX dock hooked up to a 50-inch TV, and in handheld mode in bed/on the couch. In Kao's favor, I'll add that it managed to look beautiful, even when playing hooked up to the TV (Samsung QLED). There were a few settings that needed adjusting, but once I got it dialed in, I was managing some decent performance (forgive me if I don't remember the exact frame rate numbers; I've since played through a few more games, and I'm behind on writing reviews). That being said, even with the decent performance, the game was frustrating to play through. Not because of difficulty, but because of glitches. Let's start another paragraph for that. Glitches were somewhat rampant when playing on Steam Deck. I have a more powerful main machine, but I did not try the game on beefier hardware, as I was playing through it on vacation. (It is a good vacation game, though). Some of the glitches I ran into on Steam Deck were soft locking during boss battles, sound disappearing during transition between cutscenes and gameplay, and items that were supposed to spawn just not spawning. I had to exit the game and relaunch the application more times than I cared to count. Another mildly frustrating bug I ran into was inputs not registering, or if they were registering, they were massively delayed. (The input issues were when playing with a DualSense/PlayStation 5 controller). Ending on another positive note, the music is also very charming and fitting for this style of game. I think the game itself does hold up, even if for a very specific group of people. It was easy enough to be baby's first 3D platformer, while also being unique enough to hold its own outside of being just-another-platformer. The story won't blow you away, but some of the environments are very creative, the character's are enjoyable, the music is enjoyable, and the overall gameplay itself is good enough to keep you interested. [i]Summary: Kao the Kangaroo is a great first-time 3D platformer. I could easily recommend it to children or youngsters who are new to video games, or who have never played 3D platformers before. As for older audiences, it's most likely a miss, unless you absolutely love those 90s and 00s-era platformers.[/i]

I can't believe I have left this in my library so long. Much better than I expected and a great tribute to KAO the Kangaroo. Modern and without the awkwardness of the original PS game. I need to play more.

Throughout my playthrough of Kao the Kangaroo, I went back and forth on whether or not I would actually recommend it countless times. At the conclusion of the original version of this review, I somewhat begrudgingly ended up giving it the thumbs up overall because despite its flaws I did have some fun with it. However, after going back to mop up some collectables in the main game and suffering through the majority of the Break the Roo'les DLC (which I didn't finish because I died twice to the boss and decided not to put myself through any more of this torment), I can safely tell you that - upon further reflection - Kao the Kangaroo is a bad game. The voice acting, dialogue and cutscene direction are staggeringly bad, to the point where they're embarrassing. Next time you want to complain about Troy Baker and Nolan North being in absolutely everything, play Kao the Kangaroo for five minutes and count your blessings. The innumerable smashable crates that usually contain coins sometimes contain explosive barrels that bounce towards you, which is utterly infuriating because there doesn't seem to be a way to discern which crates might have barrels in them (or at least that I could ascertain), so every time I smashed a crate I was instinctively dodge rolling out of the way just in case a barrel would pop out and explode in my face. There's good old fashioned Unreal Engine pop-in all over the place. I had numerous audio bugs whereby some ambient sounds would get painfully loud, or the music would straight up stop playing. The camera likes to skitter about in tight areas and make it impossible to see what you're doing. The combat is weightless, imprecise and the collision of your attacks on the enemies is way too spotty and haphazard. Who the hell still puts checkpoints before cutscenes and not after them? Not once did this game save my invert Y-axis camera setting. Literally every time I opened up the game, I'd have to go into the settings and re-apply the desired setting. There's just a general sloppiness to the entire thing; too many bad design choices or obstacles/hazards that should be easy to avoid but end up doing you in. Like I said at the start, I did have some fun with Kao the Kangaroo; the levels are generally well laid out and fun to play through, the game's not too long and there aren't an obnoxious amount of collectables to find. But there's just so much working against this game that it's impossible to recommend it. Honestly though, with a bit of fine tuning a hypothetical sequel could actually be a 3D platformer worth playing.

Очень достойная игра. Но учитывая цену - советую брать по скидке

[h1] ПРЫГ СКОК ТУСА ОК ФЛЕКСИ УХОМ ОП-ОП [/h1] Kao the Kangaroo (2022) — это платформер от 3 лица, который пытается быть и продолжением старой трилогии, и отдельной историей, но в итоге не становится ни тем, ни другим по-настоящему ярко. С одной стороны, тут всё, за что фанаты любили серию: ты снова управляешь кенгуру Као, разбиваешь ящики, собираешь монеты, бриллианты и буквы (новая фишка здесь у каждого уровня), из которых складывается имя героя. Добавили и пару новых штрихов: перчатки дают силы стихий (огонь, лёд, ветер), появилась механика накопления энергии для мощного удара, а платформенные секции стали разнообразнее — особенно это чувствуется в битвах с боссами. Ещё в игре есть мини‑свитки с короткими справками про персонажей и врагов: буквально пара строк, но это хотя бы даёт ощущение, что мир чуть глубже, чем просто «беги и бей». Но с другой стороны, именно новизны тут критически мало. Прокачки как таковой почти нет: вместо развития способностей ты просто покупаешь дополнительные жизни и косметические предметы (костюмы, шляпы, очки) в главном хабе. Например, можно собрать четвертинки сердца в полноценное, а среди костюмов есть даже отсылка к "раунд 2" — видимо, разработчики сами признают её культовый статус. Главная проблема — соотношение цены и наполнения. Игра стоит дороже, чем все три предыдущие части вместе взятые, даже со скидкой. При этом проходится она примерно за 4,5 часа — а я рассчитывал на 7. Мейби 9. Да, локации местами атмосферные: в них есть и мистика, и яркие краски, и неплохие визуальные решения, пусть и на Unreal Engine. Пазлы и головоломки стали чуть продуманнее, чем раньше, и требуют не только ударов, но и минимального включения головы. Управление, кстати, вполне адекватное, особенно с геймпада; единственная неудобная штука — зацепы для крюков и кристаллов. Тут клавиатурникам придется немного пострадать. Сюжетно игра должна была поставить точку в истории Као: спасти сестру и отца, разгадать тайну перчаток. [spoiler] Но интрига с этими перчатками, по ощущениям, просто слита: всё заканчивается без серьёзных последствий, никто не несёт наказания, а развязка выглядит слишком спокойной для финальной саги. [/spoiler] Есть чувство, будто игра только начала разгоняться — и тут же остановилась. Враги не доставляют настоящей сложности: они не особо проворные или мощные, хотя иногда могут неприятно подставить подножку. Боссы и механика стихий добавляют разнообразия, но этого недостаточно, чтобы компенсировать общую простоту. Так что если ты уже знаком с оригинальной трилогией, то перезапуск точно не удивит: она не прыгнула выше второй части, которая до сих пор ощущается бодрее и насыщеннее. Для новичка игра может стать неплохим первым знакомством с серией, но только по скидке — хронометраж и наполнение цену не оправдывают. Мой совет: если хочется прикоснуться к франшизе, лучше начать с оригинальной трилогии, а из неё в первую очередь попробовать вторую часть. А эту игру оставь на один разок — глубины тут ждать не стоит. [h3] P. S. 2x. Понравился отзыв или мой профиль? Скинь награду Steam на отзыв. Играйте в хорошие игры, а я пройду треш за вас. [/h3]

It looks unfinished and it plays like a unfinished game there's no soul in this game it's like one of those mobile games that wants a quick buck glad i got it on a huge sale, if you want a better platformer play Super Lucky's tale, that game is so much better and has soul compared to this boring game.

damn, i was expecting a lot and got massively let down the game has nothing redeeming its plain, boring, has no soul, the characters are empty, the combat is whatever nothing felt good about the game and the cherry on top: omega cringe "humor" forcing memes in the story is just wrong

Na początek warto zaznaczyć że to reboot więc poprzednie części nie miały miejsca. Plusy: - Grafika może nie jest do końca w moim stylu ale personalnie mi się podoba. - Dukaty nie są po prostu znajdźkami które nie mają zastosowania, (W dwójce zbierałeś ten skarb więc nawet omijając dukaty masz jak opłacić Bosmana) możesz za nie kupić skiny, upgrady do HP i dodatkowe życia. - Skiny są naprawde spoko dodatkiem chociaż ja używałem tylko jednego całą grę (Kocham wygląd Kao z dwójki). Minusy: 1. Przełączanie się między menu (Kategorie ustawień itd) robi się deletem i Page Downem, pierdoła ale nie wiem po huj dawać taką klawiszologie zamiast strzałek. 2. Nie całe sterowanie da się zmienić, celowanie i rzut które są pod prawym i lewym myszy są niezmienialne więc jeśli chcesz pograć ze sterowaniem jak w dwójce które nie wymagało myszki to tego nie zrobisz (Nie wiem który ♥♥♥♥♥ geniusz na to wpadł). 3. Jest zbyt łatwo. Przez całą gre zginąłem chyba 4 razy. 4. Poboczne dialogi oraz niektóre podczas misji nie mają głosu (Jak już robisz gre to ją chociaż w pełni zdubbinguj a nie że niektóre postacie są nieme), 5. Skiny nie pokazują się w cutscenkach 6. Kao jest straszliwą pizdą. Ciągle tylko ''mamo pozwolisz mi poszukać starego, mamo pozwolisz mi nosić rękawice'' i generalnie zachowuje się strasznie dziecinnie podczas gdy w poprzednich częściach trzy razy uratował świat, dwukrotnie przeżył bycie zniewolonym i napierdolił każdego ze swoich wrogów jak totalny giga chad 7. Mam wrażenie że jest strasznie ''zbyt grzecznie'', zamiast zajebistego złego jak Hunter masz zaraze która w sumie jest i to tyle (Totalnie nie czuć że jest poważnym zagrożeniem) no i też main villain jest słaby. 8. Bossowie są nijacy i nie zapadają w pamięć. 9. Fabuła jest zbyt banalna nawet jak na gre dla dzieci, Twoim głównym celem jest znaleźć siostre i starego. 10. Dubbing jest średni. 11. Wrogowie potrafią zaatakować przez ściany. 12. Wyjście z poziomu sprawia że zaczynasz go od nowa. 13. Humor jest niemiłosiernie cringe. 14. Walka jest po prostu nudna, w dwójce było czuć że jest sens wykonywać specjalne ataki ale tutaj cały czas spamiłem pięściami w i ogóle nie czułem że jest sens używać ogonu czy turlania. 15. Bossowie mają chamsko wpierdolone klatki nieśmiertelności, nawet kiedy jeszcze ma stuna i teoretycznie mógłbyś zadać mu obrażenia to są odporni, to twórcy decydują ile zadasz mu obrażeń, nie Ty. 16. Nie jestem w stanie tego w pełni wytłumaczyć oprócz Kao ale każda postać mnie zwyczajnie ♥♥♥♥♥ irytuje, jest w nich coś takiego że nie masz ochoty ich słuchać. 17. System żywiołów, czemu daje jako minus? Bo służy on w zasadzie jedynie do eksploracji, w walce praktycznie nie ma to żadnego zastosowania. 18. Kao potrafi się zaciąć albo wylecieć dziwne poza mape i musisz zaczynać poziom od nowa. Mi się to osobiście zdarzyło tylko raz ale wystarczy poczytać trochę recenzji żeby zobaczyć że to powtarzające się zjawisko. Więc czy warto? Nawet za te 25zł które kosztuje na przecenie nie warto, chyba że dla pozostałych części. Lepiej za to kupić trylogie Mass Effecta, Celeste, czy Terrarie.

[h1] Just not fun. [/h1] The visual style is remarkable, has some character of its own. The character design is great, but as many have pointed out, neither the voice acting, nor the dialog/plot is enticing at all. I love a good platformer collectathon. That part is kinda achieved. Some mechanics as hanging from ropes and hanging from the planks are just not as responsive as they should be, ending in sometimes clipping through walls or falling into pits, which wouldn't be and issue if if weren't literally a core mechanic to some levels. More than once I found myself repeating entire sections of platforming which just didn't feel like a satisfying challenge, but more of a 'please work this time'. On top of that, it seems like it could use some polishing. A lot of small things like the NPCs literally snapping into idle mode when you're past the trigger seems quite off and takes you out of the immersion. Having KAO float when he collect certain objects sometimes results into being way above were it was, or getting stuck or clipping if you jumped to collect such object. Exploration is not greatly rewarded, as sometimes areas of the level that look you could go there are just blocked by an invisible wall. Coins respawning every time subtracts from its value, as you could collect the same infinite coins from a level or hub until you have as many as you need, plus, there's not many uses for them anyways. Add to that the having explosives randomly appear from containers and you got yourself a way to tell the players to stop actively collecting coins, and relegate them to a mere path cue. Moreover, the bonus levels that you must find just to get timed to get coins, don't seem to add anything, might as well not have them. Overall, this is a game that has a lot of potential but lacks most of what make these games enjoyable.