The 2000 Dreamcast game Kao the Kangaroo probably wasn’t all that high on the list of desired remakes. However, that hadn’t dissuaded the team at Tate Multimedia, which is bringing the forgotten marsupial back to life in a big way. And, in all fairness, the reboot is looking quite stellar, with charming and colorful graphics, as well as fun-looking platforming. We’ll know if the comeback is worth it once Kao the Kangaroo hits its release date in late May.
It’s easy, a bit too easy, to look down on reboots of games that flew under the radar. Kao the Kangaroo didn’t exactly hop into stardom more than two decades ago. It launched to rather middling review scores. However, it did receive some sequels which, oh, also weren’t that great. The developer, however, seems to have taken Kao’s spotty history as a challenge.
The reboot of Kao the Kangaroo clearly has a lot of love behind it. Graphically, the looks superb, easily matching that of the Crash Bandicoot reboots. In fact, once could see a lot of influence Activision’s games have provided. Kao the Kangaroo is a 3D platformer with a behind-the-back camera, and features rail-grinding, swinging, and puzzle solving. There’s combat as well, with Kao dishing out pain with a pair of boxing gloves that can be powered up with elements like fire or ice. The powers can open new paths or even unlock goodies.
Kao ka-pow
The effort seems to have worked. Kaja Borowko, the head of Tate, said the team has been “blown away by the response” since the game got revealed.
“We’ve been blown away by the response we’ve had from gamers since we announced Kao the Kangaroo was making a return earlier this year,” Borowko said. “With this new chapter, we’ve set out to make sure the new Kao the Kangaroo both honours his previous outings and offers fresh, contemporary gameplay for fans new and old alike.”
Kao the Kangaroo will be available on PC via Steam when it reaches its May 27 release date.
