Kao the Kangaroo

[arnoldfranklin]

There is a new Kao the Kangaroo game coming out but guess what I found on Youtube. There also happens to be a level called "the great escape" in Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 and it looks like someone grabbing something like a lum. Also, it is the second level. Maybe it wasn't a reference. I thought it was but it might not be. This is about Kao the Kangaroo but I needed to share that. Also, here is the trailer of that new game.
Here is the video of "the great escape"

[Elite Piranha]

I didn't find out this franchise until recently, Kao looks like the kind of individual that would hang out with Crash or Rayman.

I wonder if this thread should be added to the index later.

[Hunchman801]

I wonder if this thread should be added to the index later.

Sure, I have just added it there.

[Elite Piranha]

I wonder if this thread should be added to the index later.

Sure, I have just added it there.

Thanks for adding it!

Btw, I wonder if that image could be considered a reference ro R2 or just a coincidence.

[arnoldfranklin]

So, they officiallh released a Kao the Kangaroo evolution video and it mentions Rayman in it.

[Elite Piranha]

Is there an actual quote from an interview that confirms that Kao the Kangaroo was inspired by Rayman?

[arnoldfranklin]

This game looks fantastic visually or I at least like how it looks. It will be released on May 27th.
Here's an IGN video about it.

Also, here's an official Tate Multimeida video that says the release date.

Also, here's a good amount of gameplay uploaded by GameByte.

[Onmp314]

Another trailer of Kao the Kangaroo. It presents the next characters from this game.

[arnoldfranklin]

Oh, yeah, I was able to see that video. Thanks for posting it here. I hope the game has a good story.

[PluMGMK]

I haven't watched any of these videos, but after reading this thread I've decided to buy the original Kao the Kangaroo trilogy on GOG and try to get into it! I've already started on the first game. So far, I'm only on the third level, and it's reminding me of Rayman 2's environments, and Rayman 1's unforgiving difficulty. But then, it was my choice to play on "Hard", so…

[Hunchman801]

I stopped playing video games on "hard" well over a decade ago, save for a handful of occasions. I've become way too casual a gamer for that.

[PluMGMK]

Funny, I only started playing games on Hard in 2014, which was less than a decade ago. I didn't think there was that big a difference in our ages

[arnoldfranklin]

Okay, it seems that today is the release date of Kao. I don't know when I will get it. I read a review on Nintendo Life which gave it a decent score. https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/ni ... e-kangaroo

[PluMGMK]

Oh wow, and I'm still making my way through the original!

Speaking of the original: is it just me, or is the way the controls are always relative to Kao's direction (and not to the camera's) extremely frustrating?

[Hunchman801]

I always thought that system worked pretty well in the old Resident Evil games, but I can imagine why it's more of a problem for platformers.

[PluMGMK]

Yeah, there are some "sidescrolling" sections where my built-up intuition of how to play sidescrollers screws me over, again and again…

[arnoldfranklin]

I actually got the new game, today. So far, it's been okay. Sometimes, it's frustrating. I feel like if you mess up the jumping, you might fall which can be a pain. I remember in Round 2, that there was a gliding feature. I feel like there should be one in this game. I mean, the game is good but some things are kind of bothering me.

[PluMGMK]

That pretty much sums up how I'm feeling about the original right now.

Can anyone tell me what the difficulty levels actually represent? As in, how much of the BS I'm dealing with is just because it's on Hard? It's hard enough to find these things because the new game's release is making it dominate all the search results…

[PluMGMK]

So, having finally finished the original game on 25 June, I eventually started Round 2 over the Christmas holidays, left it dormant for the month of January, and am now on the "Final Duel". The second game definitely resolves a lot of problems I had with the first:
The directional controls are now relative to the camera rather than Kao himself, like a normal 3D platformer. That's a big help for sure!
Checkpoints are now in fixed locations, instead of the player getting a limited number to place wherever they judge best (usually wrong!)
There is now dialogue to explain what's going on in the story
By extension, not every creature you meet is hostile anymore, which definitely makes the world feel more welcoming

It has a few problems of its own:
Dialogue is nice, but the voice acting in the English dub leaves a lot to be desired! I don't speak Polish, so I didn't bother trying it out in its original language to see if it's any better…
Janky swimming controls in the Ocean World, thank God there were only two levels there…
Too many controls? Maybe it's just me (and/or the fact that I'm trying to pick it up as an adult!), but having "attack", "throw" and "roll" separately gets a bit confusing…

I started playing it around the time of the Rayman 4 leak, and it struck me that the movesets are actually quite similar between the two games! (Double-jump / glide, groundpound, etc.) Thankfully Kao doesn't get stripped naked when he takes damage though! The ranged combat, with strafing and written sound-effects on each hit, also remind me of Rayman 3, so I see what Rulez was getting at here: https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 3#p1220243

[Rulez]

The ranged combat, with strafing and written sound-effects on each hit, also remind me of Rayman 3, so I see what Rulez was getting at here: https://raymanpc.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 3#p1220243

Yeah! Kao was a huge part of my childhood, right alongside Rayman, which I feel is the case for most Slavic people my age or younger. The first game is clunky but charming, the second feels more legit, and the third is unfinished but has a nice vibe to it. I've only played the new one for 20 minutes or so, and I assume it's a bit glitchy but nostalgic and fun enough to make up for the lack of polish in certain areas.