Kao the Kangaroo - BenjaMage

[@SoundsideSherry]

I can't help but chuckle that this is a game made in Poland, starring an anthropomorphic animal from Australia, with motifs inspired by East Asia. Truly, Kao is Mr. Worldwide.

[@ddjsoyenby]

he's a mascot of class.

[@TheHeroOfTomorrow]

Picture that, with a Kodak

[@jambles3752]

World Wild

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

He still has more heritage than Taz ever did!

[@HeartAino193]

And do you think that Kao might be inspired by Crash Bandicoot because they're both marsupials who wear pants and fight like crazy?

[@MarcusDandridgeDee_Kae]

Reading the Lore of Minkey makes you realize that it makes sense why he went evil he tried his hardest to be a fighter no matter how bad he was at it and was willing to learn in order to get better but not a single teacher had the patience to want to help him improve given it was implied that everyone is a naturally gifted fighter and thus don't need to learn that much so what do they do? Push minkey aside and tell him he's too weak showing how thier Egos made them complacent and thus left them unprepared for the corruption

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

That's quite a tragic villain backstory there.

[@VigilanteLulu]

If ANY platforming mascot can make a comeback this day and age, I'm gonna bank on Croc or Gex to make theirs anytime now.

[@ddjsoyenby]

yes and nitro rad will need to talk about it.

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

Weird thing is that Gex was a product of the 90s that doesn't hold up at all. These days, he'd come off as annoying and a creep. If they ever do bring him back, they should make a self aware joke about his past games like having Gex say: I've always been a ladies man, but maybe Gex 3 was taking it too far.".

[@mr_indie_fan]

@@Cyberbrickmaster1986 ah yes heres comes the twitter user who wants to remove the charm from a franchise and ruin it. For the 500th time.

[@mr_indie_fan]

@@Cyberbrickmaster1986 ah yes heres comes the twitter user who wants to remove the charm from a franchise and ruin it. For the 500th time.

[@gonzalot.605]

This comment has aged like a fine wine...

[@ChaloopaJoe]

8:50 that new BanjaMage artwork is SO PRECIOUS

[@rngsus.mp4]

agreed!

[@jambles3752]

This game actually looks pretty good! Environments are creative, gameplay is smooth and diverse, and its good to see an ip like this come back in style! btw sorry i couldnt make it to the premier, i overslept 😖

[@derrickhaggard]

I remember the OG games. I never thought this would get a reboot and a successful one at that. But I guess anything can happen

[@storm8216]

Kao 2 literally was part of my life and still part of it. I love that game so maybe.. this is why i think that the new kao game is a bit weird idk.. but if others like it then it's ok :3

[@metanightmare4454]

"There's something funny about the idea of the merchant character being the main antagonist." Why do I hear ominous piano music?

[@krimsonkatt]

Volo be like:

[@ilikecurry2345]

Kinda like the Happy Mask Salesman. I think.

[@NSegaXP]

@@ilikecurry2345 noo, minecraft

[@TitaRussellTrails]

“There’s something about the merchant being the main antagonist.” Hmmm I wonder what well received newest entry in a popular rpg series did that this year. But yeah I just accept that video game merchant are either immortal or some nth dimension elder god.

[@jurtheorc8117]

in the case of Darksiders and Brütal Legend, that might as well be true. Vulgrim and the Guardian of Metal (Ozzy Osbourne) are memorable merchant characters.

[@CaptainBZarre]

Good video as always - having played it when it came out to 100%, I really like the art style of this game and think some of these levels have the best design in a 3D platformer in quite a while. I wasn’t too big on the voice acting though I do respect their decision to get a Polish VA to play Kao; and yeah, I agree that the Eternal Gloves arc they were trying to go for felt a bit undercooked, maybe with some more time they could’ve communicated it better. Not a bad game at all though, I felt your comparison to New Super Lucky’s Tale (another underrated platformer) was warranted.

[@CaptainBZarre]

I think there’s a case to be made for this game to be compared to, of all things, Skylar & Plux. Both are very clearly passion projects made by a small staff and while they might not have the polish of a big-budget game, I respect their creation all the same and enjoyed both regardless of their technical issues.

[@mr_indie_fan]

Take notes sega, its time for ristar to get a sequel.

[@NSegaXP]

we also need Croc 3

[@tonysonic456]

You know what? I think I will eventually try this game out for myself. Maybe not immediately as I have other games I'm busy with as well my own channel and summer job, but I do plan to get around to it eventually.

[@ddjsoyenby]

same when i have the time i may try it out.

[@tsyumamatsuthehavenofguard32]

1:34 yeah that was me. Dad owned the GameCube while as a child I owned the ps2

[@ddjsoyenby]

this looks kinda fun and cute, and man is there any obscure platforming franchise nitro rad can't indirectly bring back.

[@mammon8683]

Part of me truly wanted to love this game not only Introducing to a whole new generation to Invest In the series while the other part of me wasn't too excited after reading some of the more negative reviews feeling like the game I'd half finished, the voice acting Is terbbke (despite the cast literally from New Zealand and not Australians Actors/Actresses) but over all I think rhe game alright.

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

"Despite the cast literally from New Zealand and not Australians actors..." Take it from me, the worst thing you can do when casting Australian characters is getting New Zealanders to do it. They have a very different accent to ours and it sounds bad! I get cold shivers thinking about the time they got Rhys Darby to voice Crash Bandicoot... Not... Good...

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

@@greatsageclok-roo9013 Honestly, if they have to give Crash a voice, I think it's best he sounds a little more American like Coco. Those times he acted Australian just wasn't doing it for me, despite the fact he is supposed to be a marsupial. But they made Coco sound American, so should it really matter that much? Though to be fair, having a Kiwi act Australian wouldn't have helped matters at all. I can see how they are the last people you want to be playing Australian characters. Not to be biased against Kiwi's or anything, as I once had a grandfather who was a Kiwi, which would make me Kiwi when compared to Aboriginal heritage these days.

[@X2011racer]

​@@Cyberbrickmaster1986 There's also Tara Strong voicing Coco, with a fairly bad Aussie accent.

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

@@X2011racer Where was this? In the Skylander's cartoon, which I never watched?

[@X2011racer]

@Cyberbrickmaster1986 Yes. Coco only appears in the final episode, which goes to show how little of a presence she has in the show. You could say that Coco outranks Cynder and Malefor for the least amount of screentime.

[@genso6052]

Merchant character being the main bad guy. _Flashbacks to Pokemon Legends: Arceus_ _PTSD_

[@LuccianoBartolini]

As someone who saw Nitro Rad's video on the remake (a different take from yours, since he saw it by comparing it) I kinda like your more, maybe because I like more the technical aspects that you describe while Nitro Rad is talking more about what he likes. Nothing against saying what you like, but I also prefer hearing about the technical aspects of the game, and I don't mind spoilers.

[@kaoskirby3615]

It's super cool to me that so many old and underrated games are being remade/rebooted. Also when do you think you're going to do another Obscure 3D Platfromers video? What games I would recommend is Mushroom Men the Spore Wars, Dewy's Adventure, and Metal Arms A Glitch in the System.

[@andrewhaase1826]

In regards to your Obscure 3D Platformers 2, I have a few suggestions: *I-Ninja *Ty The Tasmanian Tiger *Blinx The Time Sweeper *Whiplash *Wall-E *Voodoo Vince And *Dr. Muto

[@ShadowXemnas13]

I've actually played I-Ninja, can second the recommendation. It's wacky, has some solid platforming to go with the combat, and some of the dialog is downright hilarious. Actually 100%'d it, was pretty fun.

[@greatsageclok-roo9013]

TY you can actually play on modern systems with the HD remasters of the first two games. And I HIGHLY recommend TY the Tasmanian Tiger! It's so good! And so quintessentially Aussie!

[@jurtheorc8117]

i'd like to add the Maximo games and Kya: Dark Lineage to that list! Haven: Call of the King might be interesting too. There's also titles like Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars, The Kore Gang and Flip's Twisted world for Wii. And there's also Malice which is more interesting for its history and what it could have been than the product that ended up releasing.

[@baalfgames5318]

What about Scaler? I remember playing that a bit on my XBox.

[@ilikecurry2345]

He has returned from the grave to give the living... something.

[@sergiomendoza5165]

I highly reccomend Demon Turf,is a excellent indie 3d plataformer.

[@JacktheLightningRipper]

I was thinking about picking this game up some time in the future. Nice video!

[@LunaP1]

What's weird about the corruption of the masters is that their new occupations don't seem all that bad.

[@dragonreaper9850]

Mavvy: Something funny about the Merchant being the main villain. Me: *Looks at a certain Switch game & holds a ball & flute.*

[@bluestreaker9242]

You know what this reminds me of? Ty The Tasmanian Tiger. Ever hear of it? :3

[@haaxxx9]

That old PS2 platformer that came out over a decade ago? I herd about Ty about 5 years ago when I wanna start my small PS2 collection.

[@NSegaXP]

@@haaxxx9 i heard about it from AntDude & Square Eyed Jak

[@command3rlucas294]

Have you ever considered doing a review on Legend of Kay?

[@meganpayette5996]

One thing about Kao The Kangaroo that I do remember long before the Nitro Rad videos was a review written in Nintendo Power magazine, trashing the second game. I am not kidding!

[@augustbornone]

Me at 8:36 to 8:51: Oooohhhh, so THAT explains why Kao's neck look a bit...lengthy in one of the images that BengaMage had.

[@StrayCatAnimations]

Great video; I definitely want to check the game out now!

[@leofrog9]

1:31 same

[@stalkermike]

I was introduced to these games through nitro rad too. But I so want to play them anyway as they look like fun. And wait the merchant is the bad guy? 🤔 I've thought about this concept in the past mostly in an RPG but the fact it's being used at all is interesting to me.

[@ScatterbrainPete]

I can't believe it took me this long to realize the merchant monkey's design is based on Janusz, a Polish meme monkey making fun of ignorant cheapskates, which is also what the Polish slang term "Janusz of business" refers to.

[@WolfRider2002]

5:01 Reminds me of Volo from Pokemon Legends Arceus

[@invadernav3422]

I encountered tons of glitches when I played this. Enough to the point it actually did impact my enjoyment of the game. In the very first level I played in the game, in the caves, I wasn't able to collect the last rune. I replayed the level a dozen times, even after restarting my console, but the rune that's supposed to appear just won't, making the game impossible to complete.

[@IamaPERSON]

Can’t wait to see this, at least in 16 hours.

[@Ninjaheiro]

We now need a Croc remastered game

[@Zastier]

I would hope this isn't the last game in the series.

[@Alpha-oo8]

I enjoyed my time with it, but those performance issues where very distracting… People gave the sonic colours remaster a ton of flak, and in my experience, it was nowhere near as problematic as kao’s issues. I had one stage where I thought the hdmi cable was loose because there was that crackling sound, like radio static

[@BenjaMage]

Oh. Can't say I experienced any glitches like that, but that sounds unpleasant.

[@baalfgames5318]

I wonder if it depends on the console.

[@Alpha-oo8]

@@baalfgames5318 it’s possible

[@elin111]

My only real gripe with the game is I wish there were at least 2 or 3 more levels. The short lenght is 100% understandable given the small dev team but given how good all the levels were there's that "I want more" feeling to it.

[@rayvenkman2087]

With two DLC expansions released since, is that itch been scratched?

[@Spyro757]

From 0:29?

[@salmon-stan]

I’m so embarrassed. I thought his name was pronounced like “cow” all this time.

[@carolynbossom2297]

Out of curiosity, what's your top ten best and worst dissidia (i probably butchered that) bosses?

[@MayorHairBear]

This game is weirdly intriguing for me but for a game filled with Australian animals I'm not hearing the accent to match. Maybe I'm expecting a Ty style of over the top though 😂

[@kikicallahan3662]

You should review some Sega RPGs like Phantasy Star, Shining Force, Shining in the Darkness, Beyond Oasis and Sword of Vermillion

[@brjtney]

Can you do a video on PAC Man are PAC?

[@Keith_Norman]

Pac world came back baby, kao deserves this well except the forced voice acting

[@skistorm739]

Look up Mario + rabbids kindom battles?

[@acemcwolf5445]

Spoilers for Pokemon legends Arceus. 4:57 Yeah it's funny alright, Until he pulls out a recreation of Cynthia's team, And then Satan... TWICE.

[@eastonmoon]

When I first saw the trailer for this game I thought it was a new IP trying to rip off Crash4

[@Internet_Canuck]

The Merchant is the main villain of a game made by a Polish studio, A former Communist country. If that’s not irony I don’t know what is.

[@wathah323]

Ok sister:)

[@sarasaland4709]

Funny you use the Pac-Man World music while you talk about unexpected revivals. Considering a remake of PMW was just announced.

[@BenjaMage]

Yep, that's exactly why I did so.

[@sarasaland4709]

@@BenjaMage Silly me thought it was a coincidence.

[@SimonGuyWhoLikesGowther]

I don't care about anything Only about sentences with Poland or Polish there and Kao hinself (Yes, I'm Polish, I'm proud of it)

[@Ryno12345able]

I thought that this was a new series 😂

[@Princess36621]

Is it just me or does the voice acting sound like everyone is bored?

[@krimsonkatt]

Yeah the voice acting in this game sounds honestly REALLY bad. It's maybe just as bad as Trials of Mana which IMO was really hit or miss. All the main characters except Charlotte did a good job (and Charlotte being bad was mainly down the the localization choice to give her a baby voice instead of speaking in third person like in Japanese) but pretty much every single side character has voice acting that wouldn't be uncommon in a PS1 or early PS2 era game like Mega Man 8, Mega Man X4 and X7, Mega Man ZX Advent, House of the Dead, Resident Evil 1, etc. Meanwhile Kao just has bad voice acting all around while TOM ranges from pretty good (every MC but Charlotte) to god-awful. (Mateo, Salamander, etc) At least neither is as bad as Chaos Wars which literally had random children (family of the translators) with absolutely no VA or even acting experience voice the characters.

[@krimsonkatt]

This game has really bad voice acting. Honestly, that and the glitches really turn this game from a mediocre bland platformer into a mildly bad unfinished mess. Not offensively bad, but certainly not good. A Hat in Time was good because movement in that game was so fluid and the game will filled with charm. New Super Lucky's Tail whole being somewhat generic gameplay wise was super creative and charming when it came to level themes, characters, and the general vibe. If a platformer is missing fun movement and/or charming and creative levels, it's nothing to me. If I wanted a solid yet bland platformer I would just play New Super Mario Bros. Kao just feels like Skylar and Plux 2.0 for me. They're both short, generic 3D platformers with semi linear levels, bad voice acting, (and honestly Kao is way worse on that front) glitchy unfinished gameplay, and largely cringe dialogue full of dated pop culture references. But one gets hated on while the other is praised? Don't get me wrong I think both games are bad but it's sort of hypocritical to bash Skylar and Plux so much it gets delisted from everything and then praise Kao which has literally all the same problems.

[@BenjaMage]

That's not at all why Skylar and Plux got delisted; the publisher delisted a bunch of their games abruptly, Skylar and Plux included, as part of their "restructuring". Also, while yes, I did a fair bit of bashing on Skylar and Plux when it came out, my perspective on it has largely changed since then, especially after having experienced game development firsthand. Is it or Kao perfect? No, far from it. Would I call either game bad though? Personally, no.

[@baalfgames5318]

...You thought Hat in Time was charming? Because honestly the lack of it IMO was what destroyed the game for me. I always hate it when the villains are WAY more interesting and diverse than the heroes, and Hat Kid was one of the blandest platforming protags I've ever seen TBH.

[@Fiery_Latina_Goatchan_GF_681]

Don't care for Klonoa at all really. Id rather see a Banjo kazooie remake