Kao the Kangaroo Nintendo Switch Review

[@SwitchUpYt]

Update: The developers have reached out and have a patch in the works to fix the issues particularly the save problem. ETA is ASAP. How do bugs such as this evade play testers? Did they only test the first hub world? Hopefully it's patched soon! Looking for eshop credit? Get OFFICIAL Nintendo Eshop Cards and other bits and bobs, at our new website and online store here - switchup.gg/ - 10% off until the end of May 2022 If you are a physical collector you can use code "SWITCHUPQ3" to save 5% at PlayAsia www.play-asia.com Happy gaming! Glen

[@MarquisDeSang]

You are the beta testers.

[@ultraginge1990]

How much time did you actually loose?

[@I_was_a_Bullfrog]

@Scott Pilgrim How'd you cancel? It already released

[@mariovj1764]

It is sad expect for a patch each new releases this is the new rule for today

[@aqlandmirrorvideogamerandc2983]

It sucks about the auto save glitch. Hopefully that will be patched soon. I won't be able to play till June or July. Physical copies coming. I'm fine with waiting and very excited to play.

[@BlackDistrictTV]

Original Kao game was like Mario here in Poland. Almost everyone played it.

[@doclouis4236]

I thought the Witcher game was like Mario in Poland.

[@azk9218]

@@doclouis4236 it was, but Kao was first and it was basically sold on every corner for a very low price. And well, it was a platformer, so I guess that comparison is better :D

[@BlackDistrictTV]

@@doclouis4236 Kao in 2000, Witcher almost 10 years later

[@zhuravlynka]

I'm not sure about Mario bc of all the Famiclones but yeah this game was popular as hell and if I compared it with something, it would be Crash and Banjo.

[@adamlisiewicz1777]

Kao round 2 was my childhood classic

[@freddiejohnson6137]

Quite glad that 3D platformers are getting a resurgence these days as there was a time where they became quite limited in scope outside of Mario and Ratchet and Clank games. It's a shame about the glitch with this as despite the performance issues I was considering getting it so may hold off.

[@angrymikko]

I feel bad for the team that has worked years on this only to stumble on the finish line with a bug like that. Sure it sounds fixable but reviews don’t give games second chances. For what it’s worth I think this looks great and I’d be happy to play through it once it gets patched.

[@thefirstladyoftrance]

Any word on a patch?

[@TucBroder]

@@thefirstladyoftrance It was patched a few years ago

[@Jesse023]

Thanks for the review. You've save me money and made my collection vast and filled with great games. Thanks mate. Keep it up

[@sparkypack]

I would save some bells for Mario Strikers. It might be worth it.

[@stormrider1049]

Seemed like a standard fare of a good platformer. I loved how KO crosses rope monkey bars with his ears haha… but the save glitch sounds brutal…

[@perryg6017]

Hey Glen! I've seen that the devs for Kao have now dropped a patch to fix the saving issues for the Switch version. Would the SwitchUp team possibly do a re-review? Or put it into an "All Patched Up" video?? I love 3D PS2/GC era style platformers, but I'm still on the fence with this game (mainly due to the save and potential framerate issues)... Would be great to hear your full opinion of the game! If yourself and Mark have time to fit it in of course 👍

[@Megorium]

I wonder if searching for the runes is a way the devs make the players explore and appreciate the world and characters. Also, yes they need to fix that autosave.

[@mistermastermind528]

Like Sly Cooper's clue bottles. I can definitely get behind that idea.

[@nicked_fenyx]

I appreciate reviews like this one giving us a heads up on major game breaking bugs. It definitely saves a lot of people a lot of money, and headaches. Also, slightly off topic, but what's with all the people complaining about "negative reviews" lately? Do people honestly expect reviewers to give a game that routinely deletes player save data a high score? I'd be disappointed (to say the least) if a game like this got a 7 or 8 and I bought it, only to lose hours of playtime and find out it's a common bug. Devs should be held to a higher standard than that (much higher), and I for one sincerely appreciate channels like this that hold to that standard. Keep up the great work, guys.

[@SwitchUpYt]

Yeah, I've found a few of the comments a bit odd to be honest. Everyone's entitled to their opinion of course but this bug doesn't save your data. I mean, that's pretty big right? Should I give it a pass because the game is decent or acknowledge that as good as the game is, you can't play it properly? I know what I'd do every time. Glen

[@anjahansen4059]

I hope we’ll get a sequel with both KAO and Kaya as playable characters and with new abilities(Swim, climb, earth elemental, spirit walking and kick attack)

[@tank70g]

Ive seen this channel come a long way. Im proud of you guys💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽

[@Nedwig747]

I don't know why but I find something immensely appealing about the idea of playing as a kangaroo

[@davidoli]

I've been playing the game for a couple hours and I think it's a very solid game, haven't really stumbled upon the bug since I'm on xbox series x and it's just on quick resume all the time. I did experience some small graphical glitches here and there but none in a gameplay level. I think for a small studio the game is amazing and we've all seen many AAA games launch in a way worse state.

[@acidarcadia1797]

I'm just so pissed right now, it's not like everybody has loads of free time for games and when I saw that all my progress was gone after 2 hours of playing I just lost all my enthusiasm for the game, bought the preorder btw

[@AzurePip]

Same here. I was excited for this game and pre-ordered it as well. I've had my data deleted three times in total over the course of 5-6 hours. As such, I'm not touching this game again until the developers come out with a desperately-needed patch or two.

[@RodaRora]

I am actually quite surprised how much coverage this game got. I was sure it would just be riding the nostalgia train for the Polish audience. Anyways, it would definitely be awesome for them to bring Kao 1 or 2 to the switch. They may be old, but they still have that oldschool platformer adventure charm to them!

[@n64fanboy95]

I love all switchup videos, but like others, this is one of the first ones to put me off a bit. It comes across as more of a "pre"view than "re"view. Not sure if anything prevents you guys from titling such games/reviews as a preview, but perhaps that would be enough to for everyone to collectively say fair play, at least they clearly state it's more of a preview & preview score as opposed to a full fledged review and score. All that said, people love your content because of how enjoyable it is. I hope you guys continue to enjoy making it just much. See ya!

[@twilighthero426]

Where did they say this one is a preview? It's a review, albeit an uncomplimentary one, because the game is out now and this is the state which the developers launched the game in. Hopefully they'll patch out that saving glitch and the game will be featured in an All Patched Up video later on. I appreciate the honesty in the meantime.

[@n64fanboy95]

Agreed. I think some viewers are just disappointed that more of the game wasn't experienced and discussed in the review. Cheers!

[@sierstilez]

Never heard of this series but it does look interesting. As always love the video!

[@fun-epersonnproductions4002]

The original trilogy can be summed up as slavjunk Crash Bandicoot meets Rayman 2

[@shazgoose7391]

I think I might have owned a Kao game for the PSP... was looking forward to this but guess I’ll wait

[@AzurePip]

I'm so glad I am not the only one experiencing this save data glitch. I've had my data deleted three times over the course of about 5-6 hours of gameplay. It's extremely frustrating and I am not touching this game again until the developers fix this issue with a patch or two. Until then, Kao the Kangaroo is unplayable. It's a shame too, as I was really looking forward to this game and even pre-ordered it a couple of days before launch earlier this week.

[@r_apt_ure]

Thanks for the review, definitely be waiting for a patch on this

[@jaylarceny1300]

I’m looking forward for this game, imma get it as soon as they patch the autosave thing.

[@bryanskyer9261]

Ha.i just bought it..i cant save the game 😒..i was far in the game ..now i see am on the begining of the game again and could not get my recent progress of the game..some help here please.

[@Ser-Smiley]

Mmmm. Such a shame about the autosave glitch. Hope they fix it soon. Would suck for anyone that buys it. 😑

[@jp9707]

Good pun at the start of this review, I was very much amused ☺️

[@lucian2701]

Kudos to you guys for an honest review when the game is clearly so flawed; I was half expecting the classic '70%' total, given the developers gave you a review code for the game. Nice one!

[@kayoticwrath]

Thank you for the review. I have been looking forward to this game but I shall wait a little bit longer.

[@Nintendude.]

Here is your "like" for the puns at the beginning... it added a little extra punch to the video. Also thanks for the heads up on the bug problem.

[@SiobhanR28]

Another useful review. Thanks guys :D

[@stealtheeone9016]

Crash bandicoot if he was a kangaroo with boxing gloves😂

[@UndeadEggmiester]

It's always unfortunate when games have game braking bugs but at least the devs are trying to fix it asap.

[@austinsheehan3994]

Cheers for the review! I don't expect that Kao the Kangaroo would reach the benchmark of Splatoon 2 as the best 3D platformer on the Switch, but (given the save problem looks like it's being fixed as I'm typing this) I still think I'm going to give it a shot. There appears to be far more to the characters and to the story than the likes of Kirby and the Forgotten Land / Super Mario 3D world, which is what I value in a game. And if I, as an Australian, can get through the atrocious voice acting of Bravely Default 2, then I can get through anything.

[@kaox44]

Growing up, I was tease for my name. The kids use to call me K-O Kao the Kangaroo in the 80's to the 2000's. I hated my name because it wasn't cool. I'm so glade this game came out...

[@maccaplays6921]

When it comes to switch game review this is my favourite channel to go they keep it 100% if it’s good, mid, or trash aha

[@SwitchUpYt]

Cheers mate!

[@ThePlob]

get to come home from a long day of school to see a new upload so very happy but see it's a game about a kangaroo I'm now even happier kangaroos are cool

[@twilighthero426]

Cheers guys, I was looking forward to this one but it definitely needs a bit more work. Appreciate your honesty in the meantime!

[@GoodOldGamer]

Well that's a bummer. I was hoping this would be a good one. Thanks for the heads up.

[@RodaRora]

and most importantly- THE NECC!!1 IT STILL EXTENDS UNDER WATER YESsS

[@t.fernbach602]

Too bad about the auto-save glitch, we're in need of good 3D platformers these days.

[@danielmcphee2546]

I'm enjoying it, hope it gets a sequel. We need more good 3d platformers

[@_N3VAEH_]

Hi. Does anybody know if the digital version of the game support the original/polish language? (it does not say Polish on the eshop) Or do I have to grab a physical version in Poland (like the Witcher for switch)

[@Lucy-lp9kv]

Thanks for the review. I definitely want the game but I'm going to wait until they patch the save problem.

[@foxykirby]

Thank you for the review!

[@aFLYER1980]

Kinda reminds me of the original Jak & Daxter... And that's a GOOD thing.

[@damienkrawczuk1435]

Gosh I miss these types of games! Shame about that save issue, I'll wait till that is addressed first, that super lucky game was hell fun in VR, hope more are done like it in the future

[@bryanskyer9261]

Did they fixed the save issue yet?

[@damienkrawczuk1435]

@@bryanskyer9261 I'm unsure yet, personally I keep checking the patch notes and updates myself, once I get the the big ok I'm buying it for sure, in the meantime I found a game called The Touryst on the switch that games quite fun, heaps of mini games n things to explore I'm playing that while I wait

[@theGodfollower99]

So this game is currently 20% off on Switch until September 4th and I am still seriously thinking about getting it! Can anyone confirm that the glitch and the bugs have been patched? I really had my hopes up, and I still have an itch to try it! I’d appreciate it!

[@TheExileWolf]

I got the physical version of KAO from signature edition games but haven't played it yet. I can wait until the glitch gets patched but despite the glitch the game seems solid and I'm looking forward to playing it.

[@luissantana9596]

I remember back in the day when The Last of Us launched on PS3, it had a glitch like that. You could start the game, get far and when you tried to save or at least check the auto save, it was not working so you had to do it all over again. Glad that it is an amazing game IMO so it was not a chore but still frustrating.

[@armandoaranda639]

There is a day one update, version 1.1 of this game, that may have fixed the saving problem.

[@Popplenrookie]

Literally says he’s playing version 1.1 at 5:20 in the video.

[@SwitchUpYt]

Plus we’ve had radio silence regarding the issues. Mark

[@andraes9684]

lol who's in charge of these intro puns? 😂

[@Under_Sky_Third_Gaia]

D's

[@Estorium]

Mark and Glen are both dads, so those dad-joke level puns could be written by either of them 😆

[@mariovj1764]

Nowadays the surprise is see a game release without a bug

[@crestfallenwarrior6996]

Do you coordinate with switchcorner? You have to, haha. Same upload at the same time. I watch you both (but mark and glen you’re my favorite don’t tell Alex)

[@SwitchUpYt]

Haha we don’t it’s just the embargo finishes at that time. Mark

[@crestfallenwarrior6996]

@@SwitchUpYt haha thanks for the reply Mark. Much love!

[@blizmo2]

Happy Friday 😎🤙👍👍

[@septarap3901]

The Hub area reminds me so much of Jak & Daxter.....an IP sadly locked behind Sony's First Party contract

[@crazykenny24]

I want to get it, but they got to fix that autosave first.

[@feeamerie5011]

Such a shame. was hoping to buy the physical copy but not if it’s unpatched 😢

[@RikishiZH]

Thanks for review! I will wait for a patch. Love 1st and 2nd Kao games and miss old aesthetics. This one looks kinda generic, but I'll give a try someday anyway.

[@Kswitchem]

Ran into the save glitch but I was only like 15 minutes in. This needs a patch bad.

[@SwitchUpYt]

Yep you basically don’t want to play it until that comes. You’ll just lose everything over and over

[@Kswitchem]

@@SwitchUpYt Sure was nice of them to not release embargo until the day of launch. Shady.

[@skyhighlander6447]

Sadly found out about the save bug the hard way this morning. The entire second world was beaten and I was just at the third, and boom back to the start of the second. I figured I didn’t want that happening again so I played through it in one sitting… numerous audio glitches that killed any kind of atmosphere the game could have, a lot of janky platforming that just made it feel like I couldn’t trust Kao to do what he should be doing. (like grabbing ledges and the double jump sometimes malfunctioning) Got it physical, selling it as fast as I can. Didn’t enjoy at all sadly, despite a promising start. Kao also sounds like he’s got a stuffy nose the entire time, oof.

[@SwitchUpYt]

Yeah and people were moaning that we made too big a deal of the issues…

[@skyhighlander6447]

@@SwitchUpYt I think you gave the game a fair review. Highlighting the good while giving the bad the weight it deserves. When you can’t trust a game to save your progress like it should on top of all the other glitches and bugs its plagued with… well, that’s a pretty clear case. I actually had a crash happen and I was BEGGING for the autosave to have worked because I refused to sit through all that again. Thank goodness it functioned that time or I’d have never finished the game, but that kind of basic thing shouldn’t be giving me stress at all. I often come to this channel for quality reviews and that quality hasn’t changed, you guys did your job well as always! Don’t let the moaning make you think otherwise.

[@Venison_0904]

Yeesh!! Even if they sort that awful autosave issue out, the voice acting alone will put me off purchasing this! Kao sounds unbelievably bad 😱 I was so excited for this game as well...glad I awaited your trusty review first. Cheers guys, keep up the stellar work 👌🏻

[@SwitchUpYt]

Yeah that voice actor is shocking

[@lorentzen.montoya]

Damn 49, thats harsh haha but its definitely warranted

[@bamban_garcia5562]

Honestly wish studios do a short digital launch to find all the issues so that physical releases with no problems later on

[@professionalspecialist5780]

I believe they used to call those "demos"

[@bamban_garcia5562]

@@professionalspecialist5780 I believe that was called the PlayStation 2 era

[@robsmall6466]

Kao was average back when it was originally released. However it doesn't make it a bad game. Especially when you consider these type of games are not as regularly released as they used to be. I may look at this ( have now got to the part RE saving 🤦‍♂️. Why? Just why? Any chance this is not in the retail release? Is it an everytime thing? Does it occur later in the game? )

[@LiamPlaysHandheld]

when you say the auto save function, does that mean the manual save function is fine?

[@acidarcadia1797]

there is no option to save progress manually

[@michaelcomandatore7736]

Kao is on psp as well

[@ultraginge1990]

Thanks as always guys. I think I will give this one a miss. Can’t remember a review you gave such a low score too.

[@HesarealNoWhereMan]

I asked Alex from switch corner about that glitch you mentioned and he denies he encountered such a glitch.

[@SwitchUpYt]

Watch his review: - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYKrk6WKp5p2hZY

[@spear-twirlingbokoblin7390]

What are you talking about, the game is absolutely fine look here while I load my save... wait a minute! oh no... oh NO!

[@Chronically_JBoo]

Its the release date for the Switch version yet when I try to play it, it says it's not released yet. I even made the profile it was bought on primary and tried logging in on that account. Anyone else experiencing this on Switch?

[@seekingfreedom9020]

Yes I just tried downloading it this morning, it says not released

[@gamerprince-tl5hg]

7/20 for gameplay because of one bug?

[@SwitchUpYt]

A bug that doesn't save your data? Yeah 7/20. That's a big blow to the gameplay is it not?

[@danielsosa2240]

I remember the Dreamcast game and it was just ok. And play tester got all those problems, that’s the case basically all the time but management and other people consider them not that big a problem and let them go.

[@kjcenteno5734]

I miss the old platforms from N64 era I may pick this up.

[@willsmonsters4497]

can you do a manual save and avoid the autosave issue?

[@SwitchUpYt]

That’s a no

[@willsmonsters4497]

@@SwitchUpYt ahh poo. good to know! thank you very much for taking the time to respond! very kind and much appreciated!

[@themadmoderator8465]

fact this was in shops last weekend here and no reviews my poop sences were tingling

[@SwitchUpYt]

Yeah it’s not cool

[@davidframe3457]

Aw I was looking forward to this game. Hopefully it gets patched up soon.

[@S_Hyde]

Waifus aren't the only characters struggling in modern day, they''ve made Kao ugly too

[@GundamWarrior1]

Is this only on the Switch version? Does this effect the PS4 version?

[@SwitchUpYt]

We wouldn’t know that I’m afraid

[@miyareid55]

how to save i had to start all over

[@mecharobots]

Looks like a fun platformer and at a great price of £25 which is worth a purchase but I think I'll miss the switch this time and buy it for ps5 or xsx

[@diligencehumility6971]

Game looks good to me. But - Obviously the auto-save needs fixing - Other small bugs and glitches been reported, also needs fixing - Game is reportedly short

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

Well, that sucks. I was looking forward to trying this out, but to hear the results are below average really puts me off, even with the promise of patches and fixes.

[@iTechGamingLOL]

Perhaps after some fixes and a discount it may be worth of purchase. Also dear lord, what did they try to achieve with that voice acting of that poor marsupial, lol.

[@SwitchUpYt]

IKR

[@shiestybrown]

Looks like Kao got KO’d!

[@evolution0fself]

Looks a lot like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger

[@mrmeow2297]

Everything Balan Wonderworld merely pretended to be (minus the auto save glitch)

[@jedmesina157]

First time I’m not agreeing with your score.

[@Crayolapup]

Can I say, I glitched through a platform and died. Plus, theres lag in some platforming areas

[@thegreenking4469]

Reminds me of Crash and Spyro

[@alexknox1596]

Will wait for patch.

[@jessragan6714]

Who decided that the enemies of video game kangaroos should be monkeys? Furthermore, why does this particular kangaroo have a pouch? It's Marsupial 101, man... only females are supposed to have pouches! It's like that Barnyard cartoon where all the bulls have prominent udders!

[@selinadean5824]

On the switch version auto save is broken so once you come of the game it takes you back to near the beginning so you missed that out on your review

[@lucian2701]

Not sure if you watched all the review but that bug is mentioned several times and is mostly why the score is so low.

[@selinadean5824]

@@lucian2701 oh sorry I didn’t realise I must be going deaf 🤣 I so hope they sort it is that auto-save bug just on switch or would be the same for Xbox and PS5 as well ? Thanks

[@Fay9009]

I can understand about the auto save bug , But it seems you goes so hard on it

[@SwitchUpYt]

It makes it very difficult to play the game properly so has to affect the score accordingly. Things like this hit so many areas of the scoring, gameplay, performance and value. Glen

[@wodensthrone5215]

Getting it on ps5, I watched another review and if you have multiple enemies on screen, the frame rate turns into a slide show and doesn't suffer from the issues that the Switch version has, not to mention 60fps is needed for platformers for better input response times on jumps and tricky platforming. Also if you have a high end LG OLED, the HDR looks great, regardless if you choose DTM or HGiG.

[@Goolix_Aero]

Might be one to play on PS4 then

[@Wimmle]

I think it's closer to crash Bandicoot than Mario 64

[@kindred3147]

A shame this performs so poorly and has a major game breaking bug. Glad I waited. Thanks for the honest review

[@galy0]

A very good Polish game. . .

[@dmc-nz]

Looks/sounds nothing like Australia, as I look outside my window for kangaroos 🤣 Don’t let the truth get in the way of a developing a game!

[@der_basic]

Such a shame that they deliver games in a state like this. Just tale your time and polish the game a bit more

[@nickmc9394]

This really bums me out, I was looking forward to this game. :(

[@reubino_rat5195]

hi switchup

[@reubino_rat5195]

I really like how you notice me thank you

[@mistermastermind528]

Huh... Pronouncing it as "kay-o" makes a lot more sense. I always thought it was simply just Kao.