Kao the Kangaroo Jumps onto Sega Dreamcast – Today in History – February 13th, 2001

Keep in mind, 15 plus years ago, 3D action adventure titles were all the rage. This was caused by a little plumber who launched a memorable console in 1996. This should not be any surprise to anyone reading this as about a decade prior, Mario did the same thing for 2D side scrolling action games. Mario has a tendency to do that. This article, though, is not about Mario or one of his games- no this article is celebrating another attempt at dethroning the king. Kao the Kangaroo is a 3D action adventure title that tries really hard but only saw moderate success worldwide, exceptional performance in Poland though.

Kao is doing what any family loving kangaroo would do when their family is captured by ruthless hunters. Kao must not only save his family from the clutches of the hunters but also run those same bad guys out of his home in the jungle (do kangaroos live in the jungle?).

Kao the Kangaroo has the charm to carry it, more so than Bubsy 3D showed (anyone remember that one?). Kao is cute, has more than enough animation and a slight attitude while appearing completely innocent (taking notes, Sega?). Had Kao been released using a more mature 3D engine he may have fared a lot better outside of Poland (it ranked for quite a while in the top 10 there).

Kao the Kangaroo saw release on PC Game Boy Advance and Sega Dreamcast but has not been re-released. That leaves hitting eBay for a copy. Kao the Kangaroo 2, a direct sequel was released by Tate Interactive for the Xbox, Playstation 2, GameCube and PC. Kao Challengers was a Playstation Portable exclusive that added multiplayer. Finally, we saw the release of Kao the Kangaroo: Mystery of the Volcanofor PC, which has yet to receive an English translation- nearly a decade later. Don’t hold your breath for it.