Kao the Kangaroo gets a reboot, two decades after the original

Born in the era of animal-based platformers and continuing in the era of remakes, Kao the Kangaroo is back.

Beginning more than 20 years ago on Dreamcast, the Kao series never got the same sort of attention in the U.S. as franchises like Spyro and Bubsy, though it has a particular following in Poland and a press release for the new game says that the original run sold 700,000 units across seven platforms worldwide.

With the new game — again called Kao the Kangaroo — Polish development studio Tate Multimedia says it’s not making a sequel, but “a complete reboot,” according to head of studio Kaja Borowko. A trailer shows beach and snow environments set to Junior Senior’s “Move Your Feet”, with enemy crabs, platforming over hot lava, magical boxing gloves, and a heavy dose of hit-pause.

Kao the Kangaroo is scheduled for release on Steam, Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X this summer.