Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2

I loaded up Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 expecting a budget curiosity and came away genuinely charmed by how much personality Tate Multimedia packed into what is, by all accounts, a scrappy Polish platformer from 2003 that somehow holds up two decades later. It is the kind of game that reminds you what the early-2000s mascot era felt like before open worlds and battle passes ate everything alive. The structure is straightforward: you work through over 20 levels across five distinct worlds, collecting Ducats (gold coins stashed in crates and out in the open), punching and tail-whipping your way through a genuinely odd enemy roster that includes beavers, crazy hammer-wielding dwarves, and at least one enemy that appears to just be an old hippie. Kao himself has a solid move set, covering punch combos, boomerang throws with a lock-on system, a butt stomp, and a roll. Upgrades unlock as you collect stars scattered through each level, and the difficulty curve is gentle enough that younger players or anyone who just wants a chill weekend run will breeze through without frustration. The checkpoint system is forgiving, and most jumps are designed to land even when you're slightly off. Boss fights add some welcome structure, and the chase sequences - where obstacles appear with almost no warning - are the only moments that will genuinely test your reflexes. Variety is where Round 2 earns its keep. You are not just running and jumping the whole time. Levels fold in snowboard sections, motorboat races, speedboat chases, pelican riding, and pontoon boat segments. The pelican controls are the roughest part of the whole package - timing the flaps correctly over large gaps is finicky and the camera locks to Kao in a way that makes hard turns awkward. The swimming levels also have an inverted Y-axis that ignores your control settings, which is a genuine annoyance. Neither issue is a dealbreaker, but both are classic early-2000s jank that you either find charming or aggravating depending on your tolerance. The soundtrack leans on synthetic beats rather than anything memorable, so do not go in expecting music that sticks with you. The Steam version from 2019 is the definitive way to play: it adds widescreen resolution support, XInput controller support (and you absolutely want to play this with a gamepad rather than keyboard), compatibility fixes for modern machines, and Steam achievements. There is a small speedrunning community active around the game, which tells you there is at least something here worth replaying beyond the main five-hour story. That runtime is the biggest flag to raise - if you need 20-plus hours to feel satisfied, move on. But if you treat it like a classic cartoon - fun, weird, done in a weekend - Round 2 delivers exactly what it promises. There is no split-screen or local multiplayer on PC (that was exclusive to the PSP version), so do not come to this one looking for a couch party mode. Riley, Scout Team