The left-field KaotheKangaroo revival demonstrates how even indie developers can bring classic series back.
Contents In the 3D platformer boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, many new franchises emerged as developers looked to catch part of the hysteria started by games like Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot. One such series was Kao the Kangaroo from Tate Interactive, an independent Polish game developer.
Back for Round 2 Throughout the 2010s, Tate Multimedia was more focused on racing games like Urban Trial Freestyle and Steel Rats rather than family-friendly platformers. Despite that, love for Kao didn’t die during that time, and the platforming mascot maintained a small but passionate fan base, with the developer saying it still got emails asking to bring the series back.
The Polish studio then knew it still had something special on it hands and wanted to bring the series back, but had to decide what exactly to do. Developers at Tate Multimedia threw multiple ideas around as the small team had to determine the best way to bring back a franchise that only nostalgic early 2000s gamers might remember.
A rift apart Games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time were AAA productions with hundreds of developers working on them. Kao the Kangaroo was not. While Tate Multimedia had bold ideas for a revival that could both innovate and respect the series’ roots, it also had to keep in mind that it was working on a “triple-I” budget, not triple-A. The first place where that rift became noticeable was in crafting the game’s narrative.