Kangaroo

"Incredibly addicting, even in 2003!"

Intro
One of the things you'll discover about me when you browse my recognition page is that I obviously grew up with the Atari 2600 and, just as obviously, still regard it as one of if not my absolute favorite gaming consoles. Yep, it's another Atari review.
Kangaroo is a game that I never actually owned when I was younger. In point of fact the Atari we had when I was a little lad was my brothers, and he borrowed Kangaroo from a friend rather late in the Atari's life. Then, when I bought an Atari from a friend of mine about five or six years ago, I was most delighted to find this game among the forty or fifty that were included with the machine. Now, let's break the game down into categories.
Gameplay 10-10. It is what too few games are nowadays, nice and simple. This does not, however, make the game easy. You have the one objective of making it from the bottom of the screen to the top. This results in successful completion of a level. There are three, and each gets harder and harder. You also have to dodge evil monkeys who take great delight in throwing fruit at you, but your little kangaroo comes equipped with boxing gloves, so she's not utterly defenseless.
Control 10-10. Press left and right to move in those directions, press up to jump and press Down to duck. Press the button to punch. As I said, nice and simple.
Sound 10-10. Not many Atari games had music, and of those that did, a lot of it was really quite bad with few exceptions. Kangaroo happens to be one of the games which had good music and sound effects through and through. Ok, so there was no background music during gameplay (except when you climbed a ladder), but there was a little intro theme. Then when you complete a level, there's an incredible rendition of Oh Suzanna, or at least the chorus part, the Oh Suzanna, Oh don't you cry for me. I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee. So it's not really fitting for the particular game involved, but it's a well rendered version of the piece.
Story ??? By Atari standards this would probably have been a masterpiece, but I'm not entirely sure if even that's accurate. Anyway, you play the role of Mother Kangaroo, whose little baby roo has been abducted by evil monkeys! There are three levels, and you rescue your baby with each level you complete. Another way to look at it is that there are three babies.
Overall 10-10. I love this game. There's just something about this and many other Atari games that you just don't find much in games nowadays, even if they're remakes of such games as this. It just doesn't feel right to me to play such an old game on---say, the PSX. Anyway, give this game a try. It may provide an entertaining few minutes.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/19/03