What can kill a good game more easily – bad play controls or incredible difficulty? I’m still trying to decide which aspect makes “Kangaroo” for the Atari 2600 such a mediocre game. Then again, maybe it’s just a blend of two flaws.

PRESS FIRE TO START

You play as a kangaroo, or more specifically, a mama kangaroo who’s out to save her baby from some crazy monkeys. You must climb ladders, jump from plank to plank and punch-out any of those evil monkeys who get in your way. All while watching out for apples which randomly fall from the top of the screen as well as from the side by any monkeys you don’t clobber.

Along the way there are a bunch of fruits you can pick up for extra points and a bell to ring to replace the fruit once you’ve grabbed them all up. Beating up monkeys, grabbing fruit and saving your little one will earn you points and after every 20,000 points you get a 1-Up. The game is only three stages deep and, not surprisingly, starts from the beginning at a higher level of difficulty once you finish the third stage.

Sound familiar? It is. The concept is a cross between “Donkey Kong” and “Popeye,” with a hint of “Pac-Man” too. What a creative game!

PLAYER 1 – READY!

It’s not often an Atari 2600 can be such a challenge to finish, but such is the case of “Kangaroo.” I just couldn’t understand why this game was so vexing. I mean, it’s fairly simple – get to the top, dodge the flying apples and grab the fruit – easy, right?

Easier said than done, that’s for sure. The gameplay is something of a practical joke as you’re inclined to think it’s a fast action game of running, jumping and punching, but all you really do is run. The monkeys run up and down the right side of the screen and occasionally move to the left on the platforms before they whip an apple at you. You COULD just stand all the way to the side and punch them as they come out, but they never stop coming long enough to get a significant head start. Since your bonus depends on how fast you complete the stage, it’s wise to keep moving anyway.

In fact, that’s the best strategy to employ to actually progress in this game at all – just keep moving. It’s tempting to stop and try to sock it to the monkeys, but more often than not you’ll find yourself victims of their fruit-throwing. They move much faster than you do and your reactions are delayed. The further away you stay from them, the better your chances are of actually being able to successfully duck under, jump over or punch the apples they throw.

JOYSTICKING

It’s quite sad when the best way to finish an action game is to avoid all the action! In order to enjoy “Kangaroo” as the dexterity-challenging, quick-thinking game it’s supposed to be would entail a serious amount of practice. Few games are so stiff and rigid in their play control as this one, almost to the point of making it unplayable.

It’s not that your character hops along the ground slowly, or climbs the ladder slowly, or responds to your controls slowly – it’s that everything around you is happening at such a rapid pace you don’t have time to react. The only way to progress is to keep playing the levels over and memorizing the patterns of the enemies. But this only helps you survive longer, it doesn’t enable you to have fun by fighting back. Bad guys in video games are meant to be engaged by the player, but that just can’t be done here because of the bad play control.

Not being able to fight the baddies with any ease is one thing, but not being able to navigate the courses is a completely different rage-inducing flaw. On the second and third stages your character must hop from platform to platform over small separations. However, this game’s concept of jumping is absolutely ludicrous. The margin for error is practically zero so you must jump at the exact right spot at the exact right time at the exact right speed in order to move from platform to platform. Given the fact you’re constantly bombarded with apples from all sides doesn’t make it any easier. Nor does the fact that if you miss a platform you don’t have the option to simply fall to the platform seemingly inches below it and start again. Nope, if you miss a jump you’re toast. I can’t think of any other game that is as finicky with jumping as “Kangaroo” for Atari 2600.

SPRITES & PIXELS

Let’s just say that the graphics here are average at the absolute best. Mama Kangaroo looks more like a moose and the monkeys look more like octopuses. The apples are simply small red squares and the entire field of play is just flat, ugly rectangles with no detail or imagination on the game designers’ part. The worst (and funniest) graphical aspect is when you actually punch something. The kangaroo doesn’t wind up and swing, rather, the square representing the hand simply gets a little bit bigger – THAT’S IT!

CHIPPED TUNES

Why is it that some of the worst-looking, hard-to-play games have such good sound? I was genuinely impressed by the sonic palette to this cart. Some games for the Atari VCS have fewer sounds than you can count on one hand, but “Kangaroo” is surprisingly varied. Every action has an accompanying sound effect or musical tune. I’m not sure why it was necessary to play something of a victory-sounding chime just for climbing the ladders, though. The punching sound is exactly the same as the firing sound in “Combat,” which is annoying. It doesn’t really fit in the context of this game, but such a flaw doesn’t surprise me, either.

INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE

I was tempted many times to kick the power off and give up on this game because it was so difficult, not only to play, but to get a feel for. The fact it’s extremely challenging for an Atari 2600 game is not a compliment and made worse by the fact the controls are so awkward. Once I completed the third stage I considered the game beaten and turned it off. I don’t want to play it again and I’m sorry it took me so long to advance as far as I did. The replay value to this game consists of the fact you’re able to tolerate it until you reach the end of the third stage, after that, it’s history.

GAME OVER

I remember seeing “Kangaroo” in the arcades when it was originally released in the early 80’s, but I don’t think any gamers consider it a classic. The whole premise is trite and this port for the VCS just makes it worse because of its awful controls and ridiculous level of difficulty. 

Recommended: No