Kukoos:lost pets Review

Kukoos: Lost Pets, published by Modus Games, set in the world of the Kukoos, a strange group of creatures that are a mix between a monkey and fall guys who all live on a small island in the middle of nothing but water. There they entertain themselves with playing pet games in friendly contests. Until one day everything goes wrong after a control collar is applied to all pets and they are hypnotized, turned aggressive, and they take over the island's kukoo tree, a tree with doors that open to different worlds... It is up to the kukoos, with a little help from gramma, to find all the pets and restore harmony to the island. During your adventure you will visit many a variety of different worlds which you can visit alone or with up to three friends and will have to rely on your wits and the skills of your pets to make it out in one piece. 

Kukoos: Lost Pets is a fairly simple platformer, with jumping and dashing as your basic abilities. Despite the 3D nature of the game, the camera is stuck in a predetermined position and only turns when it is designed to do so and there’s a nice weight to movement that makes platforming feel satisfying. Something many platformers get wrong. With only a jump and dive ability you might think the game is too simplistic but the variety in the game comes from the pet mechanic which changes depending on the level you play. Depending on the pets you encounter you gain the power to briefly glide, create a platform to swing from or smash with, provide light to dark areas and activate platforms and more.  At the end of each world, you will encounter a boss fight that will challenge you to push these pet abilities to its limits. Sadly, the newfound skill does not add to a growing skill set and does not move with you to the next world, so you are stuck with the one ability for the entire world. 

As a result, you can end up with a mixed experience. When the pet’s ability is fun and meshes well with the level design then enjoyment is very high, but when things do not gel well for you the game can become a bit of a slog and become very challenging, but not in a good way. With unintuitive button assignments and needing to activate/deactivate powers etc. things can come across needlessly complex for something that feels it should be a simple button press. These situations can make the game frustrating at times. Combine that with the fact that the game suffers from long loading screens when booting up the game, selecting levels and after every death it can really destroy the pace of the game, and with it the good vibes it otherwise gives off. Especially for a less patient younger player who may take a bit longer to succeed at the game's mechanics as it is.

As I mentioned you can also play with up to three other friends, in couch co-op. This can be done anytime from the pause menu and is drop in/drop out at any moment in a level. Playing with friends is always fun but can get confusing because of all the stuff going on screen. We tried in 2-player coop, and it was hard enough to follow, not sure I could handle a party of four. Adding other players does not change the strategy of the game any. Despite the fact each one can look unique, their skill will be the same through the level and the level design had no unique coop areas or challenges where coop skill combos are needed for best outcomes. Still playing with a friend is a ton of fun and it is good to have it in the game, as is so rare these days.

The biggest standout for Kukoos: Lost Pets is its presentation and character design. The little creatures hit all the levels of cute and colorful and have an instant appeal. The characters are expressive and full of charm, with a variety of unlockable ones to get throughout the game. Each environments is unique, colorful and full of life with fun and original style of music to accompany each level. The camera angles are pre-set, and you cannot change them which can cause for some frustration at times, especially when playing in coop. But it is mostly functional and does its best to present an active scene of visual story telling.
In terms of stability of the game, we did encounter a bunch of glitches throughout the game that normally you would expect to be addressed, from bad camera angles to graphics glitches and controller issues. Most of them were not totally game breaking, but they did require some restarts.

Kukoos: Lost Pets has great presentation and production values with satisfying platforming mechanics that at times slip a little. With its glitches, high-difficulty spikes, bad camera angles holding it back from being a platforming classic, but it still can be a good game the younger players. From the creative and unique level designs and interesting pet mechanic to the cute cartoon aesthetics, this game can be a solid platformer that despite its rough edges can be enjoyed by the whole family. Couch coop is a huge plus, even if it does not add much to the core game mechanic.

Game: Kukoos:lost pets

Publisher: Modus Games

Developer: Petit Fabrik

Release Date: 6 December 2022

Platforms:  PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch, and PC

Review Platform: PS4 (played on PS5)

ESRB: E for Everyone (Mild Fantasy Violence)

About the writer: DadGeek (Rob) is the co-founder of GeeksVsGeeks. He is a product of the eighties and never let go of his geek interest and hobbies no matter how often someone told him to stop. His love for gaming and all things geeks has been part of his parenting style and permeates throughout the whole family. A family of Geeks vs Geeks