It’s now been over a decade because the final new Donkey Kong Nation sport launched (sure, you’re that outdated), and whereas the world continues to attend for Nintendo to keep in mind that its beloved ape used to star in a actually good platforming sequence of his personal, different builders have stepped as much as attempt to fill the void. Indie releases comparable to Kaze and the Wild Masks, Yooka-Laylee and the Unimaginable Lair, and Marsupilami: Hoobadventure have all accomplished an distinctive job of emulating the issues that made DK’s outdated side-scrolling romps so satisfying and now one other contender has stepped as much as the plate.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World, the inaugural launch of Cyprus-based VEA Video games, not solely does an awesome job of recreating DK’s greatest adventures with its personal twist, nevertheless it takes issues a step additional by additionally calling again to the gameplay type of another basic platformer mascots. And whereas, sure, one may make the argument that Nikoderiko is slightly too snug driving the coattails of the classics with out including lots of its personal concepts, it does such a great job of capturing what made these video games nice that it hardly issues. Nikoderiko doesn’t eclipse the initiatives that served as its clear inspirations, nevertheless it offers an satisfying and difficult platforming journey that we’d counsel to any followers of the style.
Nikoderiko follows Niko and Luna (no, her title isn’t Deriko), two globe-trotting mongoose adventurers who love chasing down historic treasure. The duo is on their newest journey to acceptable a magical relic on a distant island after they’re interrupted by the nefarious Grimbald and his band of Cobring lackeys, who chase Niko and Luna away simply as they’re about to perform their mission. Not ones to be defeated that simply, Niko and Luna get proper to work navigating the various challenges and hidden wonders the island holds, all in an effort to defeat Grimbald and reclaim what’s rightfully(?) theirs.
As you’d count on, narrative doesn’t actually think about as a significant a part of the expertise of Nikoderiko, however we nonetheless appreciated the sunshine worldbuilding efforts. Niko and Luna are helped alongside their journey by a slew of wacky pals and foes, lots of that are launched in charming dialogue sequences between ranges that characteristic full voice performing. We loved how these exchanges helped so as to add simply sufficient context to the proceedings to make it really feel such as you’re on a real journey, fairly than a loosely related sequence of ranges—that slight story focus makes Nikoderiko really feel rather more cohesive.
Gameplay in Nikoderiko may greatest be described as a mashup of Donkey Kong Nation (particularly the Retro Studios interpretation, which is itself returning in HD kind to Swap in 2025) and basic Crash Bandicoot, typically oscillating its perspective between 2D sidescrolling sections and hallway-based 3D sections. No matter what perspective the digital camera takes, every degree has a smattering of collectibles to snag—comparable to 4 ‘NIKO’ letters—alongside some transient bonus rooms to uncover and conquer. There are seven worlds to work via that take about 10-15 hours to see of their entirety (double that for those who go for completion), and that point simply flies proper by as a result of typically wonderful degree design.
Nikoderiko isn’t content material to fall into repetitive cycles; almost each degree introduces some attention-grabbing new stage hazard or gimmick to set it aside. One degree will job you with escaping an enormous dragon as you run in the direction of the display itself, like lots of Crash’s famed chase sequences, whereas one other will put you in a minecart and ship you on a dangerous rollercoaster journey. You by no means know what’s coming subsequent, and this helps keep a brisk tempo as you end up pulled into doing simply ‘yet another degree’ earlier than placing it down for the night time.
Nonetheless, it’s almost inconceivable to play Nikoderiko with out seeing the way it utterly copies the video games that impressed it. You possibly can solely bounce on crates in a 3D hallway or efficiently negotiate one other barrel-blasting part so many occasions earlier than you start to marvel if Nikoderiko brings something authentic to the desk. Sadly, it doesn’t, and this may increasingly disappoint those that have had their fill of the classics. With some daring new degree design concepts and gameplay gimmicks, Nikoderiko may’ve been lauded as a worthy religious successor to DK’s misplaced platforming adventures. That’s to not say that it isn’t price enjoying; simply handle your expectations. Nikoderiko is a good rehash of beloved concepts, not an growth upon them.
Visually, Nikoderiko does a unbelievable job of presenting vibrant and various biomes with distinct feels. Whether or not you’re exploring verdant ruins within the forest or the shadowy halls of a dilapidated manufacturing unit, there’s a lot of character to those environments that makes them a real deal with to discover. The draw back? These visuals clearly come at a value on the Swap’s ageing {hardware}, which might make for an often substandard expertise.
Whereas Nikoderiko seems to run at a clean 60fps on different platforms, it runs at an inconsistent 30fps on the Swap, and that efficiency hit is admittedly felt once you’re trying to navigate the harder, extra exact platforming challenges discovered within the latter half. To compound this irritant, the loading occasions will be noticeably lengthy once you leap into a brand new degree from the world map—we clocked occasions as excessive as 40 seconds for some phases.
We additionally encountered a handful of bugs and glitches that affected gameplay in various methods. On the much less impactful finish, you’ve the goofier stuff, comparable to a personality mannequin’s textures not totally loading for the splash display that comes up once you enter a bonus degree. On the extra impactful finish, we encountered one occasion the place a blast barrel didn’t propel us via a breakable flooring part, leaving us softlocked and necessitating an exit and rerun of the stage as much as that time.
Although these points and the efficiency issues talked about above had been mitigated in a post-launch patch that went stay a number of days in the past, such issues nonetheless crop up once in a while, which might make Nikoderiko really feel fairly janky.
Within the early hours of enjoying via Nikoderiko, this author quietly mused that the builders had accomplished a outstanding job discovering a composer able to emulating the legendary David Smart’s work with the music for this soundtrack. Lo and behold, a fast Google search revealed the rationale for this similarity: the large man himself did actually compose the soundtrack.
Though we didn’t hear something that fairly matched the ridiculous heights of basic tracks comparable to Aquatic Atmosphere and Forest Interlude, Smart proves along with his work right here that he’s nonetheless acquired it—Nikoderiko’s soundtrack continues his legacy of distinctive music that effortlessly mixes playful goofiness with a extra atmospheric, emotional tone. It’s actually a minimize above what you sometimes hear in a platformer of this ilk, and we’d extremely advocate headphones.
Conclusion
Nikoderiko: The Magical World is a splendidly satisfying platforming expertise that borrows and expertly replicates the weather that made basic entries within the style so beloved. Good degree design, satisfying gameplay, a lot of collectibles, and a killer soundtrack all come collectively to make this one a simple advice for those who love DKC. That stated, keep in mind that this one can also be very gentle on authentic concepts, and that the Swap model struggles in some areas with its efficiency. In case you can look previous these flaws, we’d counsel you decide this one up, and even when such drawbacks do trouble you, that is nonetheless price scooping up on sale.
