It’s now been over a decade for the reason that final new Donkey Kong Nation sport launched (sure, you’re that outdated), and whereas the world continues to attend for Nintendo to keep in mind that its beloved ape used to star in a actually good platforming sequence of his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 reminiscent of Kaze and the Wild Masks, Yooka-Laylee and the Inconceivable Lair, and Marsupilami: Hoobadventure have all completed an distinctive job of emulating the issues that made DK’s outdated side-scrolling romps so pleasurable and now one other contender has stepped as much as the plate.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 finest adventures with its personal twist, nevertheless it takes issues a step additional by additionally calling again to the gameplay fashion of another basic platformer mascots. And whereas, sure, one might make the argument that Nikoderiko is a little bit too snug using the coattails of the classics with out including lots of its personal concepts, it does such a very good 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 gives an pleasurable 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 applicable 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 buddies 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, slightly than a loosely related sequence of ranges—that slight story focus makes Nikoderiko really feel way more cohesive.
Gameplay in Nikoderiko might finest be described as a mashup of Donkey Kong Nation (particularly the Retro Studios interpretation, which is itself returning in HD type 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 digicam takes, every stage has a smattering of collectibles to snag—reminiscent of 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 when you go for completion), and that point simply flies proper by because of the typically glorious stage design.
Nikoderiko isn’t content material to fall into repetitive cycles; almost each stage introduces some fascinating new stage hazard or gimmick to set it aside. One stage will job you with escaping a large dragon as you run in the direction of the display screen 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 trip. 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 stage’ earlier than placing it down for the evening.
Nonetheless, it’s almost unattainable to play Nikoderiko with out seeing the way it utterly copies the video games that impressed it. You may solely bounce on crates in a 3D hallway or efficiently negotiate one other barrel-blasting part so many occasions earlier than you start to surprise if Nikoderiko brings something unique to the desk. Sadly, it doesn’t, and this will likely disappoint those that have had their fill of the classics. With some daring new stage design concepts and gameplay gimmicks, Nikoderiko might’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 superb rehash of beloved concepts, not an growth upon them.
Visually, Nikoderiko does a incredible 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 plenty of character to those environments that makes them a real deal with to discover. The draw back? These visuals clearly come at a price on the Swap’s ageing {hardware}, which might make for an often substandard expertise.
Whereas Nikoderiko seems to run at a easy 60fps on different platforms, it runs at an inconsistent 30fps on the Swap, and that efficiency hit is admittedly felt while you’re making an attempt to navigate the harder, extra exact platforming challenges discovered within the latter half. To compound this irritant, the loading occasions will be noticeably lengthy while you bounce into a brand new stage 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 could have the goofier stuff, reminiscent of a personality mannequin’s textures not absolutely loading for the splash display screen that comes up while you enter a bonus stage. On the extra impactful finish, we encountered one occasion the place a blast barrel did not 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 have been mitigated in a post-launch patch that went stay a couple of days in the past, such issues nonetheless crop up from time to time, which might make Nikoderiko really feel slightly janky.
Within the early hours of enjoying via Nikoderiko, this author quietly mused that the builders had completed a exceptional job discovering a composer able to emulating the legendary David Clever’s work with the music for this soundtrack. Lo and behold, a fast Google search revealed the explanation for this similarity: the large man himself did in reality compose the soundtrack.
Though we didn’t hear something that fairly matched the ridiculous heights of basic tracks reminiscent of Aquatic Atmosphere and Forest Interlude, Clever proves along with his work right here that he’s nonetheless bought 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 usually hear in a platformer of this ilk, and we’d extremely suggest 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. Sensible stage design, pleasurable gameplay, plenty of collectibles, and a killer soundtrack all come collectively to make this one a straightforward suggestion when you love DKC. That stated, keep in mind that this one can also be very gentle on unique concepts, and that the Swap model struggles in some areas with its efficiency. For those who can look previous these flaws, we’d counsel you decide this one up, and even when such drawbacks do hassle you, that is nonetheless price scooping up on sale.
