Nikoderiko: The Magical World Review (Switch eShop) Hallie Frederick | usagoldmines.com

It’s now been over a decade for the reason that final new Donkey Kong Country sport launched (sure, you’re that previous), 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 collection of his personal, different builders have stepped as much as attempt to fill the void. Indie releases corresponding to Kaze and the Wild Masks, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and Marsupilami: Hoobadventure have all accomplished an distinctive job of emulating the issues that made DK’s previous side-scrolling romps so pleasing 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 amazing job of recreating DK’s greatest adventures with its personal twist, however it takes issues a step additional by additionally calling again to the gameplay fashion of another traditional platformer mascots. And whereas, sure, one may make the argument that Nikoderiko is a bit too snug driving the coattails of the classics with out including a lot of its personal concepts, it does such a superb 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, however it offers an pleasing and difficult platforming journey that we’d recommend to any followers of the style.

Captured on Nintendo Change (Handheld/Undocked)

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 consider 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 associates and foes, a lot of that are launched in charming dialogue sequences between ranges that function full voice appearing. 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, somewhat than a loosely linked collection of ranges—that slight story focus makes Nikoderiko really feel rather more cohesive.

Captured on Nintendo Change (Docked)

Gameplay in Nikoderiko may greatest be described as a mashup of Donkey Kong Country (particularly the Retro Studios interpretation, which is itself returning in HD form to Switch in 2025) and traditional Crash Bandicoot, typically oscillating its perspective between 2D sidescrolling sections and hallway-based 3D sections. No matter what perspective the digicam takes, every degree has a smattering of collectibles to snag—corresponding to 4 ‘NIKO’ letters—alongside some temporary bonus rooms to uncover and conquer. There are seven worlds to work by that take about 10-15 hours to see of their entirety (double that in case you 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 fascinating new stage hazard or gimmick to set it aside. One degree will process you with escaping an enormous dragon as you run in the direction of the display itself, like a lot of Crash’s famed chase sequences, whereas one other will put you in a minecart and ship you on a deadly rollercoaster journey. You by no means know what’s coming subsequent, and this helps preserve a brisk tempo as you end up pulled into doing simply ‘another degree’ earlier than placing it down for the night time.

Captured on Nintendo Change (Handheld/Undocked)

Nonetheless, it’s almost unimaginable 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 instances earlier than you start to surprise if Nikoderiko brings something unique to the desk. Sadly, it doesn’t, and this will 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 value enjoying; simply handle your expectations. Nikoderiko is a superb rehash of beloved concepts, not an growth upon them.

Visually, Nikoderiko does a implausible job of presenting vibrant and different biomes with distinct feels. Whether or not you’re exploring verdant ruins within the forest or the shadowy halls of a dilapidated manufacturing facility, there’s numerous 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 Change’s ageing {hardware}, which may 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 Change, and that efficiency hit is actually felt once you’re making an attempt to navigate the more durable, extra exact platforming challenges discovered within the latter half. To compound this irritant, the loading instances will be noticeably lengthy once you soar into a brand new degree from the world map—we clocked instances as excessive as 40 seconds for some levels.

Captured on Nintendo Change (Handheld/Undocked)

We additionally encountered a handful of bugs and glitches that affected gameplay in various methods. On the much less impactful finish, you have got the goofier stuff, corresponding 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 by a breakable ground 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 dwell a number of days in the past, such issues nonetheless crop up once in a while, which may make Nikoderiko really feel somewhat janky.

Within the early hours of enjoying by Nikoderiko, this author quietly mused that the builders had accomplished 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 actually compose the soundtrack.

Though we didn’t hear something that fairly matched the ridiculous heights of traditional tracks corresponding to Aquatic Ambience and Forest Interlude, Clever 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 suggest headphones.

Conclusion

Nikoderiko: The Magical World is a splendidly satisfying platforming expertise that borrows and expertly replicates the weather that made traditional entries within the style so beloved. Sensible degree design, pleasing gameplay, numerous collectibles, and a killer soundtrack all come collectively to make this one a simple advice in case you love DKC. That stated, keep in mind that this one can be very mild on unique concepts, and that the Change model struggles in some areas with its efficiency. In the event you can look previous these flaws, we’d recommend you choose this one up, and even when such drawbacks do trouble you, that is nonetheless value scooping up on sale.