Nikoderiko: Magical World Review (Switch eShop)
It’s been more than a decade since the last time The country tricked Kong game has been released (yes, you’re that old), and while the world continues to wait Nintendo remembers that its beloved ape once starred in a Actually its own series of good platforms, other developers have stepped up to try to fill the gap. Independent releases such as Kaze and the wild masks, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible LairAnd Marsupilami: Hoobadventure have all done an exceptional job of emulating what made DK’s old side-scrolling games so fun, and now another contender has stepped up to the plate.
Nikoderiko: Magical worldthe first release from Cyprus-based VEA Games, not only does a great job of recreating DK’s best adventures with its own twist, but also takes things a step further by recalling the style of gameplay of some other classic platformer mascots. And while, yes, one could argue that Nikoderiko is a little too comfortable following the classics without adding many of its own ideas, it does a very good job of capturing what made those games turned out to be so great that they almost didn’t matter. Nikoderiko doesn’t overshadow the projects that serve as its obvious inspirations, but it does deliver a fun and challenging platforming adventure that we’d recommend to any fan of the genre. This.
Nikoderiko follows Niko and Luna (no, her name is not Deriko), two globe-trotting mongoose explorers who enjoy hunting for ancient treasure. The duo are on their latest quest to capture a magical relic on a remote island when they are interrupted by the evil Grimbald and his group of Cobring henchmen, who drive Niko and Luna away as soon as they about to complete the mission. Not ones to be easily defeated, Niko and Luna work to overcome the many challenges and hidden wonders the island holds, all in an effort to defeat Grimbald and reclaim what is rightfully theirs. belongs to them legally.
As you’d expect, narrative doesn’t really play a large part in Nikoderiko’s experience, but we still appreciate the light world-building efforts. Niko and Luna are helped along their journey by a series of eccentric friends and enemies, many of whom are introduced with engaging dialogue between fully voiced levels. We love how these conversations add just enough context to proceedings to make it feel like you’re on a true journey rather than a series of loosely connected levels gossip — the focus of that small story made Nikoderiko feel much more connected.
The gameplay in Nikoderiko can best be described as a combination of The country tricked Kong (specifically Retro Studios’ interpretation, which itself is returns in HD for Switch in 2025) and classic Crash Bandicootoften fluctuates perspective between 2D side-scrolling sections and corridor-based 3D sections. Regardless of the camera’s perspective, each level has a number of collectibles to collect—such as the four letters ‘NIKO’—along with some brief bonus rooms to explore and conquer. There are seven worlds to get through and it takes about 10-15 hours to see the whole thing (double that if you finish) and that time goes by quickly due to the generally excellent level design.
Nikoderiko is not content falling into repetitive cycles; Nearly every level introduces some interesting new stage hazard or gimmick to set it apart. One level will task you with escaping a giant dragon as you run towards the screen, much like many of Crash’s famous chase sequences, while another will put you in a cart and takes you on a dangerous rollercoaster ride. You never know what’s going to happen next and this helps keep the pace fast as you find yourself drawn into doing ‘one more level’ before putting it down for the night.
However, it’s almost impossible to play Nikoderiko without seeing it completely copy the games that inspired it. You can only jump on crates in 3D hallways or successfully negotiate another crate explosion so many times before you start wondering if Nikoderiko is carrying anything original come to the table. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, which may disappoint those who have fallen in love with the classics. With some bold new level design ideas and gameplay gimmicks, Nikoderiko could be hailed as a worthy spiritual successor to DK’s lost platform adventures. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth playing; Just manage your expectations. Nikoderiko is a wonderful reinterpretation of beloved ideas rather than an expansion of them.
Visually, Nikoderiko does a fantastic job presenting colorful and diverse biomes with a distinct feel. Whether you’re exploring the lush ruins of a forest or the dark rooms of a dilapidated factory, these environments have a lot of character that makes them a really fun experience to explore. . Disadvantages? These visuals obviously come at the expense of the Switch’s aging hardware, which can result in a sometimes substandard experience.
While Nikoderiko appears to run at a smooth 60fps on other platforms, it runs at an inconsistent 30fps on the Switch, and that performance is really felt when you’re playing. Try to overcome the more precise, more difficult platforming challenges found in the second half. To add to this frustration, loading times can be significantly long when you jump to a new level from the world map—we’ve had speeds as high as 40 seconds in some stages.
We also encountered a number of bugs and glitches that affected gameplay in various ways. On the less impactful side, you have sillier things, such as the character model’s textures not fully loading for the intro screen that appears when you enter a bonus level. On the more impactful side, we encountered a case where an explosive barrel failed to propel us through a breakable section of floor, leaving us soft-locked and needing to escape and rerun the level until the time came. that point.
While these issues and the performance issues mentioned above have been mitigated in the post-launch patch a few days ago, such issues still appear from time to time, which can making Nikoderiko feel quite uncomfortable.
During the first hours of playing through Nikoderiko, this writer silently mused that the developers had done a remarkable job in finding a composer capable of emulating the work of the legendary David Wise with a musical sound. music for this soundtrack. Surprisingly, a quick Google search revealed the reason for this similarity: the big guy himself do in fact composing film music.
Although we didn’t hear anything that matched the ridiculous pitch of classic tracks like Water environment And Alternating forestsWise proves with his work here that he’s still got it—Nicoderiko’s soundtrack continues his unique musical legacy, effortlessly combining playful silliness with soulful melodies contact, more air. It’s certainly a cut above what you’d typically hear in a similar platform, and we highly recommend using headphones.
Conclusion
Nikoderiko: The Magical World is an incredibly satisfying platforming experience that expertly borrows and recreates the elements that made the classics in the genre so beloved. Clever level design, fun gameplay, plenty of collectibles, and a catchy soundtrack all combine to make this game an easy recommendation if you love DKC. That said, keep in mind that this version is also very light compared to the original concepts, and the Switch version struggles in some areas of its performance. If you can overlook those flaws, we recommend you pick this one up and even with those drawbacks DO Mind you, this is still worth selling.
