Nikoderiko: The Magical World is what you get when Crash Bandicoot meets Donkey Kong Country. The inspiration here is obvious, and Nikoderiko is a much better game for not shying away from its platformer predecessors, but instead embracing what made them great, and enhancing them with clever modern sensibilities and creative ideas.
It’s a bright, bouncy, and brilliant platformer that weaves together so many cool ideas into a game that pays homage to the past, without being beholden to it. There is much familiar in its design – levels fall into established categories, like jungle, ocean, desert, and beach – but the game is so charming and tightly-designed that familiarity doesn’t detract from its many adventures.
The basic premise is this: you are a mongoose named Niko, joined by his partner Luna, in a fight to save magical artefacts from the hands of the evil Grimbald and his minions. To save each artefact, you’ll travel through a variety of themed levels, jumping across caverns, avoiding obstacles, defeating enemies, and collecting gems (and scrolls, coins, and other collectibles). Sometimes, you’ll be travelling on foot. Sometimes, you’ll have a large creature to ride. If you’ve got a friend, they can join you as Luna, in co-op mode.
No matter which way you travel, Nikoderiko: The Magical World remains a rewarding delight. There have been many pretenders to the modern platforming throne, but this game takes a well-earned seat, thanks to the careful balance of its many elements.
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Its difficulty is just right, with forgiveness built into its many challenges. You can try bonus rounds as many times as you like. If you fall down a hole, or get eaten by the fishes, you reload quickly, with all your collectibles intact. These collectibles also feel very achievable, which is very refreshing for a modern platformer.
There are times when luck and timing is involved with collecting a particular item, but you can always go back and try a new tactic. Nikoderiko remains pleasant and charming enough that it never feels like a chore.
The game’s controls are also a boon in this fight to advance. The make-or-break of modern platformers are their controls. When a game relies on tight jumps or escape from fast-moving creatures, you need precision – and that’s exactly what Nikoderiko: The Magical World delivers. Input here is snappy and responsive. Jumps and attacks feel pixel-accurate, to the point where failure can only be blamed on your own reaction times.
It just feels good to bounce and leap through the air, to jump on enemies, to hit your marks precisely. There is fluidity and flow in this movement, and it makes the action of Nikoderiko so much more satisfying.
When you’re not perfecting your graceful leaps and bounds, the game also provides plenty of other reasons to visit and revisit its levels. Not only is the game satisfying to explore, it’s also beautiful. Frankly, I was expecting less from a title of this calibre – but its worlds are as detailed and well-designed as any of the AAA games in its genre. Jumping directly from Donkey Kong Country Returns HD into this game, I was struck by how similar Nikoderiko felt.
Its jungles are lush and green, ocean waters lap at the surface of its beaches. Its ocean stages are filled with an abundance of coral and kelp. The art direction here is wonderful.
What also surprised me about Nikoderiko is how immediately it endears you to its world. While the plot is fairly standard and I have no real connection to Niko or Luna – dialogue and story asides pale in importance to actually exploring its many worlds – it hardly matters. By design, the game evokes a warm nostalgia, in its simple but rich approach to platforming, and how it calls back to iconic platformer levels.
In chase sequences, Nikoderiko felt a lot like Crash Bandicoot, particularly in the need to avoid obstacles as a towering enemy approaches in the middle distance. In its canon and barrel sequences, it distinctly evokes Donkey Kong Country Returns. In combining these two franchises, it also becomes something different, and equally compelling.
There are moments in Nikoderiko where the game transitions from 2D to 3D platforming, in a way that crosses the boundary between Crash and Donkey Kong – and these are genuinely quite stunning, for their seamlessness. One moment you’re jumping along simple platforms, and in the next, you’re running straight-on, into a more open plane filled with possibilities.
It’s in these ideas that Nikoderiko: The Magical World shines brightest. While it’s clear the game would not exist without the likes of Crash Bandicoot or Donkey Kong, this is nostalgia done right. There are familiar ideas in the adventure, but each is transformed in a way that makes the journey of Niko and Luna feel so wonderfully creative, bright, and consistently brilliant along the way.
Four stars: ★★★★
Nikoderiko: The Magical World
Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S,
Developer: Vea Games
Publisher: Knights Peak
Release Date: 5 December 2024 (PC), 15 October 2024 (Other Platforms)
A PC code for Nikoderiko: The Magical World was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review. The game was played on a Steam Deck. GamesHub reviews are rated on a ten-point scale.
