It’s now been over a decade since the last new Donkey Kong Country game released (yes, you’re that old), and while the world continues to wait for Nintendo to remember that its beloved ape used to star in a really good platforming series of his own, other developers have stepped up to try to fill the void. Indie releases such as Kaze and the Wild Masks, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and Marsupilami: Hoobadventure have all done an exceptional job of emulating the things that made DK’s old side-scrolling romps so enjoyable and now another contender has stepped up to the plate.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World, the inaugural release of Cyprus-based VEA Games, not only does a great job of recreating DK’s best adventures with its own twist, but it takes things a step further by also calling back to the gameplay style of some other classic platformer mascots. And while, yes, one could make the argument that Nikoderiko is a little too comfortable riding the coattails of the classics without adding many of its own ideas, it does such a good job of capturing what made those games great that it hardly matters. Nikoderiko doesn’t eclipse the projects that served as its clear inspirations, but it provides an enjoyable and challenging platforming adventure that we’d suggest to any fans of the genre.
Nikoderiko follows Niko and Luna (no, her name isn’t Deriko), two globe-trotting mongoose adventurers who love chasing down ancient treasure. The duo is on their latest journey to appropriate a magical relic on a distant island when they’re interrupted by the nefarious Grimbald and his band of Cobring lackeys, who chase Niko and Luna away just as they’re about to accomplish their mission. Not ones to be defeated that easily, Niko and Luna get right to work navigating the many challenges and hidden wonders the island holds, all in an effort to defeat Grimbald and reclaim what is rightfully(?) theirs.
As you’d expect, narrative doesn’t really factor in as a major part of the experience of Nikoderiko, but we still appreciated the light worldbuilding efforts. Niko and Luna are helped along their journey by a slew of wacky friends and foes, many of which are introduced in charming dialogue sequences between levels that feature full voice acting. We enjoyed how these exchanges helped to add just enough context to the proceedings to make it feel like you’re on a genuine journey, rather than a loosely connected series of levels—that slight story focus makes Nikoderiko feel much more cohesive.
Gameplay in Nikoderiko could best be described as a mashup of Donkey Kong Country (specifically the Retro Studios interpretation, which is itself returning in HD form to Switch in 2025) and classic Crash Bandicoot, often oscillating its perspective between 2D sidescrolling sections and hallway-based 3D sections. Regardless of what perspective the camera takes, each level has a smattering of collectibles to snag—such as four ‘NIKO’ letters—alongside some brief bonus rooms to uncover and conquer. There are seven worlds to work through that take about 10-15 hours to see in their entirety (double that if you go for completion), and that time just flies right by due to the generally excellent level design.
Nikoderiko isn’t content to fall 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 massive dragon as you run towards the screen itself, like many of Crash’s famed chase sequences, while another will put you in a minecart and send you on a perilous rollercoaster ride. You never know what’s coming next, and this helps maintain a brisk pace as you find yourself pulled into doing just ‘one more level’ before putting it down for the night.
Still, it’s nearly impossible to play Nikoderiko without seeing how it completely copies the games that inspired it. You can only bounce on crates in a 3D hallway or successfully negotiate another barrel-blasting section so many times before you begin to wonder if Nikoderiko brings anything original to the table. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and this may disappoint those who have had their fill of the classics. With some bold new level design ideas and gameplay gimmicks, Nikoderiko could’ve been lauded as a worthy spiritual successor to DK’s lost platforming adventures. That’s not to say that it isn’t worth playing; just manage your expectations. Nikoderiko is a great rehash of beloved ideas, not an expansion upon them.
Visually, Nikoderiko does a fantastic job of presenting colourful and varied biomes with distinct feels. Whether you’re exploring verdant ruins in the forest or the shadowy halls of a dilapidated factory, there’s lots of character to these environments that makes them a genuine treat to explore. The downside? These visuals clearly come at a cost on the Switch’s ageing hardware, which can make for an occasionally 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 hit is really felt when you’re attempting to navigate the tougher, more precise platforming challenges found in the latter half. To compound this irritant, the loading times can be noticeably long when you jump into a new level from the world map—we clocked times as high as 40 seconds for some stages.
We also encountered a handful of bugs and glitches that affected gameplay in varying ways. On the less impactful end, you have the goofier stuff, such as a character model’s textures not fully loading for the splash screen that comes up when you enter a bonus level. On the more impactful end, we encountered one instance where a blast barrel failed to propel us through a breakable floor section, leaving us softlocked and necessitating an exit and rerun of the stage up to that point.
Though these issues and the performance problems mentioned above were mitigated in a post-launch patch that went live a few days ago, such problems still crop up every now and then, which can make Nikoderiko feel rather janky.
In the early hours of playing through Nikoderiko, this writer quietly mused that the developers had done a remarkable job finding a composer capable of emulating the legendary David Wise’s work with the music for this soundtrack. Lo and behold, a quick Google search revealed the reason for this similarity: the big man himself did in fact compose the soundtrack.
Although we didn’t hear anything that quite matched the ridiculous heights of classic tracks such as Aquatic Ambience and Forest Interlude, Wise proves with his work here that he’s still got it—Nikoderiko’s soundtrack continues his legacy of unique music that effortlessly mixes playful goofiness with a more atmospheric, emotional tone. It’s certainly a cut above what you typically hear in a platformer of this ilk, and we’d highly recommend headphones.
Conclusion
Nikoderiko: The Magical World is a wonderfully satisfying platforming experience that borrows and expertly replicates the elements that made classic entries in the genre so beloved. Smart level design, enjoyable gameplay, lots of collectibles, and a killer soundtrack all come together to make this one an easy recommendation if you love DKC. That said, bear in mind that this one is also very light on original ideas, and that the Switch version struggles in some areas with its performance. If you can look past those flaws, we’d suggest you pick this one up, and even if such drawbacks do bother you, this is still worth scooping up on sale.
