This 2.5D side-scrolling platformer may have a name akin to something Ned Flanders would say, but had it launched in the ‘90s it would doubtlessly be called something lame like Max the Mongoose. That’s because our heroes here are a pair of high-spirited mongooses, known as Niko and Luna – not Niko and Riko, as the game’s name may suggest. After Niko’s airship crashes on a mystical island, they find themselves confronted by burly bipedal snake-men who, amongst other things, wish to drain the world’s oceans to create a giant desert. And you thought the snake-like villains in GI Joe and Masters of the Universe were up to no good.
At first glance, Nikoderiko appeared to crib heavily from Crash Bandicoot 4. Niko sports bright orange fur, and the world is littered with breakable wooden boxes. By the time the first stage ended, that perception was no more – this platformer is thoroughly influenced by Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze. Not only can Niko grab barrels to throw at rows of enemies – who haphazardly bound out of the screen when defeated – but barrels are also used as a means of traversal, firing our plucky hero through the air. If you require further convincing, it has rideable animal buddies too, including a seahorse to make underwater sections swifter, a bat to take to the skies, and a warthog to ram enemies – plus more besides.
It’s presented with surprisingly lavish visuals., featuring richly detailed environments with a familiar curvaceous yet chisel aesthetic and exaggerated lighting provided by glowing crystals and toxic waste pools. It’s genuinely pleasing to see lower budget games come out of nowhere and look this good. The world map has some fun details too, although the UI lacks creative flair, and while there are cut-scenes with voice acting they’re limited to 1-2 per world. On a more positive note, the controls are responsive. Niko (who can be switched with Luna) can ground pound, slide, and glide. Sliding is used not just in traversal but to deal with certain enemies, while the glide makes platforming more forgiving. The ground pound meanwhile is needed for larger enemies, along with smashing obstructions. It isn’t long until enemies that can only be harmed from behind are introduced, forcing you to think about how to tackle each adversary.
Nikoderiko definitely falls into the ‘collectathon’ platformer camp. There’s a wealth of things to look out for, including letters that spell out ‘NIKO’ and a mixture of coins, keys, and scrolls. Stages are peppered with hidden areas, to the point where the majority have something tucked away to the left of the starting zone or just beyond the level’s exit. These include bonus rooms where just sixty seconds are given to defeat a bunch of enemies or collect a copious number of shiny things. The in-game currency can then be spent on loot boxes with random treasures inside, filling an art gallery and a bestiary. This is one of the less compelling features, simply because the loading times for returning to camp (at least on the Xbox Series X version) are peculiarly long.
While the world names fail to inspire confidence, with names such as Magic Woods, the stages within are well designed. I never felt like I was playing through the same one twice and the checkpoints are shrewdly placed. There’s a good variety of challenges, and not a single idea is overused. You’ll face a mixture of chase scenes, underwater areas including a stage with freezing pools, a handful of flying stages, a DKC inspired mine cart ride, and a jaunt through a factory with flickering lights. A later level features all the rideable animals in a long sequence. Each world only has a few stages though; it isn’t long before entering a new location that you’ll find yourself faced with the boss.
Boss fights are, for the most part, decent. Not just in terms of difficulty, with many requiring multiple retries, but also the way the villains themselves are flamboyantly animated. Earlier bosses simply need three hits to vanquish, while later bosses have two phases – ergo two health bars. There’s no mid-battle checkpoint, although health tokens often drop – with Niko and Luna able to withstand three hits. At one point it starts to get a bit cheeky with its inspirations, featuring a battle against an outback chef armed with a frying pan, recalling Crash 4’s Home Cookin’ stage. Indeed, at times I did have to deliberate whether Nikoderiko was born out of a passion for its inspiration or was simply trying to lazily imitate them. The polished visuals and well-pitched difficulty ultimately make it lean more towards a project with respect and admiration for its inspirations; each stage has a lot packed into it, and the desire to see what challenges it throws at you next makes it quite compelling.
The biggest problem here – other than its short 6-7 hour runtime, return visits to mop up collectables notwithstanding – is that it’s a pretty formulaic example of the genre. Original ideas are few and far between, and even then, aren’t largely creative. It even has a blue porcupine within its enemy roster. But it isn’t a worse experience for its lack of creativity; the sense of familiarity it emits is pleasing, mostly because the difficulty is so well balanced, instantly giving the impression that you’re in safe hands. It’s an easy recommendation for platforming fans, especially younger gamers who may not have seen everything the genre was built upon.
VEA Games’ Nikoderiko: The Magical World is out 15th October on PS5, Xbox Series and Switch. A PC version is also planned. Published by Knights Peak Interactive.