Nikoderiko: The Magical World Review - Playing Platforming's Greatest Hits
Let me tell you a story folks, a story about a band called Royale With Cheese. This band has been touring Australia for years. They sell out small venues to eager fans and always put on a fantastic show. The catch is, they are a cover band. They play 90’s bangers all night and in such a way the crowd absolutely laps it up. No one cares that there is nothing original, they are just there to listen to their favourite tunes sung by a talented group of musos. Why am I talking about a cover band? Well, Nikoderiko is a lot like Royal With Cheese. There is nothing original here; it has all been seen before, but it plays platforming’s classic hits with such skill that players will be having so much fun, that they won’t care at all.
Nikoderiko is a mascot platformer, the likes of which are exceedingly rare these days, especially on non-Nintendo systems. It is brought to us by a group of genre vets who have worked on titles like Donkey Kong Country and Rayman. You can feel that DNA in every pore of the game, every jump, every level. Playing Nikoderiko is like going back to a simpler time, a time before season passes and live service and as a result, it feels like a pure experience, one unsullied by corporate greed. This simplistic approach is from the bones up. If it wasn’t for the stunning graphics, this is a game that could have been released in the 16-bit era. The developers clearly had a goal to capture the classic platformer feel on a modern console and they have succeeded admirably.
Like I said in the intro, Nikoderiko is playing platforming’s greatest hits. It has mine cart levels, shooting out of barrels, underwater levels, animal side kicks and a whole bunch of stuff to collect. The game it feels closest to is the recent Retro Studios Donkey Kong Country games, but there is a liberal sprinkling of other classic platformers as well. There are even some Crash-inspired 3D sections, including the ever-entertaining “big monster chasing you towards the screen” level that gets the adrenalin pumping. Secrets abound, puzzles entertain and levels impress. This game reminds players why platformers were once the dominant genre on the planet.
As far as difficulty goes, I feel like Nikoderiko has it bang on. It isn’t as tough as Tropical Freeze, but still offers a stiff challenge, especially for those wanting to grab all the collectables. The only issue I have here is there are occasional difficulty spikes, where one level seems particularly tough when compared to the levels around it. The bosses also seem to be super easy or super tough, with no gradual increase in difficulty. Of course, the difficulty is subjective and what is tough for 43-year-old reflexes could be a piece of cake for someone much younger, but it is worth mentioning.
The presentation aspects of the game are top-notch. The character models are packed full of detail and charm, the art style is a perfect fit and the sound design is exactly what you want from a game like this. The tech performance is flawless with nary a hiccup in framerate or graphical glitch to be found. In fact, the only issue I have with this side of things is the voice acting, which is a little one-dimensional. Hardly the biggest sin when the game is kicking as many goals as it is, but it would have been nice to have a more nuanced vocal performance.
Nikoderiko has a co-op mode which is perfect for bringing family members along for the ride, or you can do what the old-school platformer fans have always done and go “life-for-life” which is clearly the best way to play. There is just something about playing these sorts of games with friends. The cartoony exterior belies a satisfying challenge and that juxtaposition seems to create the perfect situation for a few drinks and friends sitting around a TV, yelling and laughing at each other as people repeatedly fail at the final hurdle. It is the type of gaming joy that just doesn’t come around much these days and it was soothing to my soul to be able to experience it once again.
But for all the positives, I can’t ignore that this is a game that is doing nothing new. A lack of originality is the only thing that stops this game from reaching even greater heights. If there were new spins put on classic-level styles or some new mechanics, this could have been a genre-leading title. As it is, it is simply a great platformer full of things we have all seen before. Hopefully, it does well enough to greenlight a sequel and the developers can take this exceptionally strong base and evolve it into something that leaves its mark on platformers as a whole.
Nikoderiko is, pure joy. It is nostalgic, challenging, engaging and most of all fun. It captures the feel and mechanics of some of the best platformers of all time and puts them together into one simple, yet satisfying package. Sure the game lacks anything original, but that doesn’t matter when it nails classic gameplay as well as it does.
Sometimes all you need is a cover band that can perfect the classics and that is exactly what Nikoderiko is.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World was reviewed on PS5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
