Nikoderiko: The Magical World At a Glance…
Genre: Platformer
Target Audience: Everyone, families
Multiplayer: Local co-op, up to 2 players
Accessibility: 9 languages, subtitles, 2 difficulty options
Available On: Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, PC
Developer: VEA Games
Publisher: Knight’s Peak
Release Date: October 15th, 2024
After Niko and Luna uncover an ancient relic on a magical island, the evil Grimbald, head of the Cobring Gems Company, seizes it. To rescue the island and its people, they must journey through seven diverse worlds, aided by their animal allies, and take down the Cobring forces.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World is a homage to classic Platformers like Sonic the Hedgehog and, more obviously, Crash Bandicoot. Niko and Luna are anthropomorphic mongooses (mongeese?) and much like their real-life counterparts, their enemies are anthropomorphic snakes. In this 2.5D Platformer, players must complete a series of stages before reaching the end-boss of the particular locale the player is in. Quite frankly, the bosses are the best part of Nikoderiko. There’s not much of a gameplay loop and after 20 hours spent with Niko and Luna, I can honestly say nothing really changes beyond the first hour.
Nikoderiko takes a classic approach and doesn’t try to break the mould (but it does bend it, a little bit). As Niko, or as Luna, players jump, slide and glide through 7 beautiful locations collecting stuff; every stage has golden bugs, golden scrolls, golden coins, 2 golden keys, a giant purple diamond, and the letters ‘N’, ‘I’, ‘K’ and ‘O’ to find. Scrolls and coins can be spent unlocking bonus behind-the-scenes material, such as concept art, 3D character models, and the soundtrack. Coins can also be spent on Mounts, big animals you can ride to complete levels quicker or reach secret areas (my favourite was the frog because frogs are awesome). You can ride other animals in select levels, such as a seahorse in the water levels, but these cannot be purchased with coins. I have no idea what the golden keys unlock – after 20 hours, I didn’t need to use one, so my assumption is they’re just there for something to do. And, that’s pretty much the crux of my review; it feels like levels are full of collectables just to give players something to do in each stage. There’s no real sense of character progression or anything along those lines. Nikoderiko is superficial fun and doesn’t attempt to be anything else.
I wasn’t a massive fan of the gliding mechanic. Niko and Luna can’t double-jump but can glide through the air instead. It always felt unsatisfying, especially as our mongoose friends prefer to glide into holes rather than grab the edge of a platform. It was increasingly frustrating approaching something to land on, only for them to collide into the edge of it and fall into oblivion. What made this even more annoying is that Niko/Luna can wall-jump, yet the game seems to pick and choose when this is possible – I think it doesn’t work on platforms on either side of a chasm because this is where I regularly found the wall-jumping not working. So if you find yourself slipping off the edge, quickly turning around and reaching for the wall won’t help you.
Nikoderiko’s loading screens are incredibly long too. This didn’t affect my overall opinion of the game because the soundtrack is chill and pleasant to listen to. It also gave me a quick opportunity to swig some coffee. The loading screen durations are irritating when you’re trying to pop into the workshop to spend your coins though – and if you accidentally visit the wrong part of the workshop, the wait feels even longer as you contemplate the mistake you made by hastily pushing buttons.
Character designs are excellent. All of the characters have this chunky, bold, thick, painterly appeal. I don’t know if it’s because they resemble 90’s action toys but there’s something about the art style that I adore. Niko and Luna ooze 80s Cool, which is a little cringe because it comes across as dated, but if you like The Power Rangers and the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (like I do), you won’t care one iota. Niko and Luna have that classic animal mascot attitude, which is probably still as relevant today as it was when I was a kid.
It feels like Nikoderiko is made by parents who want to share their passion for the games they grew up with with their children, and I think the inclusion of couch co-op emphasises this. Personally, there isn’t enough here to sink my Millennial teeth into but I think parents and youngsters will get more out of this than I did.
If I were to list the things I enjoyed the most, it would be the boss fights because they are the most unique and interesting part, and riding Mounts should be commended because it separates Nikoderiko: The Magical World from other Platformers. The character designs are amazing (I can imagine a range of Nikoderiko toys alongside Mario and Luigi in Smyths) and the couch co-op creates a more intimate gaming experience.
Unfortunately, the stages felt stuffy due to the number of gold items to collect, and after a few hours, I grew bored of the repetition. The long loading screens will annoy impatient gamers (guilty as charged) and the absence of an addictive, rewarding gameplay loop left me questioning if my time spent with Nikoderiko was worth it.
Final Score: 7/10
Should you play it? Maybe
Why? Nikoderiko: The Magical World isn’t a badly made game. A lot of love and attention has gone into it. If you’re a completionist and don’t mind replaying the same level multiple times to 100% finish it, then this might appeal to you. If you’re looking for a couch co-op game, this will be a fun experience to share – if only for a few hours of entertainment.
But… The lengthy loading screens don’t lend themselves well to the notion of having to replay each stage multiple times to fully complete it, and the lack of variety will likely put you off Nikoderiko before you can reach the very end.
Reviewed on Xbox Series S
