The story of Nikoderiko: The Magical World Directors Cut is that the nefarious Grimbald has stolen a primordial artifact. It’s now up to Niko and Luna to traverse a unique set of worlds, with some assistance from animal companions in an attempt to take down Grimbald and get the artifact back.
While the story does sound a bit generic or rather predictable, it’s told very well. The story is told through animated scenes, 2D still images of the characters talking among themselves. What really makes the game special in terms of story is that not only does it flow well in the way it’s presented, but also the fact that all of the dialogue between characters in the game is fully voice acted.
Nikoderiko The Magical World plays like your traditional platforming game…well to a degree. You see, this game is a rather unique experience in a lot of different aspects.
So this game starts out as a traditional side scrolling platfomer, not unlike the likes of Super Mario Bros and the original Donkey Kong Country. Then the game all of sudden transitions to a 3D action platformer that has you controlling the character in a fully 3D space. Besides these two different aspects, the game also borrows inspiration from games like Crash Bandicoot and offers levels that have you running toward the screen and away from a large enemy or otherwise hazardous giant object.
Not only does the game do a great job of mixing up the way the game is presented, but it features a lot of collectibles. Each stage has a set of keys, a diamond, coins, and scrolls to collect. Levels are presented in a world map selection screen, again paying tribute to games like Donkey Kong Country. Though you can play as either Niko or Luna, you can only choose to play one or the other prior to entering the level. As far as play styles, there really isn’t a difference between the two with regards to move set or abilities.
The in-game shop between levels which is located on the map as a standalone location can be used to purchase items, including mount summons. These items can be used at any time during the level and will give you more health, or a temporary shield. Speaking of the animal summons, they can come in pretty handy. Whenever you want to use an animal summon, you press a button, cycle through the ones you’ve purchased, and then hold down a button to summon them. They play and work much like those found in Donkey Kong Country.
I know that I have been mentioning Donkey Kong Country quite a bit along with other games, but this game takes heavy inspiration from those games in every aspect. Now this isn’t a bad thing at all, I actually like that we have a modern tribute to these games that is fun, engaging, and can stand out on its own.
The last thing I would like to mention about this game is that this is the Directors Cut version of the game. This version includes harder difficulty options as well as challenges that you can take on to get even more enjoyment out of this title.
Graphically, Nikoderiko is rather stunning. The player characters and enemies are all presented in full 3D and each level is also in full 3D. While you might think that this isn’t anything special, it’s the 3D models, environments, and the bright colors that make the game really stand out among other titles in its genre. When running around a level, regardless of the perspective the game provides, the game runs surprisingly well with zero slow down when it comes to performance.
While I appreciate the optimization choices that were made to make the game as smooth as it can be, the one aspect that is an issue when it comes to performance is with the loading times. The load time when you initially launch the game, going through the menus, and loading into levels all seems rather prolonged. I mean if I had to guess, I would say the load times are anywhere from about 30 seconds up to a full minute, maybe even as high as two minutes. This later time is when it comes to loading into a level from the world map.
I would expect the kind of performance like this from a lower powered console like the Switch or even the Xbox One or PS4. I would not expect this from something as powerful as the Xbox Series X. Quite honestly, if we get these kinds of load times on the Xbox Series X, I can only imagine how slow the load times would be for a system like the original Switch of which this is also available on.
Nikoderiko excels in the audio department as well as the graphics department. I mean the music sounds like something out of an animated cartoon show. It’s whimsical, fun, and really adds some enjoyment as you’re bouncing off of enemies and platforming your way across a level. Each level has some really unique music and what surprised me the most is how different the tracks are between each level. I was half expecting the music to be recycled between each level and changed after so many, or at the very least have the music for each level sound similar with it only changed slightly. But to my surprise, each level has its own unique track.
This is yet another testament to how amazing the game is and it goes to show that even if you’re taking heavy inspiration from other games in your genre, that you can make enough changes and bring new things to the table for the genre that will allow your game to really stand out in a crowded market.
Nikoderko is a game that really surprised and delighted me while playing it. There wasn’t a moment in the game that didn’t bring a smile to my face. I mean here I was expecting it to be a ripoff of something like Donkey Kong Country, and a ripoff it’s definitely not. This game is a wonderful platforming game that all fans of the genre should play. I mean if there were any platforming games that are hidden gems, Nikoderiko would be the poster child!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.