Nikoderiko: The Magical World – Preview / Preview

If it works with monkeys and a marsupial, it must work with a lion, right? This or something similar must have been the thinking at VEA Games when they started working on Nikoderiko: The magical world began – a platformer that at first glance almost presumptuously resembles Donkey Kong Country and Crash Bandicoot, but at second glance has its own identity. And luckily not just because of the lions as game characters. At gamescom 2024, I was able to play a first handful of levels and discovered a lot of positive things.

Donkey Kong and Crash Bandicoot. These names are associated with great things in the history of the platformer: Rare set new graphical standards with the first Donkey Kong Country in the 90s on the SNES, and Retro Studios finally brought the legendary classic back into the modern age in the 2010s with Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Naughty Dog, on the other hand, created a mascot for the console for the first PlayStation, almost off the cuff, which returned in a different form a few years ago in the form of the N. Sane Trilogy and most recently even with a true sequel – Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Nikoderiko now takes both templates and combines them into a clever hybrid of 2D and 3D, which makes you wonder why nobody has tried it before.

Two lions and the best of both worlds

The trick that VEA Games came up with is as simple as it is brilliant: Nikoderiko dynamically mixes the side-scrolling of Donkey Kong Country Returns with the 3D escapades of Crash Bandicoot. This means that the perspective changes again and again in the middle of the level, so Niko and Luna – the two animal adventurers of the title – switch from the classic 2D path into the depths and back again. In the demo, new paths into the room were regularly created, for example through switches that open doors in the background and create steps. Then the camera turns, swings up a little and voila – the 2D platformer has become a 3D platformer.

The passages inspired by Crash Bandicoot are particularly reminiscent of the original: sometimes you go straight over obstacles, rivers and past lively enemies like frogs armed with spears, then you suddenly fly in front of a gigantic dragon in three-dimensional space towards the screen. Both are harmoniously interwoven in the 5-6 levels that I was able to play and, as a fan of the originals, I was actually quite impressed.

The team still needs to fine-tune some important details: Niko and Luna move in the air in an unusually jerky and linear manner to the side, which cost me a life or two in the demo. A platformer lives not only from its level design but also from its easy-to-use controls – this still needs to be optimized before the release so that a “good” game can become a “great” one.

David Wise himself is on board

The rest of the setup is less unusual, but no less competent. Animal main characters, a colorful and playful world, seven worlds with a linear level sequence and a final boss at the end, mounts, underwater sections and bonus rooms – you only need to look at the trailers and screenshots: The DNA of Donkey Kong and Crash is unmistakable, the recipe is a sure bet. This goes all the way to local co-op for two players and even the music, which is composed by none other than David Wise himself.

Wise has already shown that he has a soft spot for DKC-esque platformers with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair – that's also a good sign, because I really liked the second Yooka-Laylee back then and it cleverly stood out from its big role model. To be honest, I didn't even notice the soundtrack while playing (yet), but that's probably more due to the loud trade fair environment than the music. I'm definitely excited to see what the mastermind has conjured up this time.

The highlight of the 45-minute trial session was, of course, a boss fight – in this case against an oversized beaver, whose carefully constructed dam Niko and Luna dismantled in a nice cutscene. Here, too, the flow on the controller wasn't 100% right, but visually the fight was really lovingly done. And the rest of the fine-tuning that Nikoderiko is currently lacking will definitely be done by the time it's released in the fall.

Conclusion from Tim:

We need more games like Nikoderiko! Behind the promising platformer is a team with a lot of passion for the big names in the genre – and which also names the obvious role models very transparently. When I play games inspired by Donkey Kong and Crash Bandicoot, I naturally pay attention immediately and have had Nikoderiko on my radar for a while.

The gamescom demo has now confirmed what I had hoped for: A wonderfully playful, loving and, above all, independent jump'n'run game is being created here, which could become a real indie gem with a little fine-tuning of the controls and flow. I'm really looking forward to Nikoderiko and am especially excited to see whether it can ultimately offer enough of a gaming challenge beyond its likeable appearance and clever 2D/3D hybrid mechanics.