Because of the time I’m writing this, my favourite monkey Donkey Kong is pretty much constantly on my mind. With the big reveal of Donkey Kong Bananza closing the Nintendo Switch 2 showcase, this series I love is coming back with a bang and I can’t wait. Last week I wrote about the top ten Donkey Kong games of all time to scratch my banana-shaped itch, and this week I’m reviewing Nikoderiko: Director’s Cut – a platformer that’s heavily inspired by Donkey Kong Country and is thus brilliant.
In Nikoderiko you play as one of two mongooses (not mongeese) called Niko and Luna, who are on a quest to save a magical island from an evil baron. Realistically though you don’t really need to think about any of this, because you’ll be too busy running through colourful 2D (and occasionally 3D) platforming stages, picking up loads of shiny collectibles and smiling from ear to ear.
Niko (who I generally played as for no particular reason other than his name being in the title) controls wonderfully, with an assortment of moves you’ll need to manage the various obstacles and enemy lizards that definitely aren’t Kremlings. With a dash attack and a ground pound style air attack you can take on most foes, and to navigate the world you can wall jump and float through the sky with a glider. These abilities are really all you need to manage what the game throws at you, and more importantly find all those secrets.
It wouldn’t be an homage to my man DK without a whole lot of shiny shit to collect, and thankfully Nikoderiko has that in abundance. Each stage has four letters spelling out NIKO to collect, as well as two hidden keys and a hidden gem. These last two are especially important in unlocking tough bonus stages in the Secret World (it’s actually called that) and so are well worth finding. There’s also plenty you can do with the more standard collectibles you find, like buying statues of characters you can put in a little museum.
More than anything in Nikoderiko though, the most impressive part of the game is the variety. Each themed stage has something new to show off, be it a rideable animal that eats enemies and spits them back out or an underwater section full of dangerous jellyfish. Even bonus stages where you have to collect stars or destroy enemies have inventive hooks, and are a fun change of pace. Like the very best Nintendo games Nikoderiko throws ideas at you thick and fast, and even if those ideas aren’t particularly original they still keep the game fresh.
It’s also worth mentioning how great this lovely mascot platformer looks and sounds. With a soundtrack from David Wise of Donkey Kong Country and Yooka Laylee fame I’d expect no less from the audio side, but the vibrant visuals compliment this beautifully. It also runs really well on the Steam Deck, which will be a bonus for those seeking portability with their 90s style platforming. Somehow playing this game almost felt like a nostalgia trip, despite being something I’d never played before.
Some of you will have played it before though, as this version of Nikoderiko is the Director’s Cut. I’ll admit though, having not played the original release it made it hard to work out what was new this time around. It does apparently include an extra world though at the very least, and everything I played was very enjoyable whether it was newly added or not.
As much as I had a great time with Nikoderiko: Director’s Cut, it does have a handful of issues. The worst of these are the checkpoints, which are often spread way too thin. You keep certain important collectibles when you die which sort of helps with this, but it just feels so wrong to leave any doodads behind. It’s also a little short on its own ideas, with most aspects of the game straight up lifted from Donkey Kong Country. Be it mine cart stages, barrel blasting or rideable animals, if it’s in Nikoderiko chances are it’s straight out of a DK game.
Nikoderiko: Director’s Cut is a wonderful platformer that this child of Kong Island was more than happy to gorge on. With lots of variety, plenty of bits and bobs to collect and a seriously banging soundtrack, this throwback to a simpler time will leave you wanting to plug the SNES back into an old CRT.
