Nicky Boom

Nicky Boom is a side-scrolling platformer created by Microids and released in 1992 for Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS.

The game designed and coded by Alain Lambin and Dominico Manfredi didn't reach great popularity. The main character was not particularly original or memorable, or maybe because magazine reviews were not positive. Maybe reviewers would have appreciated a hedgehog more than a kid.

However, the main character is probably the only downside of the game because all the rest is really top quality. You often find problems in other platformers, such as bad-level design, impossible difficulty, non-responsive controls. Those are not present in Nicky Boom. The developers did a great job. This title is developed carefully, with a lot of attention to detail. Controls are perfect, and the difficulty increases slowly to allow you to learn. Levels are huge, with many different objects and power-ups, strategically placed enemies, and plenty of secret rooms that make this game a joy to explore. It won't be remembered as a piece of art for the graphics, but in terms of gameplay, I believe we have to thank Nicky Boom if today we have games such as Rayman Legends.

A game that all platformers lovers should try.