I still remember the first time I saw The Newzealand Story. It was 1990. I was a Speccy owner and I glimpsed the Amiga version at a friend’s house. The colourful, cartoony graphics absolutely blew me away, and the game quickly became a firm favourite.
33 years later, we can now enjoy the original arcade version of The Newzealand Story at home on the PS4 and Switch, thanks to Hamster’s superb Arcade Archives series of emulated arcade games, as we reported previously. We’ve played the game on Switch to review it, but obviously, as it’s emulated, the PS4 version will be identical.
The game still looks as great as it did over 30 years ago, and the music immediately unleashed a warming feeling of nostalgia over me.
Just as an aside, writing “Newzealand” as one word is really bugging me, but that’s how Taito spelt it, so we’re stuck with it.
The game remains a joy to play, combining platforming with shooting (initially a bow and arrow, but power-ups can upgrade your weapon to bombs or a laser.
You control Tiki the kiwi, and you must rescue the trapped kiwis on each level. Doing so will play a satisfying musical sting.
My only real criticism of the game (other than the spelling) is that despite its cutesy aesthetic, it’s a little too easy to die. Of course, as a coin-op whose purpose is to keep you pumping in those coins, this is by design. That said, on this version, you can, of course, pump in as many credits as you like to keep playing for as long as you like.
Thankfully, the Kiwi capers of The Newzealand Story remain as charmingly enjoyable as they were back in the day, making this an essential purchase for fans of old-school arcade platform action.
i need this
You totally do! It’s as brilliant as ever! I do wonder if I scored it a little on the low side, but I tried to be aware that not everyone will share my nostalgia for it, so I guess the score’s about right.