Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

1NES E39-99
BY OCEAN
What do you think the best kind of
V V video game hero is? Is it a rockhard
mercenary with a bionic arm? Is
It an intrepid xenophobic space explorer?
Is it a crack F16 pilot? Not according
to Taito, who reckon a fluffy
yellow Kiwi is hardest of 'em all! New
Zealand Story tells the tale of a little
gang of Kiwis who get kidnapped by
an evil walrus. Fortunately, our hero
escapes and decides to rescue his
comrades. In his favour, he has an
Stiddeil. !MAC tlt t a r AdairLadtlimi.
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unlimited supply of arrows, 9reat
Jumping skills
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and limited flying abilities.
Not so much in his favour is the
fact that he's a small yellow ball of
fluff. The odds are stacked against
you, the challenge is vast and you're
only a little feller after all. Oh well, it's
off to the heart of New Zealand for a
spot of platform-related action!
The arcade version of
New Zealand Story was
e bit of an oddity. The
graphics were unspectacular
and the gameplay
was nothing new.
What separated It from
the rest of the crowd
was something Taft are
famous for. That elusive
something, that spark of playability that
keeps you coming back for more. The NES
version, to Ocean's credit, is spot on perfect.
All the screens are there, all the levels
and all the hidden stuff. The simple
graphics have been reproduced faithfully
and the music is an upbeat remix of the
arcade theme. Playability is there in bucketloads
and the game itself is huge_ Niggles
are few and tar between, but one complaint
is the appalling sprite flicker when
too much is going on. Sometimes the poor
Kiwi completely disappears and Off you
trot to your death! The best thing about
New Zealand Story (as with the Mario
games) is the sheer number of things to
discover - finding weapons, vehicles and
hidden levels has you playing into the wee
small hours. NES owners have the best
platform games of all time in the Mario
series, but buying this pretty damn good
arcade conversion won't do you any harm
at all!
030
FRANK O'CONNOR
III
NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW THIS...
New Zealand Story was the product of a Japanese Taito programmer
who went to New Zealand for his hob and game back
with the game! Playing through you'll see all the tourist spots he
visited, 'cos he OW them all inl Those crazy dudes!
FLY BOY!
Kiwi's can fly - but only just They
flap their wings a lot, sort of take
off, flap their wings a bit more
and hope to stay up. Fortunately,
New Zealand is packed full of
weird and wonderful flying machines.
These include airships of
various descriptions, a spaceship,
a friendly goose and weird
floating space hoppers. They all
handle differently and some are
more fragile than others. Collecting
a joystick icon helps ease the
dodgy momentum on some of
the craft and makes those tight
turns easier
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HIDDEN 1 BONUS
SCREENS 6 AHOY!
There . are lots of ways to make
progress - in New Zealand Story.
but none faster than the secret
warp , zones! These are totally invisible
4
and the only way to detect
them is to shoot them. When
your 1 missiles mysteriously vanish,
.
keep firing at this invisible
doorway enough times and a
flaming spiral will appear. Simply
walk into it and hey presto -
you're several screens further forward!
These doorways are dotted around the landscape and
some are harder to find than others. By using these, it's
possible to get to the end of the game without much effort, but
you have to be a bit of a genius to find them all.
•-•
V Jump on the yellow R
space-hopper andI
It away'
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tNES
GRAPHICS 9 0
SOUNDS 8 1
PLAYABILITY 87
LASTABILITY 89
OVERALL 88