The NewZealand Story

n/a

Mega Drive Master System
The NewZealand Story
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System
Publisher: Taito TecMagik
Developer: Taito TecMagik
Distributor: Samsung (KR)
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Sound driver: Visco/Kazuo Okabayashi
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1990-03-03 ¥6,8006,800 T-11013 KR 199x GM4063JT EU 1992-11-12 27035-50 PT 199x UK 1992-11-12 £29.9929.99 27035-50
Non-Sega versions Amiga Amstrad CPC Arcade Atari ST Commodore 64 FM Towns Nintendo Entertainment System PC Engine X68000 ZX Spectrum

The NewZealand Story (ザ・ニュージーランド・ストーリー) is an arcade game developed by Taito in 1988. It was later ported to the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Master System, as well as to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, NES, PC Engine, X68000, and ZX Spectrum.

Story

Tiki (ティキ) is a kiwi who must save his girlfriend Phee Phee (ピューピュー) and several of his other kiwi chick friends who have been kidnapped by a large blue leopard seal.

Gameplay

Mega Drive version

Introduction

The game is a platformer played as the kiwi Tiki, who must rescue all of his kiwi chick friends. Stages are large and maze-like. Tiki is armed with as an endless supply of arrows, but items can change these into bombs, lasers, or bouncing fireballs. Tiki can ride a variety of flying vehicles, including balloons, blimps, and UFOs, which can be stolen from enemies.

Tiki moves with and . He jumps with and jumps longer when the button is held for longer. He can jump through platforms from the bottom, which is the only way to access some parts of the mazes. When falling, he can flap his wings with to slow his descent. He shoots his weapon with or . While underwater, Tiki can swim in any direction using the D-Pad. He has limited air, shown by a meter in the bottom corner of the screen, and must surface occasionally to breathe. He cannot use his weapons while underwater but can shoot spurts of water when wading at the surface.

Tiki can steal vehicles by jumping onto them or by destroying the enemy riding on them. While riding a vehicle, he ascends by holding and descends by releasing , and he moves in any direction using the D-Pad. He can dismount a vehicle by pressing while it is on the ground. UFOs can float indefinitely without descending and move in any direction with the D-Pad; they shoot missiles with or .

Tiki can walk through most enemies without being harmed, except spiked and fiery enemies. He loses a life if he touches an enemy projectile or spikes or if he drowns. Tiki respawns near where he lost a life. Each stage has an invisible time limit in which the player should take to reach the exit. If the player takes too long to find it, an invincible red devil appears to chase down Tiki and kill him instantly if it catches up to him. The player starts the game with 3 lives and earns an extra life at 30,000 points and then at every 60,000 points after that. The player can also earn an extra life by collecting the letters in the word "EXTEND," which are found throughout the game.

Items

Items are dropped by enemies after they are defeated.

	Fruits
	Award 100 bonus points.
	Kiwi Fruit
	Gives the player an extra life.
	Bow and Arrow
	Reverts Tiki back to his base weapon, shooting arrows across the screen.
	Bomb
	Changes Tiki's weapon to bombs, which are thrown in an arc and explode on contact with something.
	Wand
	Changes Tiki's weapon to fireballs, which are large and ricochet off surfaces.
	Laser Gun
	Changes Tiki's weapon to lasers, which move quickly and pierce through targets.
	Stopwatch
	Momentarily freezes enemies in place.
	Joystick
	Allows the player to precisely control the next balloon that Tiki rides using the directions on the D-Pad rather than ascending or descending by holding or releasing .
	Book
	Destroys all on-screen enemies.
	Cyclone
	Temporarily makes Tiki move faster.
	Potion
	Temporarily makes Tiki invulnerable.
	Cage
	Touch to release one of Tiki's kiwi friends and end the stage.
	Warp
	Touch to warp to another stage.
	EXTEND
	Collect every letter to earn an extra life.

Stages

	Stage 1
	After weakening the whale boss, Tiki must get swallowed by it and kill it from the inside.
	Stage 2
	Stage 3
	Stage 4

Master System version

Introduction

The game is a platformer played as the kiwi Tiki. At the end of each stage, Tiki rescues one of his kiwi chick friends that is trapped in a cage. Tiki moves with and . He jumps with and jumps longer when the button is held for longer. He can jump through platforms from the bottom, which is necessary in some of the mazes. He shoots his weapon with , which is initially a bow with an unlimited supply of arrows but can be upgraded by finding power-ups. Though kiwis are flightless birds, Tiki can fly by stealing balloons and other vehicles from enemies. Jumping onto a vehicle automatically destroys the enemy riding it. While riding a vehicle, he ascends by holding and descends by releasing , and he moves in any direction using the D-Pad. He can dismount a vehicle by pressing while it is on the ground. While underwater, he can swim in any direction using the D-Pad. He has limited air, shown by a meter in the top of the screen, and must surface occasionally to breathe. He cannot use his weapons while underwater but can shoot spurts of water when wading at the surface.

Tiki can walk through most enemies without being harmed, but he loses a life if he touches an enemy projectile or spikes or if he drowns. Tiki respawns near where he lost a life. Each stage has an invisible time limit in which the player should take to reach the exit. If the player takes too long to find it, a jingle plays, accompanied by a "Hurry Up!" message. If enough time passes after the warning, an invincible green devil appears to chase down Tiki and kill him instantly if it catches up to him. The player starts the game with 3 lives and earns an extra life at 50,000 points and then at every 20,000 points after that. The game starts with no continues, but the player is given continues after completing stage 2-4 and 4-5.

Items

Items are dropped by enemies after they are defeated.

	Fruits
	Award 100 bonus points.
	Bow and Arrow
	Reverts Tiki back to his base weapon, shooting arrows across the screen.
	Bomb
	Changes Tiki's weapon to bombs, which are thrown in an arc and explode on contact with something.
	Wand
	Changes Tiki's weapon to fireballs, which are large and ricochet off surfaces.
	Laser Gun
	Changes Tiki's weapon to lasers, which move quickly and pierce through targets.
	Stopwatch
	Momentarily freezes enemies in place.
	Joystick
	Allows the player to precisely control the next balloon that Tiki rides using the directions on the D-Pad rather than ascending or descending by holding or releasing .
	Book
	Destroys all on-screen enemies.
	Potion
	Temporarily makes Tiki invulnerable.
	Cage
	Touch to release one of Tiki's kiwi friends and end the stage.

Versions

The Mega Drive port of The NewZealand Story is unique in that it was based on a prototype revision of the Japanese arcade board, leading to radically different stage designs. There are also fewer stages: 13 versus the 20 seen in other ports. This version is considered to be harder, as Tiki takes less time to drown underwater while enemies are faster and more aggressive.

The Master System port lacks the warps and the "EXTEND" letters, present in the arcade original and the Mega Drive port. It and the NES port are the only versions of the game to show a map of New Zealand in between stages.

Both the Mega Drive and Master System ports lack the on-screen map for navigation and the "Heaven" stages present in the arcade version.

Magazine articles

Main article: The NewZealand Story/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: The NewZealand Story/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 30 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 72 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 73 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) NTSC-J 89 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) NTSC-J 89 Console XS (UK) NTSC-J 90 Computer & Video Games (UK) NTSC-J 94 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 60 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J 82 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) NTSC-J 84 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 70 MegaTech (UK) NTSC-J 89 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 89 Power Play (DE) 80 Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J 100 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 90 Sega Pro (UK) NTSC-J 86 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 58 User (GR) NTSC-J 69 Zero (UK) 92

	79
Based on 20 reviews

The NewZealand Story

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Consoles + (FR) 12 Computer & Video Games (UK) 82 Excalibur (CZ) 73 Game Power (IT) 91 GamesMaster (UK) 87 Game Zone (UK) PAL 87 Hobby Consolas (ES) 84 Joypad (FR) 92 Joystick (FR) PAL 88 Mega Force (FR) 80 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 76 Player One (FR) 90 Sega Power (UK) PAL 85 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 84 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 88 Sega Force (UK) 93 Sega Force (UK) PAL 91 Sega Master Force (UK) PAL 92 Video Games (DE) 78

	82
Based on 19 reviews

The NewZealand Story

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, PT
Cover

Technical information

Main article: The NewZealand Story/Technical information.

References

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