The NewZealand Story
From Sega Retro
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.
Contents
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
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
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. |
Stages
| Auckland | |
|---|---|
| Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣ | 4️⃣ | |
| Rotorua | |
| Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣ | 4️⃣ | |
| Waitomo Caves | |
| Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣ | 4️⃣ | |
| Wellington and Strait Cook | |
| Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣ | 4️⃣ | |
| Hammer Springs and Mount Cook | |
| Maps: 1️⃣ | 2️⃣ | 3️⃣ | 4️⃣ | |
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.
Production credits
Master System version
- NewZealand Storyby: Simon Freeman<10.0>
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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
 |
79 |
|---|---|
| Based on 20 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
|---|
 Cover
|
  Cart  Manual |
| Mega Drive, KR |
|---|
 Cover
|
   Cart |
Master System version
| Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
 |
82 |
|---|---|
| Based on 19 reviews | |
| Master System, EU |
|---|
 Cover
|
 Cart  Manual |
| Master System, PT |
|---|
 Cover
|
Technical information
- Main article: The NewZealand Story/Technical information.
References
 NEC Retro has more information related to The NewZealand Story
|
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ File:TNZS MD KR Box.jpg
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-11-16), page 28
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-11-16), page 28
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Computer & Video Games, "December 1992" (UK; 1992-11-15), page 92
- ↑ https://www.smspower.org/forums/2407-SMSHeaderUnknownBytesContent
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 207
- ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Mai 1990" (DE; 1990-04-30), page 64
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1990" (JP; 1990-02-08), page 111
- ↑ Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 34
- ↑ The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 48
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 132
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "May 1990" (UK; 1990-04-16), page 104
- ↑ Famitsu, "" (JP; 1990-0x-xx), page 1
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 79
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 93
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "August 1990" (JP; 1990-07-07), page 73
- ↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 79
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
- ↑ Power Play, "6/90" (DE; 1990-05-11), page 125
- ↑ Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
- ↑ Sega Pro, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 20
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
- ↑ User, "Mártios 1991" (GR; 1991-0x-xx), page 66
- ↑ Zero, "June 1990" (UK; 1990-0x-xx), page 86
- ↑ Consoles +, "Janvier 1993" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 136
- ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-09-10), page 33
- ↑ Game Power, "Gennaio 1993" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 66
- ↑ (UK) "Series 2, episode 2" (1992-10-08, 24:00) (+6:18)
- ↑ Game Zone, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-24), page 28
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Septiembre 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 74
- ↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1992" (FR; 1992-10-xx), page 78
- ↑ Joystick, "Octobre 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 144
- ↑ Mega Force, "Octobre 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 85
- ↑ Mega Fun, "05/93" (DE; 1993-0x-xx), page 79
- ↑ Player One, "Décembre 1992" (FR; 1992-12-10), page 104
- ↑ Sega Power, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-03), page 34
- ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-08), page 52
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 71
- ↑ Sega Force, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-08), page 52
- ↑ Sega Force, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-04-01), page 80
- ↑ Sega Master Force, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-07-22), page 12
- ↑ Video Games, "9/92" (DE; 1992-08-26), page 96
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