"New Zealand Story" (or also known as "Kiwi Kraze") was an omnidirectional platform game released in 1988 by
Taito origionally on the Spectrum. It was then later released on a number of different platforms such as
NES,
Genesis and
Amiga until it was finally released in the
arcade.
Playing as a
kiwi bird know as Tiki (tie-ki), the objective of the game is to rescue your fellow kiwi friends who were
kidnapped from a zoo by a large walrus who, for no reason apparent, decided to leave said kidnapped kiwis in seperate cages dotted around
New Zealand. Tiki must run, jump, swim and fight for his friends
freedom - and his own safety!
Weapons
Bow - Primary weapon and also the weakest. Does no through-wall
damage and is ineffective against some armour
Bombs - The first new weapon in the game. Explode on impact to either ground or enemy.
Fire Staff - Fires balls of fire that bounce from walls and surfaces of water. Can kill many enemies in a row.
Ray Gun - Shoots a long, blue laser ray that travels through any enemy or wall.
Powerups
Joystick - Allows flying all vehicles with just the control pad/joystick instead of using buttons as well
Turbo - Will accelerate Tiki to a very fast speed. Will also accelerate
vehicles with exception to the
UFO which is already the fastest thing in the game
Clock - Temporarily freezes all enemies and
projectile objects for 15 seconds
Holy Book - Kills all enemies on screen and also takes one point of damage on vehicles
Mirror - takes you right next to the cage at the end of the level with your time restored.
Potion - Makes Tiki
invulnerable to any enemy or trap for 45 seconds. Only problem with this is you can still drown
Vehicles
Teddy bear head - The most
primitive vehicle in the game and is relativly slow. It only takes one hit to destroy
Duck - Still primitive in the sense that it can be destroyed with one hit but is considerably faster than the teddy bear head
Hot air baloon - About as fast as the duck and is able to pass through smaller spaces than most of the other vehicles. Only takes one hit to destroy
String Baloon - Not much of a change from the teddy bear head except you can hang from a string below the baloon.
Metal Baloon - Incredibly slow moving (unless freefalling) but
indestructible to arrows, spears, stones and turtle fires. Tiki can hang below the baloon from a chord or sit on top, although either way makes you taller meaning you can't pass through small spaces
Colour Baloon - In a lot of ways like the metal baloon except its faster and not indestructible. If hit with arrows, spears, stones, fire and traps a layer of the baloon pops and changes its colour.
Zeppelin - A large
zeppelin with a hanging basket at the bottom. Takes 4 hits to destroy but shows no sign of damage.
Laser UFO - Resembling your steriotypical UFO, it is the fastest vehicle in the game and only requires you to move it with the direction buttions/joystick. The Laser UFO is indestructible to arrows, spikes, turtle fire, stones and traps. It also replaces your weapon with a powerful
laser.