New Zealand Story Revolution review

A £30 game you can play for free online... still good, though

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In the unlikely event, horrifyingly, that you're too young to remember it, New Zealand Story was a Taito arcade game that ended up dishing out rainbow-coloured platforming justice to pretty much every major games console on planet Earth.

You collected, you killed, you leaped, you floated, you disappeared through swirling portal doors, you got sucked up by a giant pink whale, you froze things, lasered things, drove things and swiped things... for his time, Tiki was a versatile bird.

NZS wasn't as cute as it looked, either - we once found a 10p-a-go version in an arcade in Prestatyn, and wasted all our pocket money getting no further than level four.

Above: The bosses have been given a bit of an overhaul and look pretty good

This DS version, by way of a slight graphical tweak, does all the same stuff, in the same order, and with all the same enemies and music, but shoehorns in a few DS-flavoured extras. Most of which, it has to be said, are tidy. And tidy's better than whistling the theme tune to the game while dancing on Taito's grave with your trousers round your ankles.

There's basket-tossing Tiki the Kiwi from the bottom screen to the top; a spot the difference variant using both screens; tightrope-walking; fishing; plus some more basic stuff like (wait for it) opening doors.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionIn this reworking of the old arcade game, you must save your friends from a seal. Apparently New Zealand is a dangerous place, kids.
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Rating Pending"
UK censor rating"Rating Pending"
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