Kiwi Kraze

Developer: Taito     Publisher: Taito     Released: 1991    Genre: Platformer

I admit for the longest time New Zealand Story was a giant blind spot in my video game history. For years I have seen articles and reviews about it for nearly every platform. Retro Gamer magazine has extolled its virtues many times yet I still avoided it. That was my mistake. New Zealand Story is an excellent arcade platformer with great level design and a cute character. For some odd reason the NES version was renamed Kiwi Kraze but ignoring that, it is similarly great.

New Zealand Story is one of the most heavily ported games of all time. Just about every major platform received a conversion, even the obscure ones.  It would have been easy for Taito to pump out another game like Bubble Bobble in a different setting but instead they crafted something original and highly memorable. The NES version is one of the more accurate conversions, only losing out in terms of its color palette and a few missing elements. It makes up for it with a fantastic soundtrack that helps it become one of the better games for the system.

As Tiki the Kiwi the goal is simple: navigate each maze like level to rescue your locked up friend at the end. Tiki has an infinite supply of arrows but sadly can’t fly even though he is a bird. Instead you can hijack vehicles from enemies.  Although you have no life meter you aren’t entirely vulnerable; only projectiles will kill Tiki. Otherwise you can touch enemies with little consequence. This version is missing the little map which sucks as the levels are huge. The controls are solid overall but Tiki is a bit loose at times; the little slip on small platforms can be a killer late in the game.

Kiwi Kraze keeps the massive levels of its arcade counterpart intact. The levels here are considerably larger than in most platformers of the time and what makes the game so great. Exploration is key to finding your friends and it is easily possible to get lost. Your exploration has to be short as just like Bubble Bobble there is an invisible timer. Dawdle too long and an invincible bird will appear and chase you down.

Kiwi Kraze does a lot with very little. Even though the game supposedly takes place across New Zealand it recycles the same traps and elements. Spikes, pockets of water, and elaborate mazes are the order of the day and the game reshuffles them despite each new setting. Yet somehow Kiwi Kraze remains compelling. This is the one area the NES version has suffered. Because of the limited palette the levels blend together until closer to the end. At least the difficult boss battles offer some reprieve from the narrow shades.

The difficulty curve in Kiwi Kraze has excellent pacing. The initial few levels are very straightforward. The stages are sparsely populated and the few enemies present are not aggressive.  Although you can’t see the clock it feels generous early on. They serve as a perfect training ground to learn the game’s mechanics.  But after the first world it begins to ramp up. The maps become incredibly complex; it is surprising how easy it is to become lost even though you can see the entirety of the maze in front of you.  The time never seems enough and you will just barely find your friends while the invincible dragon is on your tail.  The final world presents a hefty challenge comparable to the all-time platforming greats and is only let down by the slippery controls.

The NES version of New Zealand Story is a port of the first arcade release which means it is missing the redrawn art. Otherwise it matches up pretty well. The resolution is lower so you can’t view as much of the levels in advance but that is unavoidable. Where the game suffers the most is in its color. New Zealand Story was an incredibly vibrant game. Kiwi Kraze has a very limited color palette that isn’t entirely the system’s fault. The game leans heavily on yellow and orange which unfortunately causes certain elements like spikes to blend in to the background. Where the graphics suffer the music is excellent. The Folin brothers deliver a hardware defying soundtrack that might be better than the arcade.

In Conclusion

Kiwi Kraze is a great port of an excellent arcade game. Kiwi Kraze is rather unassuming in the NES library but don’t let that fool you. It has a lot to offer, from large levels to great music but most importantly, fun.