We first reported on the new reimagining of The NewZealand Story earlier this month, and have now had the chance to try it for ourselves. The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure is available on Steam now, priced at $19.99, and has been developed by BitoBit with an official license from Taito. The new version is aimed at veterans of the original arcade game and newcomers with modern gameplay mechanics that make the game a little easier. The main one is the auto-save feature that allows you to start where you left off instead of at the beginning.
This new version of the 80s arcade classic keeps the majority of the levels intact with only slight changes to accommodate modern widescreens. The game is still as simple as it was nearly 40 years ago. Get your little kiwi friend Tiki to the end of the level without dying. As easy as it sounds, it’s actually a tough challenge in most of the levels. Enemies constantly appear from all sides, and most levels require some precision platforming. Every few levels into The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure, you’ll come up against a boss before jumping into a new set of levels with a different theme, just as in the original.
The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but it does offer some differences. Kiwi now drops down from the sky a bit faster, and the controls have been updated for modern controllers. Whether these new additions are positives or negatives will probably depend on how much you enjoyed this game when it was first released, and what version you played. Our main feeling was that it felt a little more like one of the 8-bit console ports than the original arcade game.
The overall feel of The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure is solid; anyone who enjoyed the original game will feel a similar experience. We would think that only the most hardcore of The NewZealand Story fans would not enjoy this reimagining, as the developer has certainly paid homage while sprinkling some modern quality-of-life features. We felt the new graphics were great and matched the frantic action, although we were less impressed with the new music and prefer the original chiptunes. That said, this could easily be a nostalgia aspect on our part, as it holds fond memories.
Some of the levels in The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure did take many attempts, and there was lots of relief as well as fist pumping when we eventually got through. That arcade aspect of the game has been kept well intact, which got us thinking that that was the most important thing for the developer to nail down. This new version of The NewZealand Story is a great game, and adds a new coat of paint to a classic for future generations to enjoy.
Overall, The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure is recommended to arcade fans who may not have tried the original or have only tried the home ports of the game. The new graphics and modern touches will divide purists and casual arcade fans, but this one plays well regardless. Those who have played the original arcade version a lot and enjoyed it, enter this one with caution, as it does feel quite different in places. For everyone else, this is a cracking update to a classic and is good fun to play.
