The NewZealand Story (Arcade)

The NewZealand Story continues the proud Taito tradition of cute characters in maddeningly difficult games, this time featuring a rather poor job at representing New Zealand wildlife.

Kumagaya Easter Egg#

Taito Kumagaya Laboratory developed this game; the proof of this is a hidden company logo in the attract mode. To see it, wait for a demo to start playing, then press 1P Button 1 3 times.

Round Select#

This game uses the Taito Code:

• While booting the game, hold Service 1 until the "SERVICE SWITCH ERROR" message pops up on the screen.
• Then, press 1P Start (x3), Service 1, 1P Start to be taken to a round select screen.

The code works in all versions of the game, but any selections past Level 5-4 will either take you to a bonus stage or dump you into a glitched, unplayable map. Interestingly, the location test version caps the round select at 6-1 (one of the bonus stages), whereas it's uncapped in all other versions.

Unused Items#

Bananas are meant to be the first fruit spawned in the item rotation, but they never do due to how special item spawns are implemented. When the game is supposed to spawn a banana, a special item spawns instead.

This key is the game's only unused special item, at least in the final version. They do appear in the item rotation of the location test version of the game where they simply award the default 1000 points, though it's safe to assume they were meant to serve another function at some point. One possibility is that they were to be collected in order to open the cages at the end of levels, as that idea would eventually resurface 19 years later in the DS remake NewZealand Story Revolution.

Unused Graphics#

Tiki#

This animation should be used when throwing bombs, but it isn't. Oh well.

Unused Enemy#

An odd little insectoid enemy with a helmet. It appears to be holding spears, so it may be a bee or hornet of some kind. It never spawns in the game (even from the Wizard).

Watch on YouTube

However, the enemy DOES appear in the location test version! It shows up at the end of Level 2-3 (3-1 in the final game) and in 4-2 (a placeholder stage accessible through the aforementioned round select code, as this version of the game ends at 4-1). It flies around in a vague S-shape pattern, and will kill Tiki on contact, just like the spike enemies. It's also completely invincible, which was most likely an oversight as it does have a frame for getting hit.

Heaven Tiles#

These tiles are loaded with the Heaven tileset, but they don't appear in those levels.

Revisional Differences#

To do: Possibly more. Document the location test version as well, which is very different from the final game. There's also the World Old version with a more difficult first world.

The "new" version of the game drastically revamps the first world of the game, which interestingly includes replacing two of its levels with levels from the location test version.

• 1-1 has been replaced with 1-2 from the old version.
• 1-2 has been replaced with 1-3 from the location test version.
• 1-3 has been replaced with 2-1 from the location test version.
• 1-4's level design is still the same, but its tileset was changed to the one used in the location test version's 1-4, said tileset having gone completely unused in the old version.

2-2 in the new version also originates from the location test version.

Most of the game's home ports, including NewZealand Story Revolution, are based on the Japanese old version.

References#