The NewZealand Story is an odd case of an arcade game developed in the 1980s, by a Japanese company, which became a bigger hit in Europe of all places, all thanks to a port released in 1989 for the Amiga 500 computer; given how it was a pack-in title with one of the more popular bundles of the system. I will be honest and say I haven’t heard of it prior to the reveal of this game we’re covering, but found its origins to be quite interesting. More interesting than the original game itself, as well as the remake in question, The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure. Not a terrible time, but certainly not a game I will remember fondly (or at all) in the future.

Of course. Rain forest straw huts. My favorite New Zealander piece of culture.

The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure follows the gameplay pattern estabilished by its predecessor to a tee: you play as a kiwi chick (who looks just like a regular chick) trying to save his brothers from the clutches of an evil seal. Each level contains a caged kiwi that you need to rescue in a by-the-books, side-scrolling gauntlet of platforms, traps to avoid, and enemies to defeat. It’s shallow and simplistic, but admittedly easy to pick up and play.

The only gameplay elements that somewhat make this game (and its predecessor) stand out a tiny bit is the fact that you can alternate between ranged weapons by collecting powerups in a Gradius-esque rotational method (if you collect a fourth powerup, you revert back to the first weapon), as well as being able to ride on floating platforms previously owned by downed enemies.

This game might not be very impressive overall, but its boss battles were a highlight.

Visually and sound-wise, there’s not a lot to talk about. There is very little in The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure‘s art style that even vaguely resembles New Zealand (hell, not even the playable kiwis look like actual kiwis to begin with), and the music just isn’t memorable at all. Most levels feature generic backgrounds that could have been set in any other country on Earth, and no difference would have been noticed. The music isn’t memorable, though I wouldn’t call it bad. I do have to point out, however, that despite not being the most detailed game out there, I noticed frequent framerate drops when playing Untold Adventure on a ROG Ally. That wasn’t a hardware issue on mind end; the portable can easily run more demanding games with ease, so this is an issue that, hopefully, can be fixed with a patch in the future.

If you wear a bandana backwards, as if you were a biker, you can drop bombs onto enemies. Sounds about right.

So who is The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure for? The 1980s original wasn’t that impressive to begin with, and considering the fact this remake retains every single element featured in its predecessor, just updating it with improved visuals, my guess is that you’ll enjoy it if you were an Amiga owner who grew up with the famed 1989 port back in the day. There is very little in terms of gameplay that makes this game stand out. Nothing about it is egregious (well, with the exception of the shocking framerate issues), but I struggled to find anything memorable in it as well. If you have a modicum of curiosity for lesser known arcade games from thirty years ago, this might be interesting for a few minutes. Just don’t expect anything else from it, however.

The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure is available now on PC.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.

A copy of The NewZealand Story: Untold Adventure was provided by the publisher.