The New Zealand Story Guide (c) 1997-2006 "THIS GAME WILL BE DEDICATED TO ALL MAZE GAME FANS" TAITO,1988 (Not the story of New Zealand the country,but of The New Zealand Story,the TAITO's videogame!) Version 6.0 Started Writing it on 7/5/1997 Lastly updated: 10/2/2006 Written by Victor Epitropou Copyright Victor Epitropou 1997-2006 e-mail: vicet80@hotmail.com HTML and AmigaGuide conversions by NINJAW P.B. e-mail: ninjawpb@hotmail.com This plain TXT version is avaiable from (in order of descending importance): 1: Also avaiable at GameFAQs 2: Several other (retro)gaming/emulation sites around the Web. Please keep in mind,in these cases you can stumble in very old releases of this Guide,such as 5.x, 4.x or even 3.x ! Unluckily,there are lots of such places,and I can't "update" them all! 3: AmigaGuide versions avaiable at Aminet and most Aminet Mirrors. To my knowledge,the only version in such format was based upon v3.3 of the Guide,so go figure... 4: Lastly,there are some third part HTML versions around,which maybe easier to use than my 'original' text format.but most of them suffer of the same 'obsolescence' problems mentioned above. Usually based on 3.x, 4.x and 5.x versions of the guide. This Guide is freeware (you can use as you want, but I keep the copyright). I would greatly appreciate it if you asked my permission, before using it in commercial stuff, whatever it could be. I just wanna know,that's all. Free distribution of this Guide through ANY medium is encouraged,as soon as the original contents are not altered in ANY WAY. You may however transfer the Guide to HTML,create hyperlinks etc., credit yourself or others for doing this etc. but never alter,delete or add anything from/to the Guide without my permission. Chapters: *: Completely New. (not on previous versions) +: Additions were made (since last version) -: corrections were made (since last version) X: Not any more! (never more from current version and above) NEW ZEALAND STORY SECTION [1.1] Introduction / about myself [1.2] Why did you write this guide anyway? [1.3] How good is it? [1.4] What is New Zealand Story? [1.5] What about it? [1.6] How good are YOU at the game,that so much you love it? [1.7] Credits [1.8] History of the guide so far: - [2.1] Game basics [2.2] Game weapons/powerups [2.3] Game enemies [2.4] Game vehicles [2.5] Game bosses [2.6] The ending messages [3.1] Game Secrets [3.2] What are the "Heaven" rounds? [3.3] Conversions of NZS [3.4] Emulations of NZS [-] [4.1] MY way of finishing the game. [4.2] How to EASILY finish the game. [4.3] Tricks to make some round easier. [4.4] NZS-Filez [4.5] Special: the Sweet Cheater Amiga NZS Guide! X [1.1] Introduction/about myself. I am Victor Epitropou,experienced video gamer and programmer. I live in Greece where I was born, and as you can tell I'm an avid TAITO games fan :-) I have written FAQs for other TAITO games such as Liquid Kids and Cadash, as well as one for Battlefield 1942...well that's no TAITO game, let alone a cute game, but hey who cares ;-) This Guide is an almost 10 year project, and some parts have changed a lot during those 10 years, as has, in good or bad, my interest for the game and the time I devoted to it, and the circumstances in the world around. [1.2] Why did you(I) write this guide anyway? Well,I love this game very much,I know how to play it very well (explained below) ,I know a lot of secrets (if not all of them...),hints,tips etc., that I would like to share with others and help new gamers to become as good as I am at the game.Also,I would like to show the world what an example of a good game is. [1.3] How good is it? The Guide? Objectively,it's the best. - Contains info on all enemies and vehicles. - Has ACCURATE descriptions with CHARTS of the secret places. - Is frequently updated (OK,OK,while I still have the time for that...) - It has detailed reviews of the various ports of the game. - It has tips for a couple of TOUGH rounds. - Has info you never-ever hoped to find. - it's now 124K...this means a lot! (Well, it has actually been bigger in the past, but it was mostly emulation ranting and other omitable trivia :-) [1.4] What is New Zealand Story? New Zealand Story is an arcade/platform game released from TAITO in 1988. The central character is Tiki,a Kiwi bird (see below to find out what this is). He is yellow like a canary,wears blue & white sport shoes,and has a depressed/sad look throughout the game.Maybe that's what makes him so adorable... His mission is to rescue his Kiwi friends,kidnapped from their Zoo by a big Walrus,and also to beat the Walrus to rescue his girlfriend called Phee Phee (which the Walrus of course kept for himself!). In the intro before the game,the screen shows the Kiwis playing around,then comes the big bad walrus,chases them,puts them into a sack,and as he runs away,our hero slips out of the sack,and goes on to a long journey to rescue his friends one by one and finally to kick the Walrus' ass and rescue his girlfriend Phee Phee. (gee,I love games with such plots!) That's where you come in. The game is omnidirectional(scrolls any direction),single-scrolling (no parallax),seems to use something like 32 colors on screen (looks much better than other 16-color games,but not as good as other 64-color games of that era,like Shinobi),and displays quite a lot of sprites on the screen. Zoological Note: A Kiwi in reality is a brown,non-flying bird, about the size of a chicken, that looks like it's got hair instead of feathers,and doesn't look much like the one(s) in this game.It's also very rare,lives only in New Zealand,and is a protected species. Well,none,I say,none could find out what kind of bird was the hero of the game, most said it was a canary (looks kinda like Tweety...) but I looked down in an encyclopedia,and found it.Later,when I finished the game for the first time, the ending messages said it was a kiwi,indeed. [1.5] What about it? Well,for starters,NZS wasn't just another platform game. It had many unique features,that almost none of today's games have. Not in facts of sound,video,speed,but in gameplay: Most enemies didn't kill you by collision,only those who hadn't got a long-distance weapon,only four in the entire game,many of them rode on flying vehicles ranging from simple teddy-bear shaped baloons,inflatable ducks,multicolor baloons,zeppelins,to iron baloons and weapon-wielding UFO's with laser or homing missiles! You could kill an enemy and take his vehicle,or just jump on him and he would drop down DEAD,and you would have just STEALED his vehicle! (Well,Grand Theft Auto basically implemented this concept,in a more 'up to date' way!). The game had got a lot of stages with water,where you could dive for a limited amount of time,until you ran out of oxygen,in which case you drowned. You could renew it by finding rooms with air or going back to surface,and you could also stay semi-immersed and spit water at your enemies,while renewing your oxygen.Cool,eh? Even in water there were enemies,not really as deadly as the ones over the surface,but they depended on the fact that you couldn't shoot in water. Another cool thing was,that if you died in any round after 3-1,you would not end the game,but taken to a special stage called "Heaven",in which you had a chance to escape it (heaven?!) and continue the game on the earth. If you could,because even in heaven there were enemies (with Halo's on their heads!) and deadly spikes,and even if you survived that,there was a Virgin Mary at the end of the stage,that if you met you would simply end the game... And of course,there were SECRETS!Lots of SECRETS! Almost every round of the game had secret teleporters,sometimes more than one, that would take you to other rounds or to secret levels! The game was also very cute,all enemies too,and very,very playable! And there are so many other features...but,you've got to play it to feel it real! [1.6] How good are YOU at the game,that so much you love it? Well,I am the Master of this game.And I don't brag without a good reason! I know almost all of the secrets of the game,all tricks,and can finish it with ease and mucho lives & points everytime. Once,I counted how many times I had finished it(!),but I lost count after thirty-five (35) times or so... I scored incredibly high scores (if you saw a score with about 300K-400K or even 1M difference from the others,you could tell that I had played before you,and surely had finished the game.) My biggest score is about 1300000+ pts (but this can be easily beaten if you just have the patience to do it,as it isn't really hard as it it time- consuming to get such a score.)I think I needed an hour and a half or so for that??? [1.7] Credits Because the credits section has grown very big with time,I re-arranged it to make more space for the...newcomers! So,credits go: To myself, for writing this guide all alone from scratch. To Ninjaw P.B.,who (1) took the challenge and converted the whole Guide to HTML and (2) to AmigaGuide format,and also (3) released it in the Aminet! And,(4) he also offered his 6 Mb Web space in the USA for the much awaited Mirror site! Good job,Ninjaw,but the whole server proved to be too little,too late (speaking of late...t'was too slow!) He is a VERY big fan,but I rather consider him a valuable coleague,as he has done a hell of a work to contribute to the NZS preservation project...Thanks! To TAITO,obviously,for making the game.Hey,big "T",why don't you release a brand-new 256 (or more...) color PC/PSX/SATURN version,with ray-traced kiwis and sprites,CD soundtrack,a 3D-raytraced intro of the Walrus kidnapping the Kiwis and some post-level raytraced animations,e.g. Tiki swimming,fighting,climbing Mt.Cook to find the Walrus etc,? It would be great! Update: as of 2005/2006, TAITO released an official emulation package called "TAITO Legends" or "TAITO Memories", depending on the version, which contains the original NZS under emulation. To the "Flash Back" arcade shopkeeper for having NZS in his arcade room back in 1990 altough it's not here any more (the machine, not the man!), To Alan Carter,which contributed to version 5.0 of the guide with Heaven one and bonus info,as well as info on the "Red Porcupine" enemy (Or Flying Brain,a name I came across by bad interpretation,now rejected!) To all those people mantaining Bubble Bobble/TAITO related Web pages (doesn't this include me? :-) Gee,I got credited twice!) To all NZS,Bubble Bobble,RI etc. players on planet Earth. To Ono Mathieu,for being willing to send me screenshots from the Amiga version (which never came to me).Well,it's the thought that counts. He also sent me the old Amiga NZS guide from Sweet Cheater (in time...) To Nestis Koutsoudis for pointing me out some details about the Spectrum, and being willing to contribute for the Spectrum version He was the first person on the Web to see the Guide! (The page didn't exist yet). To Carl Chavez,for linking my to page from his Bubble Bobble page (which is considered the TEMPLE of Bubble Bobble and other TAITO games) and pointing me out the existence of the awesome NES version of NZS. To Olivier Houdes,who mantains the Portal To The Past Page. My page used to be there,once... To Dominic Holmes,for contributing the the C64 soundtrack. To Mighty Red (whoever he is...) for showing such a warm interest in New Zealand Story and of course all related stuff in my page... That's what I call a FAN! [1.8] History of the Guide so far v6.0 10/2/2006 The fact that TAITO released an official emulation package called "TAITO Legends" or "TAITO Memories", depending on the version, which contains the original NZS under emulation, abruptly changes all the cards on the deck. This means that the Unofficial NZS page project will be terminated, at least for now, and the NZS Guide itself will not treat the "emulation" argument if not for comparison reasons, and will in no way encourage emulating over buying the official product. Also, don't mail me with ROM requests, they will be, at best, ignored. Why? Because now there IS an official PC/PS2/XBOX etc. version of the game which is sold for real money and people live from it, so all rogue emulation attempts must be uhm...quelled, so STFU and go buy TAITO Legends you lazy freeloading bum :-) So, for all that concerns me, there's only one emulation of NZS that matters: it's called TAITO Legends, and anyone wanting to play New Zealand Story should buy it. It's also about time that the emulation info is either updated or removed since it doesn't reflect the "real" happenings from a long time now, and has, at best, historical value. v5.2 9/11/2000 I think the guide would benefit from a few changes,in particular changes that would help reducing its size...I removed the NZS fans section (sorry) and I will consider making a shorter,more "technical" version,without many in-depth considerations and will try to cut out on personal comments...where possible :-). Alan Carter pointed me that the FAQ's size really caused a lot of trouble,and suggested that either I should divide it into "chapters" or cut out on something... v5.1 22/4/2000 More updates... 1) Heaven 1 COMPLETE info,thanks to Alan Carter.MANY THANKS AL! 2) "Flying Brain" corrections... v5.0 17/2/2000 OK,OK,it's always a big thing to talk about "final" versions! So let's call this one "5.0". Here,thanks to Alan Carter (banebou@yahoo.co.uk) there is THE WAY TO ESCAPE FROM HEAVEN 1,the one which none knew how (or did but never tried it...),and a little update in the bonus area (no more "green cake" bonus :-) as well as a final word on arcade emulators,which I won't follow with many details,but just point out the different alternatives. Enjoy :-) v4.0c 20/12/1999 A year later,there are no differences (I told you,the Guide is complete!) but there are minor changes in the credits sections and updated e-mails/page adresses in the title. v4.0b 25/12/1998 Yep,it's XMAS 1998 and a few updates weren't too bad after all... I corrected some stupid mistakes in the warp section,which after all was one of the very first I made and the most unchanged since then...now the Guide should be flawless ;-) .... v0.2: Enemies and vehicles complete,some more rounds added some Heaven rounds just started,some sections to come.Some grammar & spelling mistakes corrected.Unreleased. v0.1: First attempt,no yet released.Had got intro,some levels,some vehicles, some powerups and some enemies. v0.0: Just the idea of making a NZS guide! [2.1] Game basics You simply move around with the joystick,fire with a button,jump with another. Depending on how much did you press the jump button,you could control your jump height,very important in some points of the game. Also,when you are falling down,even from a small cliff,if you press the jump button rapidly enough,Tiki will flap his tiny wings,and will slow down,or stand in mid-air,or even gain height! That's one of the best features of the game! Your goal is to reach the end of the round,where you will find a cage with one of your kiwi companions,touch it,free him and end the round. Your score shows on the top-left angle of the screen,the high score resides in the middle top of the screen. Your life counter is at the bottom-left corner,above it appears the O2 meter (when you're underwater) and above that the map of the level,which only shows the shape of the round and your position relative to the exit. Your time isn't unlimited. If you are too late on a level,first a "hurry up!" warning appears,then a flying devil angrily holding a clock (to show you that you're late!) starts to chase you.You can walk/fly faster than him sometimes (with a powerup or special vehicle),but he can pass through walls,water,spikes and will never stop until level ends or he gets you. If you avoid him for a lot of time,another "hurry up!" will appear and another angry devil will start to chase you along with the first one,and this can happen again,and again... Soon,you will find out that your feet won't take you anywhere. Many places will be too high for you to reach,or impossible to walk on. What to do then? Simple! Wait for an enemy to appear (one that rides on something) and steal his vehicle by a) shooting him down (but you must be careful not to shoot the vehicle,too!) or b) jumping on him.This is riskier,as the enemy might be ready to shoot you, and also there is one kind of enemy you can't jump on,because he kills you by collision (you can tell from his spikes...). To fly a vehicle,you must ride on it,and keep the jump button pressed,letting it go from time to time to control height.If you don't keep it pressed,you will go down.You can steer the vehicle anytime as usual. To get off a vehicle,just ground it and press down. Most vehicles are light,and will accelerate fast,so be careful if there is a spikey ceiling.Some are heavy,and will fly around soooo slowly... Also,some vehicles fly by themselves (no jump button required). Some are fast,some are slow,some are easily destroyed,some can take a few hits, some are indestructible by some weapons or traps. I mentioned destruction,because you can damage the vehicles but the enemies can too,and so will do spikes,lava,etc. In the right side of the screen,you can see the LETTERS that you collect in the game,in order to form the word "EXTEND".When you do that,you get 1 free player.Also,the letters have a number at their base. When you collect 10 letters of the same kind,you also "extend" and get an extra life.There is another method called "double extend" that gives you two lives with one extend,and is a combination of the above methods.It basically consists in getting a letter (or letters) that complete the "EXTEND" word while it is still flashing from having collected 10 same letters... Sounds complicated? See this example: You have the XTEND letters and 9 Green E's. In front of you there is a Green E and a Red E. You collect the Green one first,and WHILE the XTEND letters are still flashing, you collect the Red E,so you form the complete word EXTEND and you get TWO lives instead of one... The "numerical" extend must probably be done first (first 10 same letters then the extra letters,and not the other way round). [2.2] The game has got a lot of powerups,some are weapons,some help you in your mission,some give you points. When you kill an enemy,he turns into a fruit,and after a sequence of different fruits,the next item will be a power-up,and then the sequence starts all over again.So,some items that appear after this sequence,are called powerups,even if some don't "powerup" you at all. The sequence of the fruits is: Berry,Orange,Papaya,Grapes,Carrot,Watermelon,(Powerup),again berry,orange,etc.. Also,the powerups themselves seem to have an order: Bombs,Spring,Staff,Laser,Joystick,Turbo,Random ** ** the random powerup can be a Potion,Mirror,Letter,Green Apple (2000 pts) or Cake Slice (8000 pts) Bow (weapon): it's your primary weapon,but appears also as a bonus,in case you would like to use it instead of some other weapon. It shoots arrows that travel straight(slowly),can be shot many at a time, don't do any through-wall damage and are ineffective against some "armoured" vehicles. It's also the weakest weapon. Bombs (weapon): it's the first new weapon you'll get in the game. You shoot black bombs with fuses that explode when they hit the ground or an enemy.They don't go very far,and are affected by gravity.The explosions do extended damage,and can hit things through sufficiently thin walls. Fire Staff (weapon): it looks just like a small staff,but fires big,bouncing balls.Those balls bounce when they touch a wall,or the surface of water.They are fast enough. They can be only shot two at a time,and a new one can't be shot if two balls already are on the screen. Can take several enemies in a row with one hit,and can also do some through wall damage,or get trapped in a wall, killing anyone passing by. Laser Gun (weapon): It shoots a long,blue laser ray,that goes through ANY wall and enemy.It is very,very fast and is probably the best weapon in the game.The ray appears almost instantly, like a thick blue line drawn on the screen.Is also a very powerful weapon,maybe the most powerful. Spring : Looks like a spring,but I have never figured out what it actually does,if it does.(Any info,anyone?) Joystick: A yellow & black joystick,that allows flying all vehicles only with joystick (no jump button required). Seems to work only for one ride (if you get off the vehicle and get on it again,it won't work. Also,it removes all acceleration,making the faster vehicles slower, and the slower ones faster. Turbo: Looks like the turbo symbol on cars,and will speed Tiki very much. Not only walking,but also flying vehicles (has no effect on UFO's, which are the fastest vehicles in the game).It also speeds up swimming. It makes you also be able to walk over pits you would normally fall in immediately.It may turn out deadly,if got in a place where you've got to do delicate manouvers to pass mazes of spikes or jump on thin blocks without falling.Has no effect when walking on icy ground (only the last two stages of the game have such pavements) Clock: Temporarily freezes all enemies and projectyles on the screen for about 15 sec.This can give you trouble in some places of the game. Holy Book: Shakes the screen and all enemies die,all vehicles receive one hit (some won't pop).Be careful,it also affects YOUR vehicle and you will be grounded (or spiked...) unless you ride a color ballon with some hits left... Green Apple: Simply gives you 2000 pts.No powerup,but appears instead of a powerup after the fruit sequence. Kiwi Slice: The one that I once referred to as a slice of "green cake" (yuck!) is actually a slice of Kiwi fruit,as pointed by Alan Carter (banebou@yahoo.co.uk) .Thanks! That's why it gives you 8000 pts and it's TAITO's big joke,as Alan Carter said: A Kiwi (Tiki) eating a Kiwi (fruit).Ha ha ha.... Mirror: Takes you right near the cage at the end of the level,with your time renewed.You can finish the stage right away,or stay and collect some points.Rare(only if you have killed a lot of enemies will this item appear in the sequence of bonuses) Potion: Music changes,Tiki starts to flicker and becomes invulnerable for some time (about 45 sec.) against any enemy or trap,except water (you can still drown!). Even rarer than the mirror. Letter: Appears more often than the mirror and the potion,and is very useful: supplies you with a letter,so you can "extend",or complete ten same letters for extra life (or maybe double extend,who knows...). [2.3] Game enemies You'll find all of these cute guys in the game! Crab: A crab with a brown,conic shell that shoots some slow rolling mines,that can be destroyed by a player's fire or level traps (spikes,lava,etc.) Missile crap: A crab with a dark grey conic shell and whicked eyes,that shoots a fast,indestructible missile. Blue Soldier: A soldier (that looks like a wooden toy) with a boomerang. He shoots it,and it then returns to him,even when he is dead, so be careful,if he has already shot his weapon before you kill him. Bob: Some worried-looking Bears with glasses,that ride on inflatable yellow teddy bear heads and shoot arrows at you with their bows. Bomber: A guy in a hot-air ballon who drops bombs vertically on the ground from above.Can be very difficult to pull off if you are...grounded, in which case he is simply at a much better position than yours. Unlike other enemies,that have to come very close to you or even to the ground to shoot you,making them easy targets,this guy can keep a safe height from you and bombard you,being out of the range of most weapons. Duck : A purple duck that rides an inflatable duck,and throws stones at you. Exploding Frog : a purple frog that jumps around,and when it's ready to shoot it becomes red and shoots spikes in all directions. Red Soldier: An soldier with a spear,riding on a red teddy head,throws his spear vertically and upwards,making him dangerous to keep below you. Axe Cat : A blue and white cat riding on a heavy,metal vehicle invulnerable to spikes,arrows,etc. (the vehicle,not the rider!) and throwing heavy axes at you. Flying Cat: A flying cat that will "scratch" in mid air,killing you if you just jumped on it. Franky : An orange guy with yellow spikes,one of the few enemies that can kill you with collision,as he has no weapons at all. He can spit a guy like himself out of his mouth,and so those guys can dangerously multiply if you don't keep an eye on them. There is also a Franky that rides on a red teddy head like the Red Soldier,doesn't shoot too,and it can't multiply. YOU CAN'T JUMP ON HIM TO GET HIS VEHICLE!You'll die. Microbs: A bunch of seven microbs that moves slowly towards you,and if you don't kill the "leader" (the one that moves first) then they will multiply to reach seven again.If you kill the "leader",they stop moving and die off quickly.They can only kill you by collision. You can exploit them by going behind them someway,and shoot the last ones: the "leader" will always produce new ones,so you can take many points and powerups out of these guys. Turtle: Turtles that ride on slow,yellow ballons with strings and spit fire at you.Their fire can pass through several enemies,so be careful! Cool Bob: Like the bobs,but bigger,with bigger bows,black glasses (hence: cool!) and ride on a special baloon that can take four hits and changes colors. Laser UFO pilot: A guy that pilots a fast UFO with built-in laser cannon that shoots instantly through walls.Very deadly,if you're not quicker or without the proper weapons,since the UFO is indestructible by arrows,spikes,spears,etc. Black Bat: An ugly bat that flies high,like the Bomber but can't change it's altitude,flies through walls and carries a spike to drop on you. After it drops this spike,it simply leaves the screen,uncapable of doing you any more harm.This makes it less dangerous than the Bomber,which has unlimited bombs,but it aims much more accurately. It can't kill you by contact,but if you bump it while it's still carrying it's spike,you will die from the spike,which is effective even when still carried. Also,leaves no bonus when killed,to complete it's ugly image. Magician: A guy fooling around in a silly joker costume,trowing a magic star in the air every little bit.The star turns into a new enemy. He seems to be able to create any enemy,from a crab to a Laser UFO pilot.He can't make other Magicians,and I've never seen him create a Missile UFO Pilot.Sometimes,this guy rides a zeppelin,which makes him difficult to reach. Missile UFO pilot: An ugly looking guy that pilots a fast UFO,shooting homing missiles at you. Cannon Lamb: A big lamb (?!) carring a big cannon,shoots a big black ball that explodes and from zero to eight pellets come from it. Curser: An ugly-looking black guy that seems to be cursing you all the time, (actually,he looks pissed-off!) rides a fast metal vehicle,invulnerable to spikes,arrows,etc. which carries four spike balls,that kill anything they touch. Pumpkin: A Halloween pumpkin with arms,that simply jump and grabs you if you fly on a vehicle,and pulls you down.That's all.It doesn't kill you,and you can touch him.Appears only in levels 4-2,4-3 and 4-4. Mine: Only underwater,can't shoot but you can't too.Moves excessively fast for your swimming speed,kills by collision,but can be shot by laser (outside and aside water) or a bomb on the surface,maybe even with a bouncin'ball. It also has the ability to climb and descend waterfalls easily,covering a vaste water territory, Spike Sponge: A spikey mass that moves left-right underwater around the same spot.Kills you if you touch it. Anemon: Starts to move when you get near it,and eats you if you come too close. You can swim UNDER it's mouth and it won't catch you. Bomb Trap: Looks like a Spike Sponge with a tentacle: only the tentacle moves, and if it touches you,it starts to burn off (underwater?!) and when the fire reaches the trap,BOOM!,it shoots like the Frog,but also explodes and disappears forever.I've never tried it,but I think it should kill you even if you touch the spikes without having touched the tentacle. Red Porcupine: It's a strange looking enemy,not appearing really often in the arcade,at least not on the normal version. (or on a low-normal difficulty level) He looks like what the name says: a Red guy with spikes on his back. He is the only enemy that HANGS from a green,one-shot baloon and he produces the same (painful) effect of a Flying Franky. On the arcade machine I used to play,I only saw him once,spawned by a Magician,and caused the machine to crash after a while. That made me always think that was a momentary bug,some sprite mistake,but then I saw the same figure on various versions of the game,especially on the Spectrum (in which he replaced the Flying Franky),the Amstrad CPC and the Sega Megadrive,which featured both of them (Frankie AND Porcupine). In the "alternate" arcade version he shows up regularly,and maybe in the normal one too,but probably requires a higher difficulty setting. Again,thanks to Alan Carter,there is a better description: Looks like I told before,it's very good at dodging your shots and he tries to fly above you and then it swoops down on you. [2.4] Game Vehicles As you have probably understood,I mean every flying device in this game with the word "vehicle".Those vehicles can range from a simple baloon to a high-tech UFO,and add so much to the gameplay,that the game wouldn't be the same without them. The fun and joy of riding the weirdest vehicles,like,say,a big zeppelin or a powerful UFO and blast your enemies from above,is one of the game's best features. You mostly grab your vehicle from an enemy,by shooting him or jumping on him (be careful...) or,sometimes,it's there already,waiting for you. You can kill an enemy by just shooting his vehicle,but the enemies can do that to you to,making you fall on spikes or lava,or you can accidentally misplace your vehicle on spikes,causing it to pop and you to fall on them. Teddy bear head: It looks b a r e l y like a bear's head,only it's got too thin ears.It comes in a yellow/brown and red version, which are exactly the same thing.It's speed is average,and it can squeeze through a few narrow spots with some effort, although it adds a bit to your total height (it's half as tall as Tiki,TIki rides on it by just STANDING,and so he becomes 50% taller).It's as large as Tiki. To destroy it,it only takes one hit by any weapon,including spikes,lava,etc. Duck: It's probably the vehicle you will ride the most.It looks just like an ordinary duck,but it's speed is above average.Although it's about 75% Tiki's height,Tiki rides it while sitting down,so it only adds about 15-20% to your total height.Although it looks a bit larger than Tiki,that's simply an illusion: it can squeeze EASILY through many, many narrow spots precisely and with safety,altough it also takes only one shot to be destroyed. Hot air baloon: This baloon has got a blue chest,where Tiki stands,and above it there is a pink baloon,that can protect Tiki from a dropping weapon, such as a spike, but then the baloon is gone, and Tiki falls down. It's about 30% taller than Tiki, and adds the same to his height, because Tiki stands on the bottom line of the basket, and the baloon just above him. That's why it can't pass through many spots,and it's not such a good vehicle after all. It's as large as Tiki,and takes only one shot to destroy. Metal Baloon : This massive and heavy vehicle can be very useful sometimes: It's indestructible by spikes, arrows, spears, turtle fires, stones etc. and also by lava. However,it only takes one hit from a bomb,bouncing flame, laser or homing missile to destroy it. You can either stand on it,or hang from below it,so it protects your head from dangers such as bombs,spikes,etc.,but it's also about 150% the height of Tiki,making it unsuitable for tunnels, etc. Also,if you ride it by hanging from below, the result stands even taller,and even more unsuitable for narrow places. And last,but not least,its terribly S-L-O-W when going up, and too FAST when going down. String baloon: It's just a yellow baloon with a string,that you can either stand on it or hang from it,in which case it becomes unsuitable for many tunnels.It's a little taller than a teddy bear baloon. Nothing interesting here... Color baloon : That's another important vehicle in this game. You can either stand or hang,like the Metal Baloon,but's it's shorter and faster than that.It's not indestructible,but takes 4 shots from - ANY - weapon to be destroyed.You can tell how many shots it takes from it's color: when it's brand new,it's bright red.When it's hit one time,it becomes bright green. The second time,it becomes yellow,the third time dark red,and the next time it disappears.It can squeeze trough a few places, and is a good choice in some parts of the game.It's as tall as Tiki,but still has good mobility. Zeppelin : Whoa! A big zeppelin,twice the height of Tiki and four times as large,with a little basket hanging from below. You will not have many chances to ride this thing in the game, because the enemy who rides it likes to remain high above you,and it's difficult to jump on it (you must center the basket,not just the big baloon!). It's easiest to get it on round 5-1 and maybe on round 3-4. Even if you get it,you will not be very impressed: it's too slow, and can't pass through many places,due to it's size,so you'll maybe ride it for a few seconds,just for curiosity.It takes about 4 to 5 hits to destroy,but gives no indication of how many has it taken so far. It's worth however 1000 points if shot,so shoot it down if you can! SpikeBalls: It's a metal vehicle with the same properties of the Metal Baloon, only that it is a little shorter,much lighter and carries four deadly spikey metal balls hanging from below,kinda like the tail of a kite (so you can't hang from below ;-) . Those balls destroy and kill anything they touch,except the rider of the vehicle,because when you go down,the balls don't follow immediately,but are affected by inertia and react slowly when changing direction. Getting on the vehicle is not such a hard task.But getting down is far more dangerous,because then you will be vulnerable to the balls. When you land,all the balls touch the ground,and one or more will be down the vehicle,and not aside. So,if you press "down" on the joystick, you will fall on the balls, and since you will not be on the vehicle anymore,guess...you will die! If you've only got arrows,try to move it so that the balls are as far as possible from the body of the vehicle before getting down, and give it a try... If you've got bombs,staff or laser,no problemo: Just shoot as you press down,the vehicle will be destroyed and you will be safe! Laser UFO: it looks like a small cabrio spaceship (no roof) and has got a round cannon in front of it (only when you ride it). It is very fast,and needs no jump button to fly,you just move it around with the joystick.It can also stay completely still in mid air,without falling down,if you don't move it at all. It's also,as usual,indestructible by arrows,spikes,etc. It also replaces your weapon with a powerful laser blast,five times more powerful than the laser gun. If you want to destroy it,land it,shoot with its laser,press "down" and quickly flick the joystick left-right. It adds nothing to your height,but it's twice as large as you,so you can't take it with you everywhere... Missile UFO: This special version of the UFO appears only in levels 5-1 and 5-3,so you really gotta be very good at the game to have a chance to see it and ride it.It looks like the Laser UFO,and has the same properties,only that it's cannon is kind of trapezoidal,and shoots small homing missiles that auto-lock on any enemy and destroy it. The missiles die-off after some time if they don't find any target by flying in circles around the same spot. They aren't very fast,but it's very funny standing high,with YOUR BACK TURNED on your enemies,and seeing the missiles going down and steering on them,to kill them. There are some things you've got to be careful about: The missiles YOU shoot, don't harm you or the UFO that fired them (if the rider that fired them is still on the UFO) but if an enemy pilot has already fired some missiles against you and you kill him and take his vehicle, the missiles he fired will still be looking for you, so you can either shoot them (since the missiles will lock on and destroy enemy HOMING missiles ONLY), or beat it,since the UFO flies much faster than the missiles. If you want to destroy it with it's own weapon,go as close to the ground as possible, without getting out of it, shoot one missile, making sure that there is no enemy around, so the missile will fly straight forward, fly ahead of the missile and get out (quickly!). The missile will then destroy the UFO (since you are not on it anymore) As you can understand,that can also be a method of killing yourself if you shoot more than one missile...;-) [2.5] Game Bosses What,did you think a game like that didn't have any bosses? On the opposite,there are plenty of them! Bosses appear at the end of every episode (Oakland,Rotorua,Waitomo Caves, Strait Cook,Mt Cook) except Strait Cook,which has got no Boss. So,totally,there are 4 big meanies in the whole game.Let's see them: Oakland: The Frozen Whale The Boss here is the Frozen Whale,a pink whale with an ice armor that floats in mid-air,shoots some snow flakes(!) at you,and from time to time it tries to swallow you.The whale isn't vulnerable from outside,so you must let it swallow you. If you do so,you will be INSIDE the whale,and shoot its internal walls,until it's destroyed. But,beware,because gastric liquigs slowly drip from the whale's ceiling,and kill you if touched!You must move around inside the whale,so to constantly avoid gastric liquids. The best weapon against it is the Laser Gun,or the Fire Staff.Best because they kill it more rapidly. Rotorua: The Stone Octopus The boss here is a big stone octopus with a "headlight" that shoots some black objects of indefinisable form against you.Floats in mid air,and it's only weak point is the "headlight",from which it shoots you. The projectyles can be destroyed,and MUST be to reach the headlight. So,the best weapon against it is,once again,the Laser Gun,and the Fire Staff. With arrows,it should be kind of difficult,and with bombs almost impossible, since you are on one side of the screen,and the Octopus on the other,and you have to be on the same height with the boss to hit him. Waitomo Caves: Amida Meiro The boss here is a strange totem-looking robot,which some wall inscriptions in the game call "Amida Meiro".Anyway,Amida Meiro is a big robot with an egg-shaped body and a built-in missile launcher. On Amida's chest,there is a door,which opens and she shoots 5 black missiles at you.Those missiles are slow,but tend to lock on your last position,so they are quite dangerous. To easily pull out,you must have a strong vehicle,the Metal Baloon. After you take the vehicle (NOT from the head!),fly in the boss room and stand on the highest platform on the right WITHOUT abandoning the vehicle. When Amida comes at your height,shoot her like crazy until her missiles come close to you. Then go up so Tiki is "inside" the ceiling blocks. Missiles will pass through the vehicle,and you will be unharmed. Go down and repeat until she's dead... The best weapon is the laser.Arrows are blocked by missiles,and bombs require you find a special position to do any good.Fire Staff as arrows,and only gives two shots! Strait Cook: (none) Strangely,there is no boss here.Only a very dangerous round,crammed with spikes. See section [4.3] for more info. Mt.Cook: (Walrus) The boss here is also the final one.He is the bad Walrus,hanging from a big red baloon,and holding a small cannon.which shoots 5 black balls with a parabolic trajectory. You DEFINITIVELY should enter the boss room with a flying vehicle,or else you'll have to stand on a microscopic block of ice,and sooner or later either the cannon will get you,because you can't move,or you'll slip and fall down on spikes...OUCH! Also,be sure to have the Laser Gun with you,since arrows hurt him very little. You can do these two things together,if you get the Laser UFO,which destroys him if 3-5 shots.If you do that,you're ok.The Laser Gun takes 10-15 shots. Also,only the baloon is vulnerable,and not the body,so shoot the baloon. [2.6] The ending scenes. Ahh,if you ever finished the game in the arcades,you must be familiar with these messages and scenes.If you never did,but wish to find out...read on! After you defeat the final boss,a slideshow of Tiki's adventures appears,and several text messages read (grammar and spelling as they appear in the game): "STORY Here is nature zoological gardens in North island. Two kiwis called Tiki and Phee-phee live together with many fellows. One day, Phee-phee and other fellows are carried off by a leopard seal who came from the antarctic ocean. The leopard seal is selling kiwis in various places. Tiki goes on a journey to help Phee-phee and other fellows out of the dangerous places...." Then follows a looping cinematic sequence with a giant Tiki and a giant Phee- Phee walking down the road with shops scrolling in the background,and text scrolling upwards: "You should know well the story after this because you would make the story after this by yourself.... MAIN STAFF KAZUTOMO ISHIDA HISAYA YABUSAKI AKIRA OOTSUKI MAKOTO FUJITA KOICHI OOYAMA SOUND EFFECTS HISAYOSHI OGURA YASUKO YAMADA YASUHISA WATANABE ONE-TIME STAFF MITSUKOU KIMURA NAOKO TOSHIMITSU" Then a picture of Tiki and Phee-Phee appears,and the final message is: "Thank you for playing.See you again" GAME OVER However,most versions have these kinds of simple endings: 1. They display the text about Tiki's journey and show a pic or two from the arcade's ending plus the final pic...this is the ending of the ATARI ST,AMIGA, MEGADRIVE,PC ENGINE,SMS(surprisingly better than many others) 2. They simply show the final pic of Tiki and Phee-Phee,usually followed by a cute sweet song and a big (or many small) hearts...so do the CPC,SPECTRUM,C64 and NES. The X68000 and FM TOWNS versions have got arcade-perfect endings,like the rest of them... [3.1] Game Secrets Ah,the section you all have been waiting for. Please understand that this section was by far the toughest for me to complete,since I don't simply tell you things like "Going right from place x of level y you will find a warp to z" but I make an accurate description of the place where the warp resides,and I include a diagram where possible,so even somebody who has never seen the level or place can identify it right away,and find the warp. Please also note,that some levels have no known warps,or I didn't notice them. In that case,if you feel like it,send me and e-mail to notify me and send me some info on that,OK? *** IMPORTANT! *** The "Game Secrets" section refers to the Original Arcade version with the * Standard * rounds but it also applies to most other home versions,e.g. Amiga,Atari,NES,PCE,SMS,although some warps here and there may be missing... IT DOES NOT however apply to versions using the "alternate" rounds,such as the "alternate" arcade version (tnzs2) or the Genesis version,which now clearly seems to be a translation of the "alternate" version. BTW,there seems to be more than one 'alternate' version,which makes the whole issue a bit hard to fully comprehend. These versions of the game have some completely different round design (some new rounds) and some of the original rounds have been randomly placed,so don't try to follow the Guide or you'll be quite comfused! Also,do not try looking for secrets in the lowly 8-bit versions of the game (CPC,ZX,C64) coz there aren't any! Warps in this game are doors with a fire vortex in them,that when entered they will take you to other places of the current or some next level, to secret,unaccesible areas and stages,where you can usually find letters or bonuses,or simply help you skip up to 4 stages!Also,there is a warp in the game that takes you a level BACK,making playing forever possible! Every round has got at least one warp,except maybe rounds 3-1 ,3-3 ,3-4 , 4-3, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4. Where possible or required,I've included a rough diagram in ASCII so you can have an idea of the place I'm talking about. Warps require to be shot 5 times to appear. If you shoot arrows, bombs or bouncing balls,you can tell there is a warp if the projectyles stop in mid air without a reason. The reason is that probably there is a warp! In other cases, such as secret rounds, warps may be already open for you to take them, as there is no other way out. Also, there is a secret round which you exit by falling down a hole in the floor as well as on the "Heaven" rounds! (surprise: in NZS you can't die by falling "off-screen"! When you can do that, it's only an exiting way from a secret round or similar!) Round 1-1: In the last room of this stage, there are 3 platforms one in top of another. |-----------------------------------| | * Warp | | ===================== Cage| | -----| | ===================== --- #| | --- #| | ===================== --- #| #| ------------------------------------| Go to the highest one,to the left edge,jump about half-height,and shoot 5 times.A warp should appear.For "somebody"'s insistence,I'll add that this warp takes you into a closed box on round 2-1,only this time it has got the "red E","X","T" letters.There is a warp on the right. You either shoot to make it appear or it opens by itself,I don't recall. However,from there on you move to round 1-4 (in an unaccesible area below the boss room) where you will find the "green E","N","D" letters,so you already have an extra life! To get to know more about round 1-4 (which is important in the game) keep on reading! Round 1-2: In the place where you start,jump on the second platform,and shoot on your left 5 times. | ------| |---------------|--------- | * Warp | ================| | | | ================| |Start | |-------------------------|------ A warp should appear.Enter it,and you will be taken to a room of the secret round (the secret round is a place where almost all secret rooms are found,like separate rooms in any level,and you can't visit more than one at a time,since they are all separated by closed walls) which has two large columns with water,where on top of them two other warps open as soon as you come in. |========================| | Warp 1 |Start | Warp 2 | |--------| |--------| | | | | | | | | | Water | | Water | | | | | |========| |========| | | |========================| The right warp will take you to an upper place in level 1-2,where you simply collect some apples (for points) and then continue the level normally. The left warp,which I recommend,takes you to a place under the level. Going from left to right,you find a place with upwards tunnels you can jump in. Go to the one full right,since there you will find the letters "red E" and "X". Then,going all the way up,you are just near the cage at the end of the level. Round 1-3: This level has got two warps: The first,is just after you fly down to the big open area in this round: =========| #########| | | === === | | Large Area === === | *Warp | === === | Start | ========================================== It will take you to a secret round where you collect the "red E","X",T","green E" letters then on a hidden place of round 2-1,where you collect the "N" and "D" letters:EXTEND,and also you can choose to finish round 2-1 or do a neat trick (keep reading) and go back to 1-4. NOTE: That "neat" trick won't work on some versions of the game,including some "corrected","revised" or "alternate" arcade versions! The second one,is in the last room, |========================T========= | * Warp | | |======== | | == | | == | | == | | == | | |----|----| |Cage | = = = | | | |#############| Water | |=============================| and will take you to a secret round,which also has got a secret warp in it! The round has the "TEND" letters and exits to 1-4,the warp exits to 2-2 (lame!) |==================================| | | |==================|--------|| | | <---Exit | Water || | |========= | | | |*Warp| | ||-| |====| | |=| | || | | |=| | |===|-|| | | | | | |====| | | |=----|======================|-----| | Water Anemon / \ | | / \| |==================================| Round 1-4: This round has a warp,but is accesible only by another warp,that is on a later level (AFTER 1-4!).I'll explain this when time comes. In the place under the boss room,there is a corner guarded by spikeys. There you can take a warp to level 2-4,but you can get there only from level 2-1,that's one level AHEAD! Round 2-1: That is a key round in the game,as it allows many tricks,and has two warps! The first one is in the right corner of the closed box at the end of the level.You can get inside the box from the warp on level 1-1 and it has some letters too when you do that,but normally it's empty,yet the warp exists! You can open it from the outside with a laser (if you have a flying vehicle) or from below the "box" with a Fire Staff (the fires will not get stuck in the wall, but will be "consumed", which means that there is a warp!). If you've only got arrows,bombs,or a laser and no vehicle,take advantage of the microbi that appear nearby.Keep killing them anytime they respawn (moving away from their spawning-spot will make them re-spawn more often) until the Fire Staff appears. Once opened,just jump in it from below.You will be taken to a secret place in level 1-4.Yeah,that's right,one level BACK! This means that,you can pass level 1-4 again,go again to 2-1,take the warp again,etc..YOU CAN PLAY FOREVER! That's what I do everytime,and stock up extra lives and points.That is the key of making "videogame wizard" scores with NZS! I think that the warp should have been placed higher,and that TAITO's people didn't know about that when they released the game (offering a chance to play forever?) or maybe that's another good and unique feature of the game.. WARNING: Recently,I discovered that there are "alternate" versions of the game where the "box" has been placed higher,making all these statements useless.You still can open the warp with the laser,but no longer with the cane,and you can't jump close enough to the warp,so you can't do the trick... Keep that in mind if you seem not able to reach the box! Anyway,after having done that many times or,alternatively,if you have a flying vehicle,you can fly over the box with the letters(there is a narrow tunnel above it) and land on the right of the captive bird.On your right there is a "ladder" that takes you someplace up.Go up,and you'll be in a small,closed room.Shoot the lower-left edge of the room,and take the warp. This will take you to an indipendent secret level,which has got 2 possible exits. The first is at the end of the level,and will take you to level 2-3,I recall. The second one is a warp,right before the second exit. Stand on the yellow rising block (the one that goes up) and jump from it so you can stand on the wall to your right (you would do it anyway,to get to the exit...).Shoot 5 times and -voila!,a warp.It will take you to another secret level,with a bunch of enemies,and the letters "Green E" and "T". Take them,kill the enemies,and go in the warp that should appear then. Round 2-2 The only warp here is in the corner that looks like that and a Cool Bob appears. ---------------------- Warp X | | | | | ------| You have to fly to open it...anyway,it will take you to the end of the level. Not too bad. Round 2-3: Also one warp here.It's the place left to the Red "E". ---------- X Warp | |------ ------| | | | E | --------------------------------------- It will take you to a place with a Red "E" and an "X",and the warp from there to an advanced point on level 2-3.Not bad... Round 2-4: This one must be a classic: Before the Boss Room (the one with the octopus) shoot on your right,standing on the blocks over the spikes.A warp will appear on the fifth block from the left,that will take you to a secret level with enemies and the letters "T" and Green "E",and THEN to level 3-1,inside the "box". Round 3-1: No known warps (can you help?) Round 3-2: There is a warp on the wall between the two "pools" of water with "waterfalls", near to the end of the level.It will take you to a room in the secret level, with a church for background.Nothing to take,just a warp on the floor,that will take you to level 3-3. Round 3-3: No known warps (can you help?) Round 3-4: No known warps (can you help?) Round 4-1: This round has got 3 warps (some say 4,but I never found 4 warps),the maximum in this game. The first (and the best...) is over the last diagonal row of spikes,in the upper,"dry" part of the level (since most of the level is underwater). Fly up there,shoot 5 times as usual and take the warp.It will take you to a place in the secret round,and then to level 4-4.That's why it's the best. The second and third are in the place of the level that looks like this, after you have passed the BIG masses of water... ---------------------------------------------------------------- | -- | -- | -- | -- | X | -- | X | -- | -- | | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- in the third and fifth "box" from the right. The one in the third "box" will take you to a place in the secret level where you simply swim to a warp to the end of level 4-1,and the one in the fifth takes you to level 4-2,but BEFORE that you have to pass through a dangerous secret level where you walk over a floor with holes,and spear-wielding soldiers screw you from below...you'll lose at least 2-3 lives here... Rounds 4-2 & 4-3: No known warps (can you help?),or maybe no,there is a warp on one of those two levels,but I don't recall Where and on Which level.I hope somebody has got any info on that... Round 4-4: This level has got two sub-areas,divided by a barrel at the end of the areas. In the area with the horizontal "barrel",there is an empty space below it. Shoot it, there is a warp.It will take you to a room in level 2-4, with 2 letters, an "E" and an "X",and then you take a warp in that room that takes you to the second area of level 4-4. It's better than jumping in the barrel,huh? By the way,in the PC-Engine version,this warp takes you to "ROUND FINAL", that's the final boss! Don't miss it for any reason... Round 5-1: This is the last level known to have a warp. Walk on the floor with the small volcanos until the last platforms on the left.Go up and then left.You fall in a place with some blocks and volcanos. ------------ Shoot on you right,and take the warp. | \ It takes you to a room in the secret | \ round with 2 red E's and then a warp Here Warp X |__ / from there to a another secret level - - - | \ room with two X's,and from there to | / level 5-1 again,near the big room. | / |----- | /\ /\ /\ /\ ----------------------------------- [3.2] What are the "Heaven" rounds? The "Heaven" rounds are a special kind of secret round,in which you can go only by dying,after having lost all of your lives,and appear only after round 3-1. Also,you can go to Heaven only one time in the game.It's like a second chance. Notice that you'll go to heaven only if hit by a SOLID PROJECTYLE,such as arrows,stones,bombs,boomerangs,spears,etc. If you drown, fall on spikes or lava, get burned by laser, flames or UFO missiles, get hit by a Cannon pellet,collide with an enemy that kills you (Frankie, microb,spikesponge,etc.),get eaten by the anemon and get scratched by a flying cat (wow, quite a big list of bad things that can happen to this poor little bird, huh?), YOU WON'T go to heaven. You will simply end the game. Also, if killed by the "Hurry up" devil or a stage-ending boss fire, then again you won't go to heaven. These are the rules. There are three different "Heavens" in the game, and, depending on which level you died, you will go to the respective heaven. Levels 3-x take you to Heaven One, Levels 4-x take you to Heaven Two, and levels 5-x take you to Heaven Three. In Heaven,Tiki has got a Halo on his head,and so do the ENEMIES you will find there! Heaven one and two have only got ugly bats carrying not one,but FIVE spikes each,that they drop all togheter! Heaven Three has "ordinary" enemies.Also,"Heavens" are full of deadly spikes. Some Heavens... Anyway,Heaven is there to give you a chance to return to earth ALIVE. Each heaven,at its end,has got a big Virgin Mary,that if you go on Her, the game will sadly end,saying : "Tiki has met the Goddess and now went into a long sleep in the warm sunlight.But the Heavens had got an exit to the underworld." Sadly,because,yeah,Tiki may R.I.P.,but his friends down there are still slaves of the evil Walrus.But what to do about it? Heaven(s) have really got a secret exit for the underworld,only that it's well hidden. You must know,that if you die in Heaven,you have lost everything,since you normally will not have another life (since you were taken to Heaven...). However,I once gained an extra life by points IN HEAVEN and once by a bonus EXTEND letter from an enemy in Heaven Three,in which case you could even have another try in Heaven,or extra lives for the underworld! Enough with this shit,now let's see how to escape(!) Heaven (only in the game!). Heaven One: At last,after YEARS of doubts,Alan Carter gave it a try with an emulator and told me about the infamous Heaven One: In fact,you have to do what I always have said (but never confirmed): After you climb all of the way up to the Virgin Mary spot,there is a place with small platforms you can jump on and below there is a place with distanced spikes (they have gaps between them which are one Tiki large). all (?) you have to do is to jump in the second gap from the left. | == == == == == Virgin | Mary | == | Here! = | == | |----------| |--| | |--| | ------| |####____####____####____| | It seemed difficult at first,it seemed so for a long time,until Alan Carter unlocked the secret.I leave you at his words: "Great news! I've discovered how to get out of the first heaven in TNZS easily, even if you aren't running the game at half speed! The reason it is so difficult to fall down the appropriate hole is because there is a little platform just above that blocks the way, forcing you to fall into it at an angle. But there is another platform, higher up and to the left of the secret hole that is positioned so that if youwalk straight off of it to the right, and keep going right whilst you fall, you hit the hole at the perfect angle and fall to safety." Alan also included a (better) diagram than mine,but plain TXT format gave me a lot of formatting problems...hope that the text is clear enough for you all! Again,many many thanks to Alan Carter!!! Where would the Guide be stuck without his help? Heaven Two: This is the easiest heaven to escape from. Climb up all the first (right-going) platforms until you have reached the right part of the level (the one BELOW Virgin Mary).You must be able to see that there is a Vertical Tunnel after the wall,starting from somewhere above, and ending somewhere below.Good. Now climb all the way to Virgin Mary,as you normally would,avoid the bats that will appear just before Her,and jump down to the base of Virgin Mary's platform. (ATTENTION: not ON Virgin Mary!). == == == == | | Here! Virgin | | | Mary | | | | | | |------------| | | | | | Spikes v |---| | | - - - - - - - - -> | ####################----|Secret Passage | | Now,walk right,and you will pass THROUGH the wall,and go to the tunnel you had seen before,fall all the way down,escape heaven,and restart the round you died on. Heaven Three: It's a little complicated to escape from this heaven. Fight your way to the end of the level (I said "fight" because this heaven is jam-packed with enemies,not just bats,just like an ordinary round). Now,Virgin Mary's position is in a closed area,from which you can't escape if you enter it,and there seems to be no way of escaping heaven,since you can't even escape the area,right? *** Wrong! *** Under Virgin Mary there is a ceiling with spikes,and just below and right of it,if you watch closely,you will see a side tunnel just like the one on Heaven Two,and a small opening in the wall that leads to the escape tunnel, but is too high and far to reach by jumping,and also is in a dangerous place. Also,no enemies normally appear in this area,so you can't fly up to the hole and escape,right? *** Wrong! *** If you watch the background graphics closely,you'll see thay they are made from a fluffy cloud pattern.Can you see it? Good! Now,under the spikey ceiling,there is a cloud tile in the background that doesn't look like the others. The others are white/light blue,and the one in question is kinda green... Now,stand on a platform from which you can jump on this tile,and jump carefully so you can touch it. Beware not to hit the spikey ceiling (you can control the height of your jump,can't you?). If you have done it right,then three enemies should appear,two Bobs and a Duck.Take the Duck's vehicle,and fly to the opening! If you don't succeed,or blow the duck accidentally,don't worry: you can jump again on the tile,three enemies will appear again,etc.etc. [3.3] Conversions of NZS In the past there have been some conversions of the game,that followed the "anti-PC" rule.What does that mean? That the game was converted for EVERY other system (Amiga,Atari,Amstrad, Spectrum(!),C64,etc.) but no,NEVER the PC,even if some of the above systems (Amstrad,Spectrum,C64) were quite inferior to the average PC of that time,at least in facts of CPU power (XT's ran from 4.77 to 16(!) MHz),but somehow better at graphics.To say the truth,there is [a rumor] that a limited PC version exists in Japan,for the Jap market only...like it happens with many other good japanese games for the PC,unfortunately... For example,CPC graphics were "the same" with CGA (4 colors at 320*200 or 2 colors at 620*200) but also had a 16-color 160*200 mode (this can be done on CGA,but is unofficial and undocumented,as I saw it on an old PC magazine), and also a true 27-color palette!BTW,I think the CGA card and the CPC used the same chip: a Motorola 6854 graphics processor. On the CPC,it could be tweaked so to give a resolution of more than 700*300, in all 27 colors! I guess that was too much for the crappy CGA monitors of that time...(I invite anybody,however,to give it a try...) The Spectrum had 256*192 16-color graphics,but only 2 colors for every 8*8 screen segment,giving the impression that less than 16 colors were used. (Nestis knows...) The C64 was the same as the CPC (some parts of the screen could have better resolutions,however) except for the different (6502)CPU,but also for the legendary VID and SID chips.... Also,all of these "inferior" systems had much better sound than any PC (and I mean WITHOUT a sound card),especially the CPC and C64. I think that the C64's SID chip is one of the most "exploited" chips so far: from simple tunes,cool tunes,digital sound playback to speech synthesis,everything has left its mark on the glorious SID chip... Here is my opinion of the various conversions... Before the analytical part,I know many of you would be more pleased with a simple numeral comparison between the various versions...so I compiled this table below.The marks are in a scale of 1 to 10,and are given in comparison with the arcade version of the game (which obviously gets 10 in all 5 fields: Graphics,Sound,Accuracy,Control,Gameplay.Explained: Graphics: Of course we mean the visual part of the game. Do the graphics look any close to the arcade? Are they better in some cases? Do the various objects look like they did in the arcade? Have the shapes changed? Are colors close to the arcade ones? Sound: This applies to the audio part. Does the music sound good? Are sound effects OK? Can you have both music and SFX? Is the music based on the whole theme or is it cut-down? Accuracy: Are all rounds of the game there? Are there any missing enemies/sprites? Any missing features? Are some blocks where they shouldn't and there aren't any where they should? Do bonuses have a logic order,or do they appear randomly and seldom?Texts?Scenes?Pictures? Control: Is it easy to control ALL aspects of Tiki's movements? Do you walk/swim/fly slower/faster than you should? Does Tiki move more/less than he should when you tell him to? Gameplay: Overall,is version X of the game as good to play as the original? Version | Graphics | Sound | Accuracy | Control | Gameplay | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ARCADE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Spectrum | 2 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5.5 | Amstrad | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 5 | C64 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | PC | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ATARI ST | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | AMIGA | 9.5 | 8.5 | 9 | 9 | 9.5 | FM TOWNS | 10 | 10 | 10 | ? | ? | NES | 7 | 9 | 7.5 | 9 | 9 | M.SYSTEM | 8.5 | 9 | 7 | 8.5 | 10 | PC ENGINE | 8.5 | 9 | 7 | 8.5 | 8 | X68000 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | MEGADRIVE | 10 | 8.5 | 9 | 8.5 | 9.5 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- And if you wish to find out more and "why" I give a certain mark... you can read the detailed reviews below: Common: There is a simple way to tell how good a version is gonna be,by it's size: the original arcade ROMS are about 720K big,so a good conversion must keep close to this number,Assuming that it uses as much CPU data as the arcade required and that most graphics and sounds are there... The "alternate" version however is twice that big,1.4Megs! Most versions however are much smaller than that. First of all,most conversions (except the Amiga,Megadrive and C64 ones) have not got the "EXTEND" feature,AKA NO LETTERS! Only the X68000,AMIGA,SEGA or C64,and of those only the X68000 features numbered letters. That's bad,since "extending" is one of your goals in the game. However,the NES version somehow makes for it,by using special bonuses that award you one life when picked up, but I think that makes the game way too easy... Second,only the console (PCE,SMS,NES,megadrive etc.) versions have got full screen graphics. All home computer ones (except maybe the FM TOWNS and X68000) have got a black status window on the bottom (Amiga,CPC,Spectrum), the top (C64) and right side (Atari ST) of the screen. Third,only the SMS,ATARI ST,X68000,FM TOWNS,Amiga and Megadrive versions have the intro with the Walrus that kidnaps the poor Kiwis. Fourth,no version (except the X68000 and maybe FM TOWNS) has got the Heaven rounds. The "small" 8-bit home computer versions (ZX,CPC,C64) have not got any warps at all. The "big" 16-bit home computer versions (ATARI ST,AMIGA) have got SOME warps. The console versions have generally over 70% of the original warps, except the MegaDrive one which seems to be designed to include as few warps as possible... The Fujitsu FM Towns version,being 32-bit and coming on CD-ROM (!),I suppose that it is at least arcade-perfect in everything,so it's no use to try and compare it with the others,and so I left it out of comparison...So I automatically suppose that it has EVERY arcade feature.This is CONFIRMED in the X68000 version,which is really arcade perfect. Comparison is done to pinpoint omissions.But what if they don't exist? ;-) Also,here is the size of the various versions,and how good they are for their size: Spectrum: 190K tape data,...(as good as it could get...) Amstrad CPC: Less than 360K. (same here) Commodore 64: Less than 160K. (incredibly good for it's size) PC: Should I suppose it occupied a whole 720K disk or two 360ers? ATARI ST: 512K file size. (Very Good) AMIGA: 880K disk size,400K PK-zipped,so probably it is about 600-650 KBs,so it's the biggest avaiable. (The best) NES: 256K cart. (incredibly good for it's size) PC-ENGINE: 384K cart. (Tries to be very good,but the size is really a limitation,as the many omissions can prove.They should have used a 512K or 728K HuCard instead.The 512K one should be definitive.) MEGADRIVE: 512K cart. (Very good,but it's based on the alternate version...at least the one I've got!) MASTER SYSTEM: 256K cart. Very good and better than the NES. X68000: 2x 1.2M disks,but only one seems to contain game data,the other seems to be a kind of booter/patcher/installer? However,eveything is there in this version,so you can't complain... Fujitsu FM Towns: Did I mention it came on CD-ROM and it's 32-bit? ARCADE: No,I am not comparing the arcade to anything,I just give some specs and tech info about it: it uses 3(!) Z80 CPUs,256*224 screen resolution, 16 sprite and 16 background colors on screen, and has about 720 K of ROMS,of which 128 KB is a single ROM containg pretty "clean" Z80 code, and the rest of the 64K ROMs are (huge) graphics and sprite data,and some sound data. As for the famous "alternate" version...it is twice as big,has lots of 128K ROMS and only one 65K one but most of them are, reportedly, 30-40% empty space(!) at their ends,so in reality the "real" data is smaller, surely below 1 meg,maybe actually the same size as the Original, coz the "alternate" version contains fewer rounds (13 instead of 20), and lacks completely the "Rotorua" and "Strait Cook" Graphics,having only got 1 new graphics set (at round 1-4),fewer warps (?),etc. "HI-END" (32-bit) HOME COMPUTERS: These were all High-End machines at their time (though they still might strike fear in the heart of Bill Gates ;-),and when used for games (not many times) they really rocked! So they would with NZS... Fujitsu FM Towns: This relatively unknown computer,released by Fujitsu in 1990,was a real "beast",featuring a 16/32-bit i386 SX/16 CPU,(See?Intel technology was used for something good! ;-),a Cyrix 85DLC86 or something like that,super fast custom chips by Fujitsu,Hi-res Monitor,jaw-dropping graphics and above all,arcade perfect games,as the reviews of that time suggested...it even had a CD-ROM drive built in its sturdy Tower casing, already from 1990.All of this only in Japan,of course... The machine was PARTIALLY compatible with IBM and clones. It could use MS-DOS or TOWNS OS.It could run most PC titles but it was better to use its specific software,since it could use the machine's extra-PC capabilities (sprites,sounds,CD-ROM,etc.). The machine had it's very own,proprietary graphics system,OS,ROMS,BIOS, audio section,etc.,apart from some compatibility chips or utilities. The point is: I've been told by Westbam123@hotmail.com that this machine had a 32-bit version of NZS,which came on CD-ROM (!!!) and looked totally arcade perfect,superior to ALL the other versions. CD-ROM...imagine: no more space issue,CD quality sound,maybe more graphics and levels...I would like to see that...and this was in 1990?! ACORN ARCHIMEDES: No known version for the revolutionary RISC "4 MIPS" home micro by Acorn... "BIG" (16-bit) HOME COMPUTERS: These were all semi-professional 16-bit machines aided by a console-like hardware and were used very much for games and some (Amiga,Atari) for professional TV studio work...the games were usually close to arcade quality and generally very good,nothing to do with the "equivalent" PC versions or proposals...NZS would be easily homed in such a system...is it? X68000: This is yet another 68k based homecomputer,tremendously popular in Japan only,like the FM towns,but way before it. It has an interesting selection of software,a 68000 (obviously),64K colors (!),etc. etc. and of course a version of New Zealand Story, which I would dare to define as the best all-around computer version, surely among the three best ones (It should go FM Towns,X68000,Amiga or the Megadrive instead of the Amiga...). Practically a machine with NEO GEO capabilities...better than an Amiga or Megadrive! So,the game strangely comes into TWO 1.2M disks,and features: ARCADE PERFECT graphics,sound,intro screens,ENDING CREDITS and CINEMATIC SCENE just like in the arcade (hurray! no more static-pic only endings!),EXTEND feature (letters AND numbers),HEAVEN ROUNDS (unique!) and much more...it is the most accurate version so far, totally arcade perfect,and keep in mind that this info has been gathered only by closely examining the program's code(!),since I can't use the X68000 emu on my computer. In a few words,it's overall,unbelievable accuracy makes it the BEST known version and maybe the finest you can get to emulate (after the arcade of course,but I think it might be EVEN better),coz the FM-TOWNS one is out of the question... Amiga: I've never played it,but it's said that it's probably the best conversion of the game (but this was said without knowing of the FM Towns or X68000 versions...),coming very close to the arcade. At least it was the best a large number of people could use on an everyday home computer (the A500 was tremendously popular both in Europe and USA,unlike the exotic Japanese machines descrived above,which never left their home country.) The GFX are arcade perfect (surely better than the ATARI ST) although they are not full screen. I've also listened to the soundtrack,which is good enough,although not as good as the original's (it uses the cut-down,30 sec version). It could be better...I also had the chance to listen to the SFX, which were sampled from the arcade and were therefore arcade perfect. The gameplay is very good,like everybody would expect from a machine like the Amiga.Now,by comparing player's opinions and having seen other versions,the Amiga version remains one of the most balanced,faithful and complete of all the others,but the prize for overall accuracy goes to the X68000 version,which practically has no rival but the FM-TOWNS version, and even this might not be sure. It has got the intro with the bad Walrus,and also features letters and most warps,as the Sweet Cheater Amiga NZS guide suggests... Atari ST: I recently has a chance to play it via emulation. It is very good,with quasi-arcade graphics,accuracy,gameplay... The display is like this: to the right there are status bars and stuff,and the rest of the screen is the play field...although graphics suffer from resolution shifting (320*200,instead of 256*224) It is superior to the "bad" MD version (although some color mistakes remind me of the PC Engine version). It comes second to the AMIGA version only in terms of GFX and SOUND, otherwise they are equally very good. "SMALL" (8-bit) HOMECOMPUTERS: By the time NZS appeared,these machines were a dying breed,slowly being replaced by their 16-bit counterparts...yet,because of their great user base,low price and software support (not so for quality...),they ruled the whole 80's, to finally "die" somewhere in between 1991 and 1993...(C64 and CPC were the last to "die",here in Europe!),altough the emulation boom from 1997 to our days has "risen the dead" ;-) The games were generally not that bad,at least the latest ones. Apart from classic early 80's arcade hits (Pac Man,Invaders,Galaga etc.), ancient puzzle platformers (Monty Mole series,Sir Lancelot,Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy,Blagger etc.),text adventures (Hobbit,Vixen,etc.) there were mid and late 80's,even early 90s coin-op hits such as Shinobi,Cabal,Rainbow Islands,Rodland,NZS:-),Mercs,Midnight Resistance and many others converted for these systems,some of them really taking the machines to the limits! Quite honestly however,they were not really the ideal NZS platforms,but as you will see by yourself,a lot of effort was put into it to present the game as good as every machine could... Amstrad CPC : This I've played!It uses 16-color,160*200 graphics,has most of the game's vehicles and enemies,no warps at all, no background graphics (only plain color or some "brick" tiles), all weapons, all bosses, although many things look very different. Sound effects are OK (for a machine like the CPC) and music is quite OK.You can turn it off and leave the effects on have both of them. Here too,the music is the 30 sec cut-down version... It has got some "extra" features,like some extra platforms on level 1-1, some extra enemies,some secret (unaccesible) places... Scrolling,apart from jerky,is also stupid: The screen often scrolls more than it's needed,and then scrolls back (jerkily) where it should have.This makes you dizzy after a while! A minor annoyance is that if you "insist" on trying to penetrate a wall by an angle (on a vehicle) you will usually succeed, thus "saving time" or even avoid a great portion of the level,like on round 1-3,where you can try and go directly to the stage goal by the left room corner.Also,when on a vehicle,tiki seems to be completely immune to spikes.If the spikes touch Tiki,he won't die. He will only if they touch the vehicle.The UFO vehicle makes you totally immune to spikes (coz it can't be destroyed).You can fly THROUGH spikes! The game's speed on a real CPC is,well,bad.The game is too jerky, especially with more than 4-5 sprites on screen,but AS EXPECTED,on my 486 DX/40,CPCEMU actually ENHANCHED the game.It plays much better than the real machine.A comparison done with my PC near my CPC, and using CPCEMU made my good old PC the winner. Gameplay is (almost) perfect.It's worth a look,I CAN confirm that. If you try it,you won't be dissappointed,if you speed it up a little... Many people will prefer it from the Spectrum version,but it is no match for the Amiga and Atari ST ones,let alone the PCE and Megadrive... This is a very good idea for PC users that would like to play the game on the PC (like me...),especially on low-spec ones. Spectrum: Now,(at last!),I've got the Spectrum version,and I will revise all I've written about it,objectively. First of all,it's not very different than the CPC version, It was made by the same programmer (G.Weatherup),the same group (CHOICE),was sold by the same company (OCEAN) licensed by TAITO, of course. It even has got the same 'mistakes' (misplaced enemies,mysterious unaccesible places,some extra platforms in round 1,etc.),and the scrolling routine is the same as on the CPC,as stupid but a little faster. Sadly,graphics are much inferior to the CPC version. The game just has no colours (black & transparent sprites on a yellow backround,even sometimes there is a background idea,e.g. in Waitomo Caves. Sorry Nestis,but it is no match for the CPC version in facts of graphics. For your information,the Spectrum has got a 16-color palette and a 256*192 screen resolution,but the color resolution is only 32*24.This means that the screen is divided into 32 horizontal and 24 vertical squares of 8 per 8 pixels,and each square can 'hold' a maximum of TWO colors.That is not too bad for static graphics,but it is a problem for scrolling ones,and a hell of a time for SPRITES,which have to move from one color square to another,thus creating strange "transparency" and "negative" effects,or seem to change colours when crossing the screen. This is often referred to as "color clash". It's a bit like the original Space Invaders machine,which had got 5 "colour zones" across the screen (a white one for you,a green one for blocks,a white for the aliens,a red for the occasional UFO and another white for score),and each object becomes the color of the zone when in it.And,the zones were created by...stripes of transparent coloured adhesive tape,stuck on the screen's surface! That's why sprites are usually black and white (or black and transparent) on the Spectrum.Of course,the Spectrum has no adhesive tape on it's screen,but it is an internal hardware limitation,well hidden inside the Spectrum's circuit. Unofficially however,the graphics chip can be tweaked,resulting in more colours per square.Nestis had achieved a 64(?)-colour mode for the Speccy.Now,how much practical use can these modes have... They are good for short demos and intros,for "impression" but not for a long,complex game. However,the screen resolution is better than the CPC,and most things look clearer and more detailed,(Cheer up,Nestis!) but that surely can't make up for all the missing colors. Of course,less colors result in faster gameplay,and Spectrum NZS is indeed a bit faster than CPC NZS. The in-game animation is very good,taking the Speccy to the limits! Sound is just like the CPC.Not better,nor worse.Same old song...same sound chip (minus the stereo)! Note that this is true only if you run it on a 128K Speccy,which has effects AND music,while the 48K one has plain effects,and no music at all,in which case,well,Amstrad rulez.Also,the 128K has got better effects than the 48K (in which only the beeper is used). The gameplay is the same as on the CPC: great. It is VERY similar to the CPC one,even in trivial details. It's better in some spots however,like the spike collision detection, but you still can do the "penetrating" trick... NZS on the Spectrum is a real programming achievent,and congratulations go to G.Weathercup for the conversions, which take the two great 8-bit computers to their limits. C64: Even being an ex-Amstrad user,I must confess that it's much better than the Amstrad one...It has got better (but not clearer) graphics coz it has got background GFX too,like the "big" (Amiga,Atari,PCE,etc.) versions, but the result seems confusing to the eye,looking really ugly in some cases...it's 160K,what did ya expect? Sound is typical of the C64: glorious (technically perfect,incredible for such an old machine,etc.).You can only have Music OR Sound effects only,however...that's too bad! Where is my CPC? ;-) Gameplay is very good,and it also features LETTERS,like the MEGADRIVE ATARI ST,AMIGA and X68000 versions,to feel the comparison.Also,the C64 version has got a ROUND MAP,which only the Arcade,X68000 and FM Towns versions have...Letters however are given by the enemies and a bit too often,I might say. Also,no warps (typical...) and some missing enemies... Technically,the game offers many advantages: smooth scrolling,large action screen (3/4s of the screen),large screen coverage (what you see covers a relatively large level section),accurate (enough) colors,good sound,etc. Screen resolution isn't easy to describe...Tiki looks more high-res than the other sprites (which really look awful),and generally the screen seems to use multiple resolutions...really jumbled,but that's typical of the C64,right? I think it is superior to the other two 8-bit versions,but one needs time to realize that,and even then he might not be convinced... MSX: Hmm...this game WOULD look great on the MSX.I said it WOULD because the MSX was almost "dead" by 1988.Maybe there IS a version for it (1988 isn't at all improbable) but it will be a pain in the a$$ to find. Now,if an MSX user or ex-USER has a different opinion...prove it! Send me info about the MSX version (if it exists,of course...) If it exists,I bet that it could be on the par with the NES and SMS ones... For those who don't know,the MSX was a great 8-bit computer of the mid 80's,made by a Philips-Sony cooperation and featuring Microsoft written BIOS/OS/BASIC...(See?Not all Microsoft software is evil ;-) MSX Basic looks exactly like GW-BASIC to me... It used a typical Z80,a typical 3-channel AY sound chip,but had great 256*192 16-color graphics. It could use tapes,cartridges, and 3.5" 360 or 720 KB floppy disks (MSX disks are directly compatible with MS-DOS,by the way...). It has one of the best 8-bit Bubble Bobble versions (many of its games look as good as they do on consoles like the NES and the MASTER SYSTEM, sometimes even better),has got multi-disk games (!),and it's still used in Spain and some other countries... It was really a revolutionary machine.Why didn't it gain popularity? Bad marketing,gentlemen,Bad marketing...Neither the names of Sony,Philips and -ok,let's say it- Microsoft could save it.A real pity! GAME CONSOLES: The game consoles were always considered to be one step ahead homecomputers in facts of game quality and price,having always a much better price/performance index than a computer. Also,consoles always have the advantage of possesing a more adequate game hardware than computers,usually have their games more carefully programmed and optimised,and generally in some game categories (2D arcades,beat'em ups, shoot'em ups,platformers etc.) consoles have proven unbeatable through the years,even when compared with the lastest Pentium II MMX 400 MHz etc... So you would expect that the best versions of NZS are found here...is this true? Well,judge by yourself... NEC PC-ENGINE: The PCE version I speculated about in older releases of the Guide,really exists! I was impressed by the Pc Engine,since other great TAITO games, like CADASH and LIQUID KIDS (!!!) exist for it,while they don't exist at all on any other computer or console,or only on the Pc Engine do they come really close to arcade quality,or they existed waaay before.(Ok,Cadash exists on the Sega Genesis too, but it's NOT better!). It plays FULL-SCREEN,while most home computer versions have an action window and a black status bar on the bottom of the screen,going from 1/3 to 1/4 of the screen,depending on the version. Other features are the ORIGINAL background graphics (not so original for the sprites),ORIGINAL soundtrack,MOST warps (Yay!), Correct boss behaviour,etc.. However,I have some comments about the PC Engine version. Yeah,graphics are very good. Yeah,sound is perfect (has the whole song!). Yeah,it seems to have most warps of the original game. Yeah,the Ice Whale on level 1-4 swallows you,at last! BUT: 1. Lots of things have COMPLETELY wrong colors (YELLOW Laser Gun that fires PURPLE laser,PURPLE SpeedUp bonus,GREEN teddy bear baloons,some bonuses have too light colours.etc.),even the final boss would look better if the game was done on EGA! Also,Waitomo Caves has so wrong colours that tests to the eyes! Psychedelic WHITE sky background and AQUA stone/rock tiles... These color mistakes could also be Magic Engine's fault,but they can't go SO far! It's hard to believe that The PC Engine has got so stupid color mistakes.The machine has got a 1024 color palette,with 32 colors on screen.Is it possible? All I can say is that a) the programmers used poorly the VAST palette offered by the machine or b) they liked to joke... 2. Bombs suck! I mean,the explosions from the bombs seem not to do any damage to anything.That's probably a minor annoyance, but even on the Speccy version they behave correctly.Arghh! 3. Some enemies (and among the best ones,like the UFO pilot,the Magician,etc.) aren't in the game at all,while they could be found where expected even on the Spectrum! There are no UFOs,no Zeppelins,no Spikeballs,no Anemons,no Tentacle creatures...I think this subtracts a lot from the game,although it's not an uncommon "feature" among other versions as well. 4. Many warp paths seem to be,ehm,simplified. E.g. if you take the warp from level 1-1,you will be taken straight to 1-4,and not first to 2-1 to take the letters and then to 2-1.I should also mention that this version too,sadly,has no extend letters. So,all secret places with letters become useless.This explains the "simplification",but it was a disappointment,though. Note that the warp on level 4-4 takes you directly to the final boss! 5. Bonuses appear in the wrong order,and multiple times. So,you can see,say,two clocks on the same screen.Unacceptable. Some seem not to appear at all,or very hardly. 6. The "hurry-up" devil arrives suddently and without a "hurry-up" warning.Unacceptable. 7. Flight control is buggy: By going left or right when flying, Tiki can only move at least one Kiwi-width long,thus giving you very loose control and feelings of instability. Also,Tiki swims as fast as he WALKS.He can swim for more than 30 seconds and also swim FAST. This version of the game IS pretty good,but has got some stupid mistakes,that sometimes they place it even below the SPECTRUM version!I would accept most of the above if it was some old EGA PC game,but not on the PCE... It could have been a lot better. NINTENDO NES: Carl Chavez told me that he has the box and manuals of a NZS version for the NES,called "Kiwi Kraze". He said it was one of the good ones. So,I went on looking for it,found it,played it and now I review it... The intro screens show big,beautiful pictures of the baddies,the credits,etc. Notice that the NES version also plays FULL SCREEN. I started playing,and noticed that while the enemies looked alright (to say so),Tiki,the score and life counter and several other sprites were displayed as black shadows.. Only the black shape of them could be seen. But,by taking the "Frame Lines" parameter at values>180 and the "HLines" one at 223,everything was OK...this is what to do with Nesticle v0.42 or less. With v0.43 it is enough to set Hlines at 223,without altering Frame Lines (good for slow computers,since more Frame lines means less speed...) No sprite has more than 4 colors (known NES limitation),but background graphics are very well done and look very,very close to the original ones! The enemies come out of those doors with the known shape from the arcade version. The game also shows you the MAP of New Zealand after every completed round,just like the arcade.It is fantastic,and it's only on the NES and SMS version of the game! The sound is very good,with accompanying sound effects,although the main music theme and various jingles sound a bit more Funky than they should,but this usually works positively. Listen to that killing bass in the boss rooms,then tell me... It also has the whole song,like the PCE version. But,what really takes the NES version apart,is the gameplay. It is very good,superior to "some"(many,actually) versions of the game,fast and smooth. And,the best thing is: the game has got ALL the warps (except ONE),and not only that: it also has got almost all the secret rounds,including the big secret round with multiple rooms!!! I was SHOCKED when I realized THAT! You can even do the "2-1 to 3-4" trick! That's unique to the NES version. From that aspect,it outbeats most other versions of the game,including the AMIGA and PCE ones! Who would ever expect that from...the NES? However,I've noticed that many areas in the various stages have been "shrinked",e.g. they are shorter (some are TOO short),smaller platforms,smaller rooms,etc. Some areas that were 1.5 - 2 screens wide,are now half a screen wide! It gives the impression that the cart is "crammed" with the game,so everything is more...compact ;-) The game has only got three weapons (arrows,laser,bombs). The enemies are somehow limited : only Bobs,Cool Bobs,Ducks,Axe Cats, Frankies,Microbs,Bats,Spike Sponges,Time Bombs,Crabs,Missile Crabs and Anemons...but I think that they are already a good part of the original ones. Very well animated,too. Vehicles are VERY limited: Teddy Bear baloons,Ducks,and Metal vehicles,that's all. That's very,very few but doesn't affect gameplay very much. Anyway,it is a VERY good version,and is a MUST for NZS fans. A lot of thanks go to Carl Chavez,who pointed me out the existence of this GREAT version of the game,which would be left unseen and deprive the poor NZS fans.God bless you,Carl,and thanks. Don't forget to grab Nesticle,first! Ohh...by the way,I got reports which said that a NES version called "New Zealand Story",not "Kiwi Kraze" exists. Maybe "Kiwi Kraze" is a pirate version or is the difference between European/American versions? SEGA MEGADRIVE : I was anxious to see it,coz the Megadrive is on the par with and many times better than the Amiga in terms of graphics and sound. So I wondered if it would be better than the versions that are considered the best: the Amiga and ATARI ST versions. First of all,it HAS got the intro with the Walrus that kidnapps the poor little kiwis.Yeah,that's right. The graphics of the Megadrive version are closer than ever to the original game,and definitevely much better than the PCE ones.I think that they are even better than the Amiga ones,especially if we are talking about color accuracy,and because they are FULL SCREEN. The programmers used very well the 512 colors of the MD palette (wish I could say the same for the PCE,which has the same palette). Of course,they are full screen,and at 256*224 resolution, please. Sound is average,I think. It's nothing exceptional,like it isn't on most "big" versions (Amiga,PCE,etc.). The 8-bit ones tend to have more brilliant soundtracks, to make up for the rest (GFX etc.). Gameplay and control are very good on the Megadrive. Gameplay however seems to have been speeded up,and everything mover around a bit faster (some vehicles fly a bit TOO fast). The vehicle control however is better than the PCE version, which according to Carl Chavez has better control than the Amiga version. So,does that make the Megadrive version the one with the best control? I would say it's on the par with the PCE version. There you can flap your wings,but here you can fly better ;-) Also some particular aspects,such as the appearance of the various sprites,bonuses etc are so good only on the Megadrive. Damn surely they are! Practically arcade perfect.Not modified nor redesigned.They really look ripoffs of the arcade ones! A VERY pleasant surprise is that the Megadrive version HAS GOT THE EXTEND LETTERS.Yeah,that's right. However,it doesn't support multiple letters... This puts it among the best versions,however. But,there is a strange thing about it... The first 6 levels are completely redesigned (completely new) and the rest of them are a mixture of the 3-1 to 3-4 and 5-1 to 5-4 levels! First of all,the game ends at level 4-1. Here is how the levels were changed: 1-1,1-2,1-3,1-4,2-1,2-2: completely new. (1-1 to 1-3 and 2-1 use "Auckland" graphics,while 1-4 and 2-2 use new graphics) 2-3: in reality it is level 3-1 of the original game. 2-4: in reality it is level 3-4 of the original game,and you also fight Amida Meiro at the end!. 3-1: in reality it is level 3-3 of the original game. 3-2: in reality it is level 5-1 of the original game. 3-3: in reality it is level 5-2 of the original game. 3-4: in reality it is level 5-3 of the original game,no boss. 4-1: It is the final round,5-4 in reality.This is where the game ends. There are no "Rotorua" and no "Strait Cook" rounds. It seemed strange at first,but when a MAME version of NZS was released,supporting TWO ROM sets,I recognized the levels in the second (tnzs2) set,called the "alternate" version, often referred to as NZS Extra or NZS 2. As it seems,THIS Genesis version seems to be based on the "alternate" ROM set,which I don't know if it's TAITO official or hacked (the cartridge,I was told,said "Kiwi Game"...yeah right!) The round list above explains the differences,at least as they were encountered in the Genesis version. The arcade version might still have more rounds (original or "new") or a different order... The completeness of the enemy list was very good: It only lacked the Magician,the Zeppelin Magician,the Lamb,the Curser,the Pumpkin,the tentacle creature and the Water Anemon.I know that the Amiga version has got the Tentacle Creature in the water,and probably the walking Magician (even the Spectrum version has got the magician!), so it probably doesn't get much better than that... Since there were no "Rotorua" rounds,there was no Stone Octopus,of course...But it had BOTH UFOs,haha! The enemies themselves,using speeded up vehicles now react MUCH faster when they see you,and shoot much more accurately and MULTIPLE times too.They have really become merciless persecutors,I'm not joking! About warps...in the "new" rounds I only found a warp at round 2-1,which took me to a point of the same round...lame! Ironically,the "normal" rounds were of those which normally have got no warps (3-1,3-3,3-4,5-2,5-3 and 5-4 have no warps). It seems they really tried to avoid the Warp feature in this game, didn't they? And because they didn't want to subtract warps...they included only Naturally Warpless" rounds,and so they are "cool"... Apart from that,3-2 (normally 5-1) had got one,which took you to 3-3 (5-2 in reality...). All of this means that the game is now more difficult, at least at the beginning.I think that the "new" rounds are a bit too tough to be placed at the beginning,and surely can't be called "balanced"...but that applies in general to the "alternate" version,being it Genesis or Arcade,or whatever. It's just tougher.The much fewer warps present in this version force you to play it round by round,as no really good skipping is possible. I really don't think the "alternate" version can be called a sequel,coz I finished it and it's the same story,only that the game is shorter and has some new rounds and a new GFX set. I got reports saying that the BOX of this version I have said "Kiwi Game"...Uh-Oh,here is what's wrong: Japanese Pirate version.I also was told (correctly) of a difference in the intro: the Kiwis Run away immediately,while they should first play,then run,while the version I was told about had normal intro and ORIGINAL ROUNDS!I wanna see that... Anyway,the Megadrive version still is one of the BEST and more HARDCORE versions of the game. But,once more,I think the Amiga version remains the more faithful,balanced and complete version of the game... MASTER SYSTEM: At last,after MONTHS of looking around and praying...here is the much awaited SMS version. So,does it stand up to the expectations? Yes... First of all,Graphics: THE graphics for the Master System. Far better than the NES (obviously...) and better than the PCE(!) ones in some cases,arcade perfect in many cases. The 16 out of 64 colors of the SMS were used wisely...not like some "other" systems which have 512 colors and can't paint a kiwi shoe correctly! As expected it plays full screen. Second,the sprites: as expected by the size of the cart, they are kind of limited (same omissions as in the PCE version) but unlike the NES version,they look arcade perfect and have correct sizes.Only the boss creatures are smaller than they should,like in the NES version. Oopps,the whale doesn't swallow you!You fight it like on the 8-bit omputer versions: shoot it! Third,the sound: at first,I thought that this was the CPC version minus the stereo sound. Music and most effects sound like on the CPC (which isn't bad...).The song is -unluckily- the 30 sec cut-down version,while the NES one has a very cool version of the whole song... But the most important thing is: the GAMEPLAY. At last,fast,accurate control...like in the arcade! The control on the SMS is very good,among the best ones,and contributes to the quasi-arcade feeling of the SMS. Most manuevers and jumping techniques need no adaptation to be used in the SMS version.Like you did them on the arcade,you do on the SMS.Couldn't it be that simple for OTHER versions I know? The behavior of enemies is a little harsher (like on the Genesis) and that adds challenge to the game. In a few words,SMS NZS has the gameplay of NZS like few other versions have,that's why I give it a 10. About warps...it does have some warps (less than the PCE version and in no way more complete than the NES one.In some places,it reminds me of the CPC and Spectrum version,like in round 2-1).Some warps seem not existing,but if you check carefully they are found in a nearby place to the original, and there are some in never-before locations (like in 3-1 and 5-2!). Even though the SMS version is much like the PCE version in enemy completeness (sometimes even less) and has more lacks, I praise the SMS coz it's a totally inferior system to the PCE, yet the SMS version of NZS is technically superior to the PCE. After all,the SMS is the only system coming close to the arcade's hardware (Z80 CPU and game related H/W). SEGA GAME GEAR: Reportedly exists,it's like the SMS one in shrinked format. Actually,it's just the SMS version on a GG cart...that's cheating! NINTENDO SNES,NINTENDO GAMEBOY: It doesn't exist AFAIK.(but,who knows..) PC/XBOX/PS2/Others (as of 2006): TAITO has released, as of late 2005/early 2006 an official emulation package called "TAITO Legends" or "TAITO Memories", depending on the version, which also contains New Zealand Story. That's as close as it ever got to a PC version of the game :-) [3.4] Emulations of NZS The fact that TAITO released an official emulation package called "TAITO Legends" or "TAITO Memories", depending on the version, which contains the original NZS under emulation, abruptly changes all the cards on the deck. This means that the Unofficial NZS page will NOT supply ROMS for ANY version of the game, and the NZS Guide itself will not treat this argument if not for comparison reasons, but in no way encourage emulating over buying the official product. Why? Because now there IS an official PC/PS2/XBOX etc. version of the game which is sold for real money and people live from it, so all rogue emulation attempts must be uhm...quelled, so STFU and go buy TAITO Legends you lazy freeloading bum :-) So, for all that concerns me, there's only one emulation of NZS that matters: it's called TAITO Legends, and anyone wanting to play New Zealand Story should buy it. [4.1] MY way of finishing the game. So,you wanna know how the CHAMPION of this game (Moi) plays it? I finish level 1-1 normally. I take the warp in level 1-2 and go for the letters. I take the second warp in level 1-3,take all the letters and then exit normally the secret round to level 1-4. I finish level 1-4 normally,and then make the loop [2-1]-[1-4] until I get 10 same letters,then once more to have some letters. I then take the second warp on 2-1,and the warp on the secret level. I then start on round 3-4,and instead of going to the Boss trough the big water tunnel,I go backwards and try to pass through the waterfalls,saving time. On level 4-1,I go down to the sea to take the letters,then I go back up and take the first warp to level 4-4,take the warp instead of the barrel,and instead of going inside the huge viking ship,I go under it,make two soldiers with spears follow me,I park myself under the cage with the captive bird,They hit me,and from the agony jump Tiki touches the cage,the level ends and I didn't lose a single life! Then I take the warp on level 5-1 and finish it normally. Then I pass normally levels 5-2,5-3,and on 5-4 I get myself a Laser UFO before facing the last boss.The UFO laser can take him down in 3-5 hits. That easy! As you can see,I don't even play rounds 2-2,2-3,2-4,3-1,3-2,3-3,4-2,4-3. I only play 12 rounds instead of 20. [4.2] How to EASILY finish the game. So,playing like Me isn't enough for you,huh? You wanna finish the game as easily as possible,right? Well,here is your chance to do it! My way IS fast (all my points are from the loop in round 1-4 and 2-1), but you can do it a bit faster. Take the warp on round 1-1 and so you skip levels 1-2 and 1-3. Pass normally 1-4 and on 2-1 go directly into the second warp,don't "loop". Then,proceed as I did,since it's the same thing from then on.This way you totally skip 10 levels,playing practically only half of the game! [4.3] Tricks to make some rounds easier. Round 3-4: The biggest danger in this round is the big water pipe you've got to swim in,and nearly risk drowning,and you lose a lot of time too! Well,you can avoid it! Go in the place with the Waterfalls,and go near the one closest to the boss room. Get in the water (beware of the water mine that is there),and jump over it so two Cool Bobs will appear.Try to get one of their baloons but HANGING FROM YOUR HEAD,fly on the water stream over the room with the letters and frankies (which you should eliminate before doing that),let go the ballon (push down) and then quickly push your joystick right.You will get into the room just as if you had passed "normally" the level from the water pipe. Round 4-4: The Viking ship at the end of this level is a dangerous place to enter,in which even I will lose 2 or 3 lives minimum. Instead,you can do the following trick: Go under the ship,get two spear-wielding soldiers to follow you,precede them and get stuck in the place exactly below the bird in the cage,going down the ship full left and then up.Wait for the soldiers to appear below you and let them hit you.Tiki will jump from pain and he will touch the cage,ending the level.Don't worry,you won't lose a life,and you will have saved so many others by not going inside the ship. [4.4] NZS Filez Unsolved mysteries,footsteps into the unknown,paranormal activity, UFO sightings and much more in...the NZS-Filez! I was on level 3-2,swimming in the big water pipe (the one in which you can almost drown) before the end of the level and had the Turbo (speedup) powerup. Now,when I got out of the water,there was this place with the high "cliffs". I climbed on the first one normally,and Tiki dissappeared! I could still move,the screen would scroll accordingly,my position was on the map,but Tiki was nowhere on the screen! I could "walk" over spikes,through enemy fire etc.,I got into the last room (following the map,of course),I "jumped" on the cage with the captive bird, but it wouldn't open! Obviously,all sprite collision had been defeated! Time passed,the Devil came,but he couldn't catch me,so came a second devil, and a third,and a fourth...until MORE THAN 10 Devils were on the screen,and all looking for me! I got bored,since I couldn't finish the level anymore,let alone the game,so I turned the machine off.Quite a mystery,huh? A kid was in level 2-2,he was walking normally close to the ceiling of the first room of the level,he jumped up,and suddently,he got into a black round (with no background) with some enemies and some weird star blocks and some falling stars...After a while,the level regained blocks and background and he was on round 3-4! Well,he skipped 6 levels that way.Not bad,not bad... By the way,I recently examined the NZS roms,and one of the ROMS containing graphics data,had got some blocks with a star on them...so the previous fact was not a bug ??! I was on level 3-4 in a point where there was a Magician on a zeppelin,and I was afraid to approach,because I had no lives left (I wasn't a Champion yet), had only got bombs,the place was spikey and the Magician had spawned many flying Frankies,not exactly what I needed,and they had stocked up... Then,I saw the weirdest enemy in the game ever: a spikey red dragon,kinda like a Frankie,that HANGED from a GREEN Cool Bob baloon. I was able to see him for, say,5 seconds and then the game crashed and resetted. This enemy is found a lot often in other versions of the game,where it appears along with or instead of a Flying Frankie.Being it so,I decided to call this enemy a "Red Porcupine",since he was not spawned by an accidental sprite bug,as I first thought,but appears regularly on non-arcade versions of the game as well as the alternate arcade version. In the original arcade he just doesn't show up,he only did once!Why??? And why did the machine crash after that? Mystery... [4.5] Special: The Sweet Cheater Amiga NZS guide. This old and cheat-oriented guide existed way before mine. It's so small that it "fits" easily inside this huge document of mine! It basically applies to the AMIGA and perhaps ATARI ST version,includes a few cheats and the locations of most warps (on the Amiga). One of the reasons I made The NZS guide is because I felt that the old guide was too simple and surely didn't tell you much about the game... It only tells you how to CHEAT on some COMPUTER versions,and gives some rather fuzzy directions to find the warps... Here is it,anyway: *NEW ZEALAND STORY: On the title screen, type "FLUFFYKIWIS" for unlimited lives. Press the 'HELP' key to skip levels. On other versions pause the game, and press `M'. You should hear a laser gun sound. Type "MOTHERFUCKENKIWIBASTARDS". Unlimited lives are yours. Near the end of level 1-1 there are three large steps that you must climb to reach your brother (sister?), who is in a cage. Stand at the left edge of the top step, facing left and jump. But as you jump, fire. If your current weapon is arrows, fire halfway up, but if your weapon is bombs, fire at the top of your jump. A whirl-wind should appear after four hits, and it will take you to level 1-4. On level 1-2 shoot the baddies and collect the blue E on the floor to the right. Now hop back to the point you started at and stand on the last two blocks on the left side of the second floor. Shoot towards the left wall while doing tiny hops, and the warp will appear. This will bring you to level 1-2 where there are 2 Extend Life Pills On level 1-3 from the starting position there are 12 ledges and a wall to the right. Go to the other side of the wall and fire to the left towards the second ledge from the bottom. Ship required. This will bring you to level 2-1 near the end of the round. In 1-4, you will be in a little box under some water. Go up and to the right, and you come out in a small room with three boxes on the right hand side. Go up these, and you will see 4 long spaces, the top one having an {N} and a {D} in it. Go up to the top one, get the letters, stand in the centre of the space, facing left, and fire. yep, you guessed it, another whirl-wind. This one takes you to level 2-4. On level 2-1 above your kiwi friend is a small tunnel which takes you to some stair-like ledges leading to a small cavern where there are two fruits. Fire at the fruit on the right. Ship needed to reach tunnel. This brings you to level 3-4. On level 2-2 find a balloon and float up to where the bears on balloons emerge. Stand to the right of the green left-pointing arrow and shoot the bears balloons away. Repeat this until the warp appears. This brings you to the end of level 2-2. On level 2-2 there is a ledge with a green arrow pointing right. Jump up into the water. This takes you to level 2-2 halfway through the level. On level 2-3 follow the first water you come to. At the end are two ledges with spikes below. Stand on one ledge and fire at the other. This takes you to level 2-3 takes you halfway through the level. On level 2-4 , stand at the entrance to the room where the giant octopus is located and fire to the right several times. A warp will appear that will take you to the beginning of level 3-1. On level 4-1 above the Extend Life Pills is a tunnel. Fire above the 2nd letter from the right. You must be on a duck ship for it to work. This brings you to level 4-2. On level 4-4 below the kiwi to the left are some spikes. Stand on the left hand side of them and using small jumps fire to the right. This brings you to level 5-1. When you reach the ice whale, move to the right-hand side of the spikes, avoid the crystals, and wait until he picks you up. Once inside the whale, you can start shooting, but avoid the ice drops. Meeting the rock monster without bombs makes him difficult to pass. So collect bombs, go to the highest platform and shoot him. Kill it by either dodging the bullets and hitting it when the doors open, or by fireballs. The last boss you encounter is the balloon seal. He cant be killed, by blows to the body, so you must hit the balloon. Be careful for the balloon seal is armed with a cannon and shoots cannon balls at Tiki. ---------------------------------END OF THE FAQ---------------------------------