NewZealand Story (ARC, 1988)(New ver.)
Graphics-8 Sound-6.5 Control-7 Challenge-8 Story-5.5
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
+
Steal flying enemy vehicles (balloons, rocket/water tank?, spaceship (temporary) - later used in Kirby; can ride some of them either from above or below)
Get swallowed and fight the first boss from the inside (the flying whale, later re-used in Yoshi's Island)
Basic mini-map feature (shows how large the level is, the exit and your position but no topology or items)
Some cool weapons (ricocheting fireballs shot from a wand, spitting water while at water surfaces)
Good enemy variety within each level
Frequent checkpoints+you start in a balloon if you were flying when killed
No touch damage from most enemies (spiky ones excluded, you walk through them instead of pushing them or your movement being blocked) - it's their attacks that hurt
Hidden warps (SMB)
Movement speed power up (lasts until the end of the level or death) and temporary invincibility
Difficulty options (easy-very hard, lives per credit, point intervals for 1-ups, coin worth)
Some smart bomb power ups (placed in set locations and trigger when shot or touched though)
Some alternate paths through levels
Enemies' vehicles are also hit by spikes
Enemy freeze power ups (kind of rare)
Mirror teleporter power ups (takes you to the level exit, very rare)
Good art direction overall (some nice graffiti/paintings in the backgrounds), Some large and detailed (but not well animated) sprites and some multi-jointed ones, Pretty nice intro and ending cutscenes
+/-
Fairly open and sometimes maze-like levels (generally you're pointed towards the right direction)
One hit deaths
Hidden level timers - stay too long and a devil starts chasing you (Bubble Bobble)
Limited air while underwater
Forgiving hit detection on spike ceilings
Different levels in the new ver. (seems they added the whale boss and some other stuff)
Some points of no return within levels
Can't jump down through platforms that you can jump up through (sometimes for challenge/puzzle reasons)
Kinda slow air regeneration after being underwater but you can speed it up by spitting water
A while into the game you start over from the beginning of a level after using a continue
-
Some control issues (so-so mid-air control and it's heavily lessened if you jump before steering, no weapon inventory, can't aim up/down with any weapon although the bombs can hit enemies from above - many attacks from above and below, somewhat slow falling speed, the metal tank vehicle is a bit too slow (generally, there is a rare fast version of it) - can't get past the spiked shell enemies if they come from above, can't exit a vehicle in mid-air)
Trial & error (various cheap enemy spawn points (several enemies tend to spawn nearby and start shooting, the spiked shell enemies hit you even if you're going at a fast speed past them as they spawn), 2-3 requiring flight to get through+using specific vehicles to get past some narrow paths with spike ceilings, possible to get stuck in some spots if you accidentally destroy all vehicles)
Some difficulty spikes (2-3, second boss, ) and dips (third boss is kind of easy, very easy final boss if you have the spaceship)
Unavoidable hit at one point near the end (spiky enemy at the bottom of a narrow pit)
Vehicles are too easily destroyed considering the above
Gets kinda repetitive after about 8 levels (repeating enemies and backgrounds, not enough new level gimmicks, no boss in world 4, repetitive music)
Weapons don't carry over between levels
No water animations
Some tedious parts (levels with a zig-zag narrow paths structure (5-2 for example), no underwater vehicles and swimming is a bit slow)
Weapon power ups are kind of rare
So-so use of the FM sound chip for the music overall (OPN, decent PSG sfx though and the ending theme is pretty good)
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-9 Fun-6.5 Originality-7
Overall Score-6.5
+
Steal flying enemy vehicles (balloons, rocket/water tank?, spaceship (temporary) - later used in Kirby; can ride some of them either from above or below)
Get swallowed and fight the first boss from the inside (the flying whale, later re-used in Yoshi's Island)
Basic mini-map feature (shows how large the level is, the exit and your position but no topology or items)
Some cool weapons (ricocheting fireballs shot from a wand, spitting water while at water surfaces)
Good enemy variety within each level
Frequent checkpoints+you start in a balloon if you were flying when killed
No touch damage from most enemies (spiky ones excluded, you walk through them instead of pushing them or your movement being blocked) - it's their attacks that hurt
Hidden warps (SMB)
Movement speed power up (lasts until the end of the level or death) and temporary invincibility
Difficulty options (easy-very hard, lives per credit, point intervals for 1-ups, coin worth)
Some smart bomb power ups (placed in set locations and trigger when shot or touched though)
Some alternate paths through levels
Enemies' vehicles are also hit by spikes
Enemy freeze power ups (kind of rare)
Mirror teleporter power ups (takes you to the level exit, very rare)
Good art direction overall (some nice graffiti/paintings in the backgrounds), Some large and detailed (but not well animated) sprites and some multi-jointed ones, Pretty nice intro and ending cutscenes
+/-
Fairly open and sometimes maze-like levels (generally you're pointed towards the right direction)
One hit deaths
Hidden level timers - stay too long and a devil starts chasing you (Bubble Bobble)
Limited air while underwater
Forgiving hit detection on spike ceilings
Different levels in the new ver. (seems they added the whale boss and some other stuff)
Some points of no return within levels
Can't jump down through platforms that you can jump up through (sometimes for challenge/puzzle reasons)
Kinda slow air regeneration after being underwater but you can speed it up by spitting water
A while into the game you start over from the beginning of a level after using a continue
-
Some control issues (so-so mid-air control and it's heavily lessened if you jump before steering, no weapon inventory, can't aim up/down with any weapon although the bombs can hit enemies from above - many attacks from above and below, somewhat slow falling speed, the metal tank vehicle is a bit too slow (generally, there is a rare fast version of it) - can't get past the spiked shell enemies if they come from above, can't exit a vehicle in mid-air)
Trial & error (various cheap enemy spawn points (several enemies tend to spawn nearby and start shooting, the spiked shell enemies hit you even if you're going at a fast speed past them as they spawn), 2-3 requiring flight to get through+using specific vehicles to get past some narrow paths with spike ceilings, possible to get stuck in some spots if you accidentally destroy all vehicles)
Some difficulty spikes (2-3, second boss, ) and dips (third boss is kind of easy, very easy final boss if you have the spaceship)
Unavoidable hit at one point near the end (spiky enemy at the bottom of a narrow pit)
Vehicles are too easily destroyed considering the above
Gets kinda repetitive after about 8 levels (repeating enemies and backgrounds, not enough new level gimmicks, no boss in world 4, repetitive music)
Weapons don't carry over between levels
No water animations
Some tedious parts (levels with a zig-zag narrow paths structure (5-2 for example), no underwater vehicles and swimming is a bit slow)
Weapon power ups are kind of rare
So-so use of the FM sound chip for the music overall (OPN, decent PSG sfx though and the ending theme is pretty good)