Kiwi Kraze
System: NES
Release Date: March 1991
Developer: Software Creations
Publisher: Taito
Genre: Action
It’s a New Zealand story in Kiwi Kraze! Wally Walrus has swooped in and carried off all your friends, including your girlfriend Phee-Phee. As Tiki the Kiwi, you must conquer enemies, platforms, and mazes through 20 levels across the map of New Zealand. Set all your friends free and stop Wally from ever doing this again!
Tiki jumps with the A Button and shoots with the B Button. You begin with a bow and arrow that shoots ahead and takes enemies out in one hit. You can upgrade to a bomb or laser attack, with the laser shooting through walls. Enemies appear out of inter dimensional gates and can kill you if you happen to occupy the same spot. Many of them come riding on a balloon and you can commandeer these if your aim is true. Normally, you control the balloon’s altitude by holding the A Button to ascend and letting it go to descend. However, there is a joystick powerup that gives you the ability to control it with just the d-pad, which is nice.
The goal of each level is to find your way to the exit, where a kiwi is being held in a cage. You can check where you are compared to the exit by pressing the Start Button. What follows is a maze of platforming, requiring precise jumps and avoidance or murder of enemies. Some floors can be jumped through, while others can’t. I’m realizing the platforming is reminiscent of Bubble Bobble, which totally makes sense, as this is a Taito game. There are plenty of traps you have to avoid, like these shooting balls that gave me enough fits to warrant some time travel. Spikes and other instant kill traps blend into the background, which will cause many BS deaths. Luckily, there are the occasional free guys floating around.
There are water portions that only give you so long before you drown. If you see your air level get low, it’s best to find somewhere to surface to catch your breath. This is not the only timer that you have to worry about. There’s an invisible timer that moves into hurry up mode, which if you don’t finish quickly brings in an invincible demon guy who will kill you dead. If you’re lucky enough to find a magic staff you can be invincible yourself and get through him. I thought this level was kind enough telling me to stop when I went the wrong direction. Every four levels ends with a boss. These are pretty easy to get through after the first try where you learn their pattern.
Graphics: 2.0
There’s way too much yellow and blue. Many of the instant kill spots are also yellow, which is not good.
Sound: 1.0
There’s one song that plays on a loop… over and over again…
Gameplay: 2.5
Tiki’s movements are a bit slower than I’d like, but at least the floating balloons help him feel like he can fly.
Difficulty: 2.0
Once you learn how to get through the levels, they’re easy to maneuver through. You also get three lives and three continues.
Fun Factor: 2.5
There’s a little more fun than frustration, but I didn’t have a huge amount of either.
Overall Rating: 2.0
Kiwi Kraze earns a C. A streak of three really good games comes to an end with this average outing. Not the greatest thing in the world, but you could do worse.