#27: The New Zealand Story (Taito/Choice, Amiga, 1989)

The level design tends towards equal parts haphazard and sadistic. Enemies appear in a frequency and variety which defies any kind of theme, deadly spikes abound, and abilities and collectibles pile up so your kiwi is scuba-diving and spitting water one moment, fighting an aerial battle from a laser-firing UFO the next. At its best, it can be exhilarating, and you can see the game’s arcade origins in the sense of spectacle and the sense that barely controlled chaos is one way to make repeatedly playing through the same difficult levels interesting.