So The New Zealand Story is this weirdly charming NES game where you play as a kiwi bird—except it looks more like a tiny yellow chicken with a beak. Not exactly nature-accurate, but hey, it's cute. You're basically hopping and flying (yes, a flightless bird that can fly in this game) through these colorful levels, rescuing your kiwi buddies who got kidnapped by some jerk leopard seal.

The controls take a second to get used to—your little kiwi has this floaty jump, and you pick up arrows, bombs, and even temporary flight power-ups. Some levels have these sneaky hidden warps if you poke around enough. The music’s got that classic upbeat 8-bit cheeriness, though later stages get brutal with enemy spam and cheap hits. Still, there’s something satisfying about nailing a tricky platforming section after a few tries.

It’s one of those games where the charm outweighs the jank. Just don’t expect realism from a kiwi that shoots arrows.