Tiki the Kiwi returns nearly twenty years after he last squared up against the evil leopard seal, but times have changed...

It's fair to say Rising Star' intent to bring a taste of Japan to European gamers has largely gone unnoticed. A catalogue of handheld updates to arcade legends from long ago and the slightly more esoteric of Japanese titles, has, so far, failed to raise even a cursory glance from PSP and DS gamers fixated on GTA: Vice City Stories and Nintendogs.

Allegedly, the last title from the 'Revolution' series that has given us the forgettable remakes of past Taito classics Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands in the past, New Zealand Story Revolution is an update to what was a peculiar game even by the 8-bit standards of 1988.

Playing as a remake of sorts to a game that surfaced on most computers and consoles of the time, New Zealand Story Revolution offers 20 stages split amongst five themed levels of increasingly more precise platforming action. Following a similar premise to the original, it's up to Tiki the Kiwi to save his friends from the clutches of an evil leopard seal, who has invaded the islands of New Zealand - whatever happened to videogame plots? Despite an occasional change in level design and a handful of DS features, gameplay remains a case of jumping between some of the smallest platforms seen in recent years, working out the correct path to the exit and shooting an army of snails, boomerangs, and other equally diverse opponents.

The handful of DS features demonstrates, at the very least, an attempt to fuse some new ideas into an ageing classic, though ultimately the general shallowness fails to lift them beyond anything but uninspired novelties. The most worthwhile involve spotting the difference between the two screens or catching a falling Tiki from doom on the bottom screen and throwing him back up to the top; most, however, fail to offer anything substantial to the experience or integrate that well into the game, such as the mundane tightrope and pointless fishing sections.

The biggest issue is arguably something that fundamentally could never be rectified. On the surface New Zealand Story Revolution appears to pay the most sincere form of flattery to the original; the bright, chirpy, simple, visuals; twitch platforming action and an abundance of fruit, all conjure memories from nearly twenty years ago. Presumably, anybody interested in this remake will remember the original; one thing that you could never forget would be the thumb-blistering, frustrating, difficulty, something that the remake strangely fails to create. One of the few changes introduced in the sequel also makes Tiki's adventure a lot easier, by being able to shoot in 360 degrees as opposed to straightforward only. As a result, it's far too easy to stroll through the twenty stages in a few hours, with little to sustain your attention once Tiki has rescued all of his friends. There are suggestions of an 'Expert' mode in the manual after completing the game; though this remains illusive to TVG for the time being. A Wi-Fi 'Versus' mode holds little appeal, compounded by the lack of any Download Play options (cant imagine you'll find too many people with another copy). To a younger audience the game could possibly hold more length and appeal; but at the same time, the heritage of the original seems ultimately wasted.

New Zealand Story Revolution is proof that some things are better left untouched. Questions over what the remake is ultimately trying to achieve and the failure to capture the very essence of the original (beyond the cute and chirpy presentation), along with the limited use of the DS and the pathetic length, make this one to leave on the shop shelf, even if you do fondly recall the original.