Yeah, I admit it, I liked Legend of Kage back in the day. I used to play the game a lot with my father. We’d play two players to see who could get the furthest in the game. Its nonstop action, and gravity defying leaps made me feel like an unstoppable ninja badass. Sure, today it’s regarded as crap, but still, I hold onto those fond memories of days gone by in my heart. So it’s only natural that I would be excited when a sequel was announced god knows how many hundred years later. Dammit, no one will stand in the way of me and some ninja butchery.
From my few hours of quality playtime, I can safely say this game is satisfying. If you’re expecting this game to flex your cerebral cortex, I’d have to ask you to ease off the drugs. This is a nonstop ninja action side scroller. Relentless hordes of Ninjas? Check! Super gravity defying jumps? Check! All new bosses and returning characters? Check! Brand new gameplay additions? Check, check, and check!
Without spoiling too much for the forthcoming review (maybe) — Kage’s back and better than ever. You’re armed with quite a few moves from the outset, and continues to learn more as you advance. They even added the simple multi-directional shuriken throws for maximum ninja slaughtering fun. With the action taking place on both screens, you’ll want to be able to reach them pesky ninjas on tree tops. That or you can do you super stupendous leap of over exaggeration to reach them. The stage design’s pretty straight forward, with the occasional branching path for extra goodies. Of course, at the end of each stage is a boss encounter that’ll test your skills. This is definitely an improvement over the original game. After some research and browsing Gamefaqs, I figured out the orbs are used to combine into different Jitsu. They can do anything ranging from stats boost, magic spells, or even summons. The more powerful the move, the more orbs you’ll need. I’ve been going back to earlier stages to scout out more that I might have missed.
Not only did they give Kage new moves, but they’re also added an extra playable character into the game. Due to my lack of Japanesian skills, I’ll call her Scythe Girl for now. Scythe Girl plays similar Kage, but the shurikens are replaced with a chain whip. The range is inferior of course, but she did gain some extra reach as I progressed. Everything else seems to be the same, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to have another character to play as.
Everything is turning out solid. Baring any unforeseen mishaps, I’d say this game will fare well enough come review time. This is old school arcade action at its best. I have no idea whether this game will be released in America, but I don’t see why they would deny us of a straight forward side scroller. It’s not exactly rocket science.
I LIKE KAGE TOO!!!