The last couple of years have been
great for fans of classic gaming. Between retro revivals like Bionic Commando:
Rearmed and Prince of Persia Classic, and retro-styled sequels like Contra 4 and
Mega Man 9, there’s no doubt about it: retro-gaming is big. Now it’s Taito’s
turn to get in on the action, and they’ve brought us Legend of Kage 2, the
sequel to their little-known NES action game from 1986. And although Kage might
not be a household name in the gaming world, Taito’s sequel delivers some
impressive 2D ninja action.
Legend of Kage 2 lets players choose
between the titular Kage, a ninja armed with a katana and shuriken, or female
ninja Chihiro, who fights with a kusarigama (a big chain with a blade on one
end). In either case, your character is called upon to escort a princess back
to your ninja enclave, but wouldn’t you know it, she’s captured by rival
ninjas. Obviously, there’s only one solution to this situation — you’ve got to
slice and ninja-star your way through hundreds, nay, thousands, of enemy ninjas
(and demons, and evil wildlife) until you get her back. The story sequences are
your first indication that this game is straight out of the 16-bit era: cut scenes are quick and totally unnecessary. Instead, the game’s focus is where
it counts — on slick 2D action gameplay.
Regardless of which character you
choose,
rest assured they’re well-prepared to kill just a ton of enemy ninjas.
The original Legend of Kage was a
largely forgettable NES game, but its one memorable feature was its focus on
vertical platforming; Kage could jump ridiculously high, and stages progressed
upward more often than side-to-side. This is the one element of Kage 2 that
really resembles the original — Kage and Chihiro can both launch themselves about
five times their height from a standing start. The levels do usually scroll
side-to-side here, but vertical platforming is still a big part of gameplay:
heading left to right through the treetops of each stage is a valid alternative
to walking along the ground, with its own challenges and rewards. And believe
me, there are plenty of challenges — this game is tough. The first few levels
lull you into a false sense of security, with reasonably placed (and numbered)
enemies, leading up to a tough and clever, but still very winnable,
pattern-based boss encounter. Stick with the game, though, and you’ll realize
that Kage 2 is old-school hard; by the third or fourth level, devious new enemy
types begin assaulting you unrelentingly, and bosses begin to drain your lives
with alarming speed.
But that’s not to say that you’re
totally helpless. In fact, there are a ton of techniques and maneuvers to
master, from slides and flips to combos and special attacks, with a new skill or
two available after just about every mission. You also gain new abilities by
finding elemental orbs, which are hidden around every level, often
well-guarded. Between stages, you combine these orbs into shapes on a small
grid; different effects are created based on the colors you combine, but since
you’ve got limited room, you’ll need to try different combinations to produce
the set of powers that you like. Arranging your orbs adds an almost puzzle
element to the power-ups in the game, and it’s really satisfying when you
achieve the perfect combination that grants you access to exactly the powers you
wanted. As for the powers themselves, you can use everything from
damage-bonuses to elemental projectile attacks to shield-type abilities, with
more interesting and powerful attacks becoming available as you make your way
through the game.
The types of orbs you put in this
grid, along with where you put them,
determines what special abilities you’ll be
able to use.
Along with the story and gameplay, Kage 2’s presentation is straight out of the late eighties or early
nineties — but that’s a good thing. Although it’s not technically impressive, the
game has a gorgeous visual aesthetic. Characters and environments are more
impressionistic than detailed; its soft edges and bright, dramatic color scheme
make the game look like a watercolor painting in motion. The music is mostly
traditional-sounding Japanese tunes, which sound great and serve as a nice
counterpoint to the often frantic action.
The environments may look idyllic,
but the action is anything but.
As a new title that manages to
acknowledge the original, while also bringing its (very dated) gameplay into the
modern day, Legend of Kage 2 is a success. It’s a budget-priced serving of very
solid 2D action, with enough depth to make you want to go through it more than
once, and enough challenge to make you earn every stage you conquer. It might
get overshadowed in the coming Christmas rush, but that would be a shame,
because Legend of Kage 2 is a great DS title, worthy of any action fan’s time.
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Review Scoring Details for Legend of Kage 2 |
Gameplay: 8.2
This is old-school action at its
finest: with a button for close-range attacks and a button for projectiles,
you’ll be bouncing around the screen, killing enemies from every direction in no
time. The action can get pretty relentless, but there’s enough depth to your
character’s abilities and skills that no matter the situation, there’s always a
way for you to counter it — if your reflexes are quick enough.
Graphics: 8.0
Sure, there’s not a lot of detail to
the sprite graphics. This soft look actually looks great, especially since the
characters and enemies animate so smoothly. It doesn’t push the limits of the
hardware, but it’s still fun to look at.
Sound: 7.8
The classical Japanese-inspired
audio is fitting for the setting and tone of the game, but the songs aren’t very
memorable. Still, it’s nice to listen to while cutting your way through your
enemies. Sound effects are about what you’d expect, so prepare for plenty of
sword-singing and enemy death-groaning.
Difficulty: Hard
Kage 2 is old-school tough, and as
you get deeper into the game, the enemies become more sinister, tricky, and
numerous. You’ve got the abilities to get you safely through the game, but
actually getting there is going to require mastering every technique, as well as
hair-trigger reflexes and a little luck.
Concept: 7.5
If someone asked me to pick a
license out of Taito’s back catalog to reintroduce into today’s gaming
landscape, I probably wouldn’t have picked Kage, based on its obscurity alone. Still, it was a sound idea then, it still works today, and the new ideas Kage 2
brings to the table are well realized.
Overall: 8.0
It’s not the sort of game that’s to
everybody’s tastes, but for the old-school gamer who’s finished Contra 4, Legend
of Kage 2 delivers a dose of good old-fashioned platforming action. Don’t worry
if you don’t have nostalgia for the original — Kage 2 deserves to be played based
on its own merits.
