Hiya TAYers, ninjas are cool, right? Well, they always have been, to invoke a popular meme.
Legend of Kage was a side- and vertical scrolling game where you scaled trees, threw shurikens and generally did badass ninja stuff to other red and blue-clad ninjas.
I don’t think I ever got very far with this game, but I do remember feeling like a hero as I scaled the trees and felled the enemies who were simply out-ninja’d by my superior ninjaness.
Back then, in the early 90’s, pop culture icons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Karate Kid and 3 Ninjas ensured that you could slap a ninja on just about anything and I would love it.
Fortunately Legend Of Kage still holds up pretty well. Here’s hoping we see it released on Nintendo’s NES Online service at some point.
Power ups are cool, too, right? Grabbing crystal balls in LoK gave Kage super sized shurikens, much to the dismay of enemy shinobi and fire-breathing monks.
This kind of extra power gave pre-teen me a huge dopamine rush, and even though I was never that good at this particular game with it’s fast paced vertical and side scrolling action, it ensured that I kept coming back for more.
On that note, I can think of few games that gave one that sense of vertical height at the time as in most games the top of your screen was pretty much the limit.
Legend of Kage was released for virtual console on both the 3DS and the ill-fated Wii U, and also received a 3D visual remake on PSP. On top of that, there is a sequel, Legend of Kage 2, for Nintendo DS that received generally positive reviews. Had I ever come across it, you can bet your butt that I would have picked it up.
One can only wonder if we will ever see this franchise make a comeback, stranger things have happened like Nier getting an absolutely brilliant and critically acclaimed sequel.
I can still at least say with certainty that ninjas are cool, they always have been and probably always will be.
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