The Legend of Kage 2 Game Sample - DS
33The main reason it took so long to start this after our poll was because I was grappling with how they should be presented; the DS was an amazing and quirky piece of tech with dual screens and touch controls (sometimes to its detriment) , and I didn't want to upscale the display too much as the horizontal resolution is not particularly high (256 x 192, though the verticality is doubled in some games through clever programming to 256 x 382) though they can still look quite sharp for 2D games. I've created several templates for standard games (where the second screen is mainly for text and menus) and games that rely on both screens at once for core gameplay such as one having three windows (two smallish screens with a third, more detailed action screen) another having two even-sized screens side-by-side, etc. I could get more real estate without the graphics, but one reason I used them is to show how the split screens look naturally (a lot of images and such that use both screens look strange on top of each other, use this game's opening for reference as it was edited in the larger display).
Anyway, most would not be remiss to not remember Taito's first "The Legend of Kage" game; it was released MORE THAN TWENTY years prior in 1985 in Arcades and saw home console ports on several systems of the time such as NES/FC, Sharp X1, MSX, etc. but was not particularly well-received and fell into a long, almost forgotten slumber... that is, until Taito woke up one day during their whole "Revisiting Retro" period and said: "What old IP can we put out now? We already did Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands, Bust-A-Move, several large compilations (Taito Memories / Legends, where Kage was featured in the second Legends title), and more... but something's missing...". It was at this time that the light bulb went off and they said "Kage! Let's bring back Kage!"... so TLoK got a "sequel" in 2008 for the Nintendo DS. While it's not a particularly great game, I'm kinda glad it was revisited.
I grew up playing TLoK on a rare bootleg NES/FC multi-cart called "Supervision 52" (I tell this story periodically as it was ironically one of the catalysts that made me collect legit games some 25 years ago or so) where it was called "Legendry" and was amused by the high-flying antics of Kage and his skillful tree-climbing, shuriken throwing and blade slashing prowess. It was the Japanese equivalent of a Wuxia film (one of the best examples being "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") and I just imagine Sho Kosugi mowing down generic lesser-ninjas and demons who stand in his way... I was way into martial media growing up.
To be fair, this wouldn't be the first time Kage saw an upgrade; The little-known NES/FC "Demon Sword" (Fudo Myouoden, 1988-1990) was also by Taito and was a sequel in all-but-name, and a Japanese plug-n-play device of all things (Taito Nostalgia 1) saw the release of "The Revised Legend of Kage" which added two new playable characters (a girl, Ayame, and a dog, Ganin) and a few new bosses in 2006, but it was released in very low quantities and is very rare. Why would they do this? Just cause.
This game just takes the guts of those games and puts a little more meat on the bones. This means a little more hacking, slashing, jumping and magic (which is unlocked through gems you find which are combined with touch controls... thankfully, it's the only real touch-controlled element of the game). There is a little bit of exploration on levels, the boss fights are more varied, and there's a reason to revisit levels and raise your rank thanks to various difficulty settings and a novel achievement system to earn artwork and stuff (that is barely viewable on the small screen) but it's mostly the same old game with a new skin and less precise controls.
As the totally buff and updated Kage or newcomer Chihiro, you will go on a quest to rescue the all-powerful but hopeless Kirihime from those who would abuse her abilities for evil. The plot is there and is a modest re-imagining of the original and characters can now run up walls, hang from ceilings, dash, air dash, slide and do small combos through upgrades you unlock as you progress. Kage and Chihiro also have different strengths and weaknesses in their health, magic, short and long range abilities. All these changes breathe life into the game, though the core movement still feels kinda stiff and not as smooth as the original game. The music is nice (with a few remixes), but most of the graphics are quite small and undefined and text is TINY, though not without its charms. With the steep competition of the time and long absence of the IP, it quietly fell into obscurity and remains a cheap title to pick-up but die-hard fans will likely enjoy the game as well as ninja enthusiasts and action fans without particularly high expectations. It re-ignited my nostalgia for Kage in a mostly positive way.
This is a video demonstrating several things (damage, skills, etc.). Enjoy.