The Legend of Kage (1985). Play online

Summary

The Legend of Kage burst onto the arcade scene in 1985 as Taito’s fast‑moving hack‑and‑slash platformer. Players swing a kodachi shortsword and throw unlimited shuriken while guiding the ninja Kage through five enemy‑filled stages to rescue Princess Kirihime. Collecting crystal balls upgrades Kage’s clothing color—green or orange—granting bigger shuriken and faster speed, but a hit forces him back to the basic red outfit. A scroll triggers a brief meditation during which nearby foes drop dead. The arcade version features scrolls but omits crystal balls, a discrepancy the home ports later filled.

The game’s soundtrack was crafted by Hisayoshi Ogura, who layered a distinctly Japanese melodic vibe onto an FM sound board after initial attempts with an MSM5232 chip. Taito nearly shelved the title until glowing reactions at a trade show convinced executives to launch it fully.

Commercially it outperformed Taito’s expectations and was promptly ported to many 1986 home systems; a peculiar unlicensed MSX version even appeared on Taiwan’s SG‑1000. Decades later, The Legend of Kage resurfaced in Taito Legends 2, the PSP’s Taito Legends Power Up, the Taito Nostalgia 1 collection, and the 2015 Arcade Archives release.

Storyline

The Legend of Kage puts you in the shoes of Kage, a young Iga ninja on a desperate rescue. His target is Princess Kiri, the shogun’s daughter, who has been kidnapped by the warlord Yoshi and the evil samurai Yuki. Kage battles his way through a dense forest, slips into a hidden passage, climbs a towering fortress wall and storms the castle interior. In the arcade version he must save the princess twice; the NES port adds a third rescue, and each successful save triggers a seasonal shift—from summer to autumn to winter and back again. The changing seasons serve as visual markers of progress as Kage fights toward the final showdown.