The Legend of Kage 2
Score: 86% ESRB: Everyone 10+ Publisher: Square Enix Developer: Taito Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action/ Classic/Retro/ Platformer (2D)
Graphics & Sound: Nintendo is slowly amassing a reputation as the retro king, not just in its offerings through the Wii Store, but in its widely expanding library of "new classic" titles. There's nothing wrong with this. It appeals to a group of niche gamers that want to relive the great moments of days past. One gets the sneaking suspicion that implicit in the "Classic/Retro Gamer" brand is the notion that modern games are consistently falling short of expectations. What's behind hype statements like that? The Legend of Kage 2 is a wonderful hybrid of old and new concepts, using elements from the original game alongside new advancements in technology and gameplay. Both screens are used to maximum advantage on the DS, with lots of landscape features and enemies visible above or below you as you play through each level. In contrast to most scrolling (side or vertical) action games, where the things around you are a mystery until they pop across the screen's outer frame, The Legend of Kage 2 shows you a large slice of the action. This offers plenty of strategic implications and brings you closer to the feeling of being immersed in a large world full of enemies. The music and enemy sounds are well implemented, with very satisfying feedback each time you dispense some whoop-ass on a bad guy or boss. The only thing missing is a rumble feature, but then this isn't really the right platform for that... The visual landscape is somewhat reminiscent of the original game, but much more varied. It appears that the designers tried to make things realistic without completely losing that "old school" feel. New features rolled in as extras include concept art that is unlocked as you progress through The Legend of Kage 2 and score well on individual levels. Love the art, but without any ability to enlarge or manipulate images, certain pieces were way too small to fully appreciate.
Gameplay: There are many ninja games that have had success over the years, some of them remembered fondly as classic titles and others remade in high-tech versions on next-gen consoles. The Legend of Kage 2 goes a different route, mining familiar territory for gamers that cut their teeth in the '80s, but staying away from too radical a remake. Some of the more aggressive attempts to put a fresh face on classic franchises have met with success, but others have come across as a failed attempt to fix something that was never broken. The original ninja game presented as The Legend of Kage in arcades was a standard side-scrolling action title that included a few nifty features. There was a power-up system that allowed players to customize their experience by donning a costume and gaining special powers. This has been translated in The Legend of Kage 2 as a series of orbs that players can slide around on a peg-board, using their stylus. Depending on the configuration of orbs, you'll open up new ninjutsu that includes both defensive and offensive capabilities. The peg-board has a limited amount of space, so creating new ninjutsu turns out to be a game within the game, as players have to look for new combinations and come up with the most efficient distribution. The Legend of Kage 2 allows you to have more than one special power at play, but you'll only be able to customize your configuration of orbs between levels. There isn't a multiplayer feature available, which is a weird omission considering how much fun it would have been to have wireless co-op. The nod to gamers looking for more is the choice of two different characters, expanding the ranks to include a feisty ninja girl. Just try not to choose her the first time you play through... Each character features slightly different attacks and capabilities and even storylines; you can customize ninjutsu for both, but not change fundamentals. The basic moves are the same for both and the overall game plays out in a similar fashion regardless of who you choose. After blasting through a level, you'll be confronted with a boss that you'll battle to move ahead. Simply completing all the levels doesn't really do The Legend of Kage 2 justice. Play both characters for the full experience and then try to mow through the levels collecting all items and harvesting those bosses. Whether this attains "classic" status or not is beside the point. It's a viable successor to the classic we all remember and makes for a good weekend of fun play for dedicated action fans.
Difficulty: The dedication you'll need to show if you intend to sweep levels clean and master bosses is no joke. Liberal use of ninjutsu helps even out the difficulty and wild button-mashing will get the job done 70% of the time. The real skill required to go through a level without losing your life, gathering items, and beating the boss is considerable. Enemies appear from above and below you, pop up unexpectedly from cover, and come rushing at you constantly. Standing still is no protection, because enemies are on the move within every level. Ninjas with throwing stars are a major pain in the rear, but the fast-moving enemies or the toughened ones are what will have you tearing your hair out. Starting over isn't necessary, thanks to save points during each stage, and the mini-levels are timed so that you won't get too frustrated playing them over and over again. Collecting the orbs that produce ninjutsu isn't necessary to win, but it helps. There are health pickups in each level also, which you'll need until you figure out all the timing on enemies. Bosses are all about timing and learning the patterns they use when attacking. Even the most difficult bosses follow a strict pattern and can be easily defeated with your standard weapons, or more quickly with ninjutsu. Sometimes it seems, although it obviously isn't the case, that the E10+ rating has as much to do with playability as appropriateness. Younger gamers won't get all the controls available and may be frustrated during some of the more intricate levels where it is possible to become turned around. 10 or older is probably about right...
Game Mechanics: Each time you cross a certain threshold for accomplishment in The Legend of Kage 2, you'll unlock new moves that are showcased for you in a practice/demonstration mode. These are mostly simple moves that show an iterative trend: Press (A) for a single swing of your weapon, then upgrade to pressing twice for two swings, and then three, etc. Neat moves are built into this game that are drawn from the original, such as running up walls. You can also swing across a ceiling to avoid traps or enemies on the ground, and do some cool sliding attack that covers a lot of ground and takes out enemies. Combining these to create nice fluid motion is part of what makes The Legend of Kage 2 fun. Unlike retro gaming, there is some nuance in control here, a challenge to master, but very rewarding once you do. Watching the game is almost as much fun as playing it as your ninjas fly up in the air, slash blades, trigger ninjutsu attacks, bounce off walls, and slide with a blur into enemies. There's not a lot of crazy combos to learn; the model here was for rapid button-mashing rather than intricate moves. Shoulder buttons cycle through the available ninjutsu, while the (X) button triggers these special attacks. Placing the light and heavy attacks on opposite buttons is a bit annoying, but eventually you'll get accustomed. Not being able to re-roll the button placement is another one of those weird design issues that pop up a few times in the game. The Legend of Kage 2 provides exactly what you would expect from a new version of a classic arcade title, without falling for any of the tired conventions these days that say every old-is-new game needs techno and light trails and fever! modes... Purists might feel that too much has changed for this to be acceptable as a retro title, but they're probably too busy in their parents' basement rigging up an old Commodore-64 to a vintage arcade cabinet to fully appreciate the leaps and bounds gaming has made since the Reagan presidency... Those of us looking for simple, easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay need look no further.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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