Legend of Kage

The Legend of Kage is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash platform game developed by Taito and released in arcades in 1985 . You play as Kage, a young ninja whose mission is to rescue Princess Kirihime from the evil warlord Yoshi and his minions. Armed with a short sword and an unlimited supply of shuriken, Kage possesses superhuman jumping abilities, allowing him to leap between treetops and scale castle walls. The game features five distinct stages—forest, moat, castle exterior, castle interior, and a final boss chamber—which repeat as seasons change. Unlike many arcade games of its era, Kage has a “life bar” mechanic where collecting crystal balls grants extra hits before death. The arcade release was considered a success for Taito and exceeded sales expectations at the time .

Amstrad CPC

Released in Europe in late 1986 by Imagine Software, developed by Imagine Studios . The Amstrad CPC version features hardware-assisted smooth scrolling in both horizontal and vertical directions, a technical achievement that sets it apart from many other home conversions—the game uses scanline additions to achieve fluid vertical movement on the CPC hardware . It retains all five stages, the ninja combat mechanics with sword and shuriken attacks, and the original arcade music composed by Hisayoshi Ogura . Unlike the Commodore 64 version, which received mixed reviews for slowdown, the CPC port benefits from the platform's capabilities, though like most home conversions it represents a visual downgrade from the arcade original .