THE LEGEND OF KAGE ARCADE FAQ/WALKTHROUGH By Robert Johnson( Rej72380) Created on March 6, 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1) INTRODUCTION 2) JOYSTICK CONTROLS & KNIFE/THROWING STAR MOVES 3) 2 QUICK REMINDERs 4) WALKTHROUGH 4.1) STAGE 1 4.2) STAGE 2 4.3) STAGE 3 4.4) STAGE 4 4.5) STAGE 5 5) THE SCOREBOARD OF HONOR 6) IN CONCLUSION 7) CONTACT INFORMATION 8) LEGAL INFORMATION 1) INTRODUCTION Welcome, folks, to my guide on the classic arcade hit "The Legend of Kage". I've created this guide because there were no FAQs for the original arcade version of the game--just the NES and the Wii Virtual Console versions. This guide will feature a very quick walkthrough for the first go-around, or the "Summer" go-around of the game.Both the "Fall" and "Winter" go-arounds are basically the same layout, with the key exception of the Red Ninjas throwing bombs and a different final boss at Stage 5. Without further ado, here is the guide. 2) JOYSTICK CONTROLS & KNIFE/THROWING STAR MOVES Because this is an arcade game in nature, the button layout will not be labeled as "A" or "Square", just what the machine names it. First, regarding the joystick controls, you can move left or right by pushing the joystick in that direction. To jump, you have to push the joystick up. As for crouching, you pull and hold down to do that particular move. The primary button you'll be using is the Throwing Star button, which throws stars, or shirikens, at your enemies. Keep in mind thatthe enemie will block that particular projectile with a sword slash, so be wary of the situation. You can throw this weapon in any of the eight joystick directions, including down whil in the air. The secondary button is the Knife button, which will slash in a full-circle motion. Keep in mind that the Knife can be blocked as well, but it serves the purpose of blocking all enemy attacks except for the Red Ninja's bombs and the Monk's fire breath. For such risk, if you kill an enemy with the knife, you'll earn double the points you would normally get if you killed that same enemy with a throwing star. 3) 2 QUICK REMINDERS There a two quick reminders before reading the walkthrough: First off, when you beat the fifth stage of the game, it loops back to the first stage, except it brings a change in the seasons and much tougher enemies You must beat the game three times to see the ending to it. Second off, if you're playing this game on either the PS2 or Xbox as part of the "Taito Legends 2" collection, the button layout will be explained at the How-to-play menu, before actually booting up the game from the DVD-ROM. 4) WALKTHROUGH This walkthrough will get you through the five stages of the game, but only for the Summer go-around. 4.1) STAGE 1 OBJECTIVE--Wait for three blue monks and one red monk to appear and kill them to proceed to the next stage. ENEMIES IN THE STAGE--Blue Ninja, Red Ninja, Blud Monk, Red Monk To be as clear as possible, got left, while killing the Blue and Red Ninjas with either your throwing star ot knife. After getting to a certain part of tbe stage, a Blue Monk will appear. The best way to kill him is to use the knife, while avoiding his fire breath. Keep going left until you eventually battle two more Blue Monks. Repeat the strategy as before. Once you get to the near end of the stage, a Red Monk will appear. Use the same strategy as before to kill him and clear the stage. 4.2) STAGE 2 OBJECTIVE--Kill ten Ninjas, whether they be Blue or Red. ENEMIES IN THE STAGE--Blue Ninja, Red Ninja As you can quite imagine, the stage is nothing but an endless loop (something computer programmers and game designers should be well acquainted with). Your best bet is the throwing star and moving left. Keep in mind that the Red Ninjas are worth 500 points more than the Blue Ninjas, but are more dangerous, so keep that in mind. Just repeatedly run and throw shirikens to the left to make this stage a very quick one. 4.3) STAGE 3 OBJECTIVE--Climb all the way to the top of the stage by jumping. ENEMIES IN THE STAGE--Red Ninja Just as the arrow on the bottom of the screen is indicating, jump up to the top of the stage. Be sure to use throwing stars to kiil whatever Red Ninjas get in your way and using the Knife to block whatever attacks the enemy will be dishing out at you. The stage is complete when there is a section of stage that looks like the entrance of a castle. 4.4) STAGE 4 OBJECTIVE--Release the Princess from her rope-bound imprisonment. ENEMIES IN THE STAGE--Blue Ninja, Red Ninja, Blue Monk, Red Monk First off, move left to the stairway and push left to climb up one flight of stairs and right to the other, all while deflecting the Ninjas' shiriken attack with your Knife. From here, kill the Blue Monk that appears, then head right towards another stairwell, this time moving right and left. Repeat the same manuver to block any shirikens that come your way. From there, move left to kill whateven Ninjas that are attacking you and head toward the third set of stairs, going left and right this time. From there, there will be Red Monks coming from the wallet, one after another. Use your throwing stars to kill them and move right until you see the princess, who is tied up in rope. Get in front of her and use the Knife button to cut loose the rope-based bonds and it will trigger a CPU-controlled event, earning you 52,000 points--50,000 for recuing the princess and 2,000 for having the CPU kill the blue Ninja that is trying to stop you. After a breif chase sequence, here comes Stage 5. 4.5) STAGE 5 OBJECTIVE--Defeat the boss that is attacking you. ENEMIES IN THE STAGE--Samurai Be prepared to fight the samurai, who will use sword slashes to block most attacks. Forget about using the knife on him, as he'll slash in unison of your attack. For this boss, use your throwing stars. It will take a few throwing stars before one actuall connects on the Samurai. If you've beaten the boss in the summer or fall go-arounds, be prepared to go through the game at least one more time. If you've beaten the boss in the winter go-around, congratuations on truely beating this fine arcade game. 5) THE SCOREBOARD OF HONOR Taking a major cue from PopoNana's ICe Climber FAQ for the NES, this section is for user-submitted high scores. There are two general rules to follow: 1) Record your gameplay footage, using either a video camera, the MAME emulator's record function or you computer's video capture card, if you're playing this game on the Taito Legends 2 collection for the PS2 or Xbox and upload it onto any video-hosting site, such as YouTube. This is so the score is verified. 2) Send me an e-mail with the link to your hi-scoring video and the put in the topic title "Legend of Kage Hi-Score list" to the e-mail address given in the "Contact Information" section of this guide. Good luck and may the best Ninja win! HIGH SCORES [None available ATM] 7) CONTACT INFORMATION If you've got any questions about this or any other guide I've made, or, if you want to submit your highscore to the Scoreboard of Honor, drop me a line at the following e-mail address: Rej72380@aol.com 8) LEGAL INFORMATION This document is the copyright (c) 2008 of Robrt Johnson. You are free to reproduce this guide, as long as the original author's name remains in the copy. The Legend of Kage is the trademark of Taito Corp. This guide was not created, endosed nor approved by Taito Corp. or any other company mentioned in this guide.