Kage: Shadow of the Ninja, known in the West as Shadow of the Ninja, is a side scrolling action game released in 1990 by Natsume on Famicom/NES.
The game revolves around a pair of ninja sent to assassinate a dictator in a futuristic version of New York City and can be played by 2 players simultaneously, both ninjas can run, crouch, climb ladders and hang onto an overhang and move under it.
The weaponry includes a katana, the default weapon, a kurisagama that has a long range attack, shurikens and hand grenades.
The game includes 5 different levels, the first 4 are divided in 3 stages and the final level into 2 for a total of 14 playable stages.
Tengo Project, the Japanese studio owned by Natsume Atari and developers of previously released Wild Gun Reloads, The Ninja Warriors: Return of the Warriors and Kikikaikai 3 (Pocky & Rocky Reshrined in the West) is working on this new title, which keeps the 2D sprite graphics and includes a total of 7 weapons that can be used through the various stages.
Kage: Shadow of the Ninja will be release in digital form for PC, Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series will be available worldwide while the physical form is actually planned in Japan and North America (Switch and PlayStation 5 versions) and only in Japan for PlayStation 4.
The Japanese release is set for 29 August 2024, western release not yet announced at the time this article has been written; the game should also support the English language according to the Steam page.
Watch the “Release date” trailer below: