Elevator Action & Legend of Kage retrospective: Ups and downs | NES Works
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- Опубликовано: 23 дек 2024
- Japanese publisher Taito makes its NES debut with a pair of games that, in stark contrast to the games that immediately precede them, quite faithfully recreate their arcade predecessors rather than reinvent them. That's not a bad thing, necessarily, but given the ambitious design of the games released on either side of this duo, it does cause Taito to feel a bit behind the curve. (They'll sort it out eventually.)
Chinatown Fair in NYC has that 2009 Elevator Action Death Parade arcade game. It's really strange, yet kinda cool; it's an on-rails shooter, but in front of the screen are real-life "elevator doors" that close in front of you at times.
I've always wanted to play it, but even though I visit Taito Hey in Akihabara once a year, I've never seen it in real life.
Mission accomplished on the pronunciation trolling. My eye was twitching by the end.
But then there's also 7:59 and that mindsplitting scrolling effect. That actually made me dizzier than most VR experiences so far.
I'm not going to defend Legend of Kage's quality but I do love that you gave it credit for its ambition wih its themes. It was absolutely one of the more influential formative bits of ninja media I got to consume as a kid, and solidified my belief that ponytails can be cool and badass on guys and not just be douchey like with Steven Seagal. Thanks for that, Taito, Tose, and countless assorted ninja and wuxia flicks.
When you pronounced it "cage", I heard the sound of thousands of keyboard warriors preparing for battle.
SlyBeast There’s one right above you
I was hoping it was about Nick Cage
Lol😂😂
I thought the same thing, "My god, he's summoned them."
As a kid growing up with one parent who was raised in Japan and another who was born there... I absolutely pronounced it like Nick's last name. I'm glad though, that we live in a world where it means a lot to people that we say it correctly. That's comforting to me.
My sister was the only person who could beat the legend of kage in our family. She did it a few times. Get this, after the credits roll, you cut to kage and "princess" walking through the summer woods and then she is kidnapped again. the seasons repeat and the game goes again. Somehow my dad started this tradition when we played this that we would have to blow kisses for good luck to the princess as she is kidnapped.
That's honestly pretty great
The fact that Legend of Kage scrolls left to right is freaking me out.
Well, the left to right format is kinda arbitrary, so it's no surprise some early games didn't follow that convention. XD
Ghostbusters 2 did the same. And you would DIE if you go right at the beginni
You're really good at Elevator Action, I can't beat a stage in that game, it's tough. Also, I absolutely adore Legend of Kage, as a kid who was obsessed with Ninjas at a young age, it was perfect for me. I love the feeling of that game, being able to soar through the air across tree tops, and climbing up trees with ease just felt so cool. But yeah, Kage and Gyruss are my two favourite games to play for short 10 minute bursts.
I would play Elevator Action endlessly, never had a problem beating a level.
I can't wait to tell all of my Genesis friends that they've been pronouncing Streets Of Rage wrong this whole time.
Elevator Action Returns is probably one of Taito's best games
Yessss! That game rules!
And now with the release of Elevator Action Invasion, the series has now been releasing games for 38 years, which I suppose is impressive since not many series last that long.
Man, that Legend of Kage boxart is really something else.
I remember playing it in the arcade as a kid. Doing crazy-high jumps in the forest while slinging ninja stars against a lightning storm backdrop was awesome. I was happy to get a decent home port in the NES. Oddly enough, I didn't own it--just rented it from the video store.
I don't know that arcade Elevator Action was as ubiquitous as you mention. I don't recall seeing it in any of my local bowling alleys, arcades, mini-marts, etc. In fact, my first exposure might have been the NES version.
Dull as it might be, the sensory overload that Legend of Kage provided to young kids is what kept them coming back.
It was one of my favorites present in several of the multicarts that passed by my hands. I also never finished the second cycle.
Yup, there's something about that game that I can't quite put my finger on. It was objectively bad, and hard to the extent that I never even dreamed of finishing it, but it just felt magical. It was very obviously not a western game without even any pretentions of being one, and that felt sort of exciting to me as kid even though I couldn't have put my thoughts into those words. The quick pace and flashing lights... maybe it put me into some kind of a trance haha. I don't know, it was just one that kept me coming back to play the first "stage" over and over and over.
Kage is simple and deep at the same time. The loops here act as the repetition cycles of myths; the tragedy of not making the rescuing again and again. A butterfly that holds the power of two warriors. And that perfectly hysterical tune gives it a very sense of urgency and dread. It could be more of a performance driven tell rather than a game.
Elevator Action features far more escalators than its title would lead me to believe
"Escalator Action" sounds like a slow-speed chase to the second level of a shopping mall anchor store so I can see why they didn't go with that name
I have a bit of fondness for Legend of Kage. Those huge leaps into the sky just feel so satisfying!
I love Elevator Action for the NES. I never played the arcade original back in the day, and didn't even know it had been an arcade game. I got to know it through my friend's bootleg NES multicart. It had something like 200 games on it, but this was the one I spent the most time playing whenever I was at his place (which for several years was pretty much every weekend). Knowing what I know now, I was kind of shocked to learn Micronics were behind this port. Like you said, it's not really up to the standards of the best 1987 NES releases, but as a straightforward conversion of the classic arcade game, it really is surprisingly decent. Quite unlike the wretched Ikari Warriors and 1942, which to me felt borderline unplayable even back then.
When I started to seriously collect NES games I didn't have when I was a kid, it was the late 90s and NES prices were much much lower than they are today. I remember buying both of these games for $5 total. For that? They're just fine.
But man, consider that these games were once full price, $60 releases!
almost the price of an entire NES bundled with SMB
Makes me want the Arcade Archives version of Elevator Action on Switch for some of that sweet, sweet Flip Grip action.
Hell yes it does
This could be my faulty memory, but I recall the enemy spies in NES Elevator Action absolutely filling the air with streams of bullets in later stages. The game becomes all but impossible as you can't find a safe path through their constant shooting. And I believe Demon Sword was actually released as a sequel to Legend of Kage.
I've been studying Japanese for close to 30 years now and only just realized that it was pronounced ka-ge when I re-purchased a copy of it before PRGE this year.
@kusogetheater I had the same Aha moment when I realized it was Ka-ge.
as a kid I bought Legend of Kage at a garage sale and was disappointed at first, but when I started getting good at it, I fell in love.
Honestly it is the perfect arcadey title, with quick snappy stages, which get faster to complete as you get better, as well as an unheard of freedom of movement at the time. I was totally blown away at how I could leap treetop to treetop avoiding ninjas!
The changing seasons kept pushing me to play the game as I wanted to know what the next season would look like. If I played it in the arcade though, I would have hated it lol.
"a spiritual descendant of Elevator Action"? And here I thought elevators were always ascendant or descendant.
i wasnt expecting a dad joke in the comments section.
Kage is one of those games where I think objectively it’s pretty iffy and janky but there’s a lot of fun to be had in its simplicity and ease of play
Elevator action had some of the most painful theme music of all time. That loop killed me. On the other hand, the Legend of Kage in the arcades was a really good looking game!
It’s actually pronounced “Lee-GEND.”
The emphasis is on the second syllable, and the second syllable starts with a hard G like “game” or “god.”
The first syllable rhymes with “me” or “see.”
Lee-GEND
Common mistake but I didn’t expect to see it here.
Matt Curses!
This is my favourite opening bit in Video Works history. Wish the title made the book. It cracks me up relentlessly.
Bless you for that end quote.
Elevator Action is the 4th game i played for NES as a kid way back in the mid 80s. Wow i feel old lol
Yeah. It seems like maybe 10 or 15 years ago , not nearly 40....omg.
I know I've heard you say Kage correctly before (maybe in that Ninja Gaiden stream?), so I wasn't as surprised at that gag.
I just found your channel for the first time today and I have enjoyed these videos. One correction, Elevator Action used a horizontal monitor in the arcades.
I had Legend of Kage as a kid and while it's true that it's not a great game, it has a certain....something. The controls are snappy and intuitive, everything moves at a fast clip, and like you said you can really get into a groove on it. Like a Sonic game or a good shmup, it can be simultaneously fast-paced frenetic and strangely relaxing. You can turn your brain off and let muscle memory and instinct take over, and it becomes almost zen-like. Again, not a great game by any stretch, I do recommend at least giving it a try as it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Also: Kage is the japanese word for "shadow", so while the pronunciation might be strange to someone who doesn't speak japanese it makes sense in context. Ninja, amirite?
Honestly, I think it’s about time for Legend of Kage 3- the structure of “beat these same level types in a loop or die and start again” feels very similar to something like Nuclear Throne, and god knows people can’t get enough of roguelites. If they tightened up the controls, maybe made the sword deflect easier to do constantly or toned down how much you had to rely on it, made jumping less risky, etc, a game like this could be very popular if updated properly.
Despite all my rage I am still just a Kage in a cage.
I loved Legend of Kage when I was a kid. An easy-to-understand arcade port was a lot more fun for me at that age than a more complicated home port that could have been even more vexing with the manual missing. Also, we always thought the fire-breathing guys were pirates.
I really enjoy Elevator Action, it's the inspiration for my beloved Rolling Thunder franchise. It's also another one of those games that the Game Boy expanded upon with a better version and of course has a lot of great sequels as mentioned.
You seem like a good person.
I used to love Rolling Thunder, and I got pretty good at it, but these days I get more use out of elevator action
GBC Elevator Action was license skinned for Dexters Laboratory in the US.
Yeah, I keep meaning to grab that one. I have the Japanese version, which is Elevator Action EX.
Decided to rewatch this video after AVGN did a video on Legend of Kage. Up being the jump button was a mistake here.
I didn't know Virtua Fighter's Kage came from such humble beginnings.
Legend of Kage really reminds me a lot of Ninja Spirit for Turbografx16. And that's one of the best turbografx games. I wonder if they were made by the same devs
Holy crap! I'm so buying your books when they come out!!
Certain inspiration for Ninja Spirit.
Absolutely. Irem took Taito's ball and ran with it.
Yeah, I thought they might even be different versions of the same game till I looked up the devs. They're so similar in look, level design, and enemy placement. Ninja Spirit could easily have been a sequel
In elevator action you don't die for falling a flor, you die for falling more than a floor
I used to have Legend Of Kage but I sold it but I do have Elevator Action I might get Legend of Kage again one day
I love how you replicated my own previous ignorance in pronunciation by purposefully making it a gag. Excellent.
Now if only I could stop reading it as "Nobunga's Ambition" *sigh*
Jonathan Roth Everyone mispronounced it back in the day! It’s part of the legacy and needed to be respected.
I pronounced it "Nobunga" as recently as Nioh's release, shamefully.
Me too! I always called it Nobunga for years. And like many I always thought it was like "cage"
nobunaga's bungle
.... I thought it was suspicious that you'd make sure you had 'Darius' correct over on SNES Works but had it wrong on 'Kage' here, well played! indeed Legend of Kage and Elevator Action aren't AAA must-haves on NES, but for the right price I wouldn't say no to either. Also I didn't really know about the tech for Legend of Kage til I saw this video, back then I don't remember ever seeing the manual. so good to know how that game's supposed to work!!
I like the Game Boy version of Elevator Action the best. But Elevator Action Returns was even better!!!
Is Demon Sword for Nes a sequel or prequel to The Legend of Kage?
I hope that you have the "Link he come to town" song stuck in your head as often as I do.
I kind of want to know the sequence of events and line if reasoning that would lead to the development of an action game about riding elevators.
it was inspired by the developers racing each other on elivators just for fun. the spy senario was an idea from the exutives.
Love Elevator Action, one of my absolute favorite games to score chase.
I never expected that Legend of Kage would be so... speedy and fluid. It could be my kind of game. Seems like it was doing the "lithe platforming" feel way before Sonic trended.
It's Cage. As in Johnny Cage. This is a licensed game for a Johnny Cage film.
What do you mean Johnny Cage doesn't exist?...
When I first heard you pronounce it as Kage it didn't bother me but I knew the comment section would be full of people saying it needed to be pronounced Kage.
Also your teaser for the next episode had me laughing out loud. Hallelujah!
I wish there was a new Elevator Action.
Am I the only one that noticed that the rupee counter for the Legend of Zelda shown at the end of the video doesn't look like the counter used in the actual game (At least, the US copy I have)?
It's Japanese footage.
I think Elevator Action may constitute my oldest memory of an Arcade machine, with one machine located in a ski resort, which I remember somewhere around the age of 3 or 4...
Great review as always. Got my flipgrip. It’s perfect!! Thanks.
So, Muramasa is basically a modern, hand-drawn Legend of Kage!
It's a lot closer to Getsu Fuuma Den.
Any idea why Micronics first outing seems to be the best one?
My guess is that this is a simple, straightforward game that fell within their programmer's wheelhouse, and the company used this adaptation to get hired for work that demanded a better understanding of the hardware, so the guy ended up getting in over his head.
Hey Jeremy. On the getaway car in Elevator Action. Does it say "JHOT"? What does this mean??? I've always wondered about that since I was a kid playing this.
It's supposed to say THOT, but they messed up the sprite tables
The Legend of Kage also had two other bosses for the autumn and winter seasons.
I had no idea about the arcade legacy of Elevator Action. This was new to me.
I can't wait until you get around to the Ninja Gaiden trilogy. That will be fun. I was also fairly partial to the Genesis/Mega Drive Shinobi trilogy, even though each of those three games plays pretty different from one another.
It's going to be a LONG time, but I did stream the first Ninja Gaiden a few days ago.
Hmm? Kage goes with the japanese--
*checks later on the video*
Oh, NVM. It actually addresses the Kage pronounciation. Moving on...
Love the break-in!
@@ChristopherSobieniak I was making the comment when I see the name of the game being pronounced as "Cage" (the english word), and then I saw and heard that they addressed that it was "Kage" pronounced in japanese instead.
@@Lightgod87 I know, but I just like how he breaks in to remind us of his mistake like that! I'm sure a lot of kids probably didn't know that at first when playing this back in the day!
@@ChristopherSobieniak I surely didn't know when I was a kid, and I actually pronounced as "Cage", and I was also one of those kids that got aware about "Ninja Gayden", instead of "Ninja Gaiden", as it should be.
Yes, Legend of Kate is another of those games that never lets you have the satisfaction of saving the girl for good.
"Elevator Action" is one of those titles that sound like someone made them up as a joke for a webcomic or something.
Joining the chorus of ancient comments here about the fake-out of the pronunciation. For my part, I KNEW "Kage" was a two-syllable word following standard Japanese pronunciation rules, and yet when you consistently pronounced it as "cage" in the early goings of the video, I began to doubt myself. You always do great research and check on things like this, so I figured maybe I was the fool all along.
Turns out that, in a way, I really was.
Otto would've done great in Track N Field's long jump event.
and his main competition would be the title character of zoo keeper.
Kage kinda looks like a slightly better version of the Super Monkey Daibouken action sequences. Frenetic action everywhere.
I once thought shadow of the ninja by Natalie for the nes was the sequel to legend of late because it's Japanese title was kage 2
The Rah-gey in the Kah-gey.
Beside the amazing Elevator Action Returns, I would also recommend Toaplan's Pipi & Bibi's. Kinda similar to Elevator Action but equally as fun and more "kinky", if you catch my meaning ;)
Title card errata: Capcom listed as pub/dev
Yeah that’s not something I can fix.
The DS sequel was great.
I saw a copy of that recently. Is it worth a go?
I play elevator action at the arcade and I will play the nes version. 😀👍🎮
ERMAGERD LOVED LOK
Those System of a Down lyrics though :D (actually not sure if that was really a system of a down performance, but legend says so)
Haitani they aren’t, but legends die hard! That was some of that mislabeled mp3 magic from the Napster/Morpheus/Lime Wire days
ocremix.org/remix/OCR00022
I believe it was by Rabbit Joint
Evil ninjas wear pants and good ninjas wear short skirts
Ok you got my ass with the Cage/Kage thing 😅
You actually quoted Rabbit Joint..?! o_O :)
Huh. Legend of Kage was a precursor to Demon Sword. Who knew?
There was also an excellent TG-16 game called Ninja Spirit that borrows a LOT from Legend of Kage. But it was from IREM, not Taito. And it's a much better game to boot - just ridiculously fun.
@@jasonblalock4429 Ninja Spirit was awesome. It also served as a blueprint for Hagane for the SNES.
dear god that Group X reference at the end with the Zelda song.. lmao
I do believe it's actually Rabbit Joint, not Group X. I do love me some Group X, though.
You may be right. They may be one in the same lol @@tmcensor
Elevator Action is one of those great games you can sit down with and just relax, drink booze and kill tons of badguys.
At the time, there were people who wanted direct arcade ports. NES reinventions were seen as evidence that the NES was inferior to other systems. Particularly NES Double Dragon. Playing NES Strider and Bionic Commando was fun, but the NES didn't give the ability to play arcade Strider or Bionic Commando. Which did matter when the alternatives were Sega or an arcade, with the latter quite willing to gobble the price of a home cart in quarters. And it was painful hearing "Kage" for the first half of the video.
That group that wanted nothing but perfect arcade ports were very vocal and didn't really go away completely until the time the arcades died out and the PS2 and Xbox consoles were released.
I can't see why we couldn't have both. The Bionic Commando we got could have been Bionic Commando 2, and so on... Sega did the same thing on the Mega Drive from time to time, games like Shadow Dancer never got a real port but instead one of these sequel-games.
I thought Elevator Action took place in an apartment building not an office building
I know that older arcade games often went the cutesy route because on the average it netted more quarters, but this was post-Defender when people finally realized that this rule had big exceptions, why in the hell does this spy-themed game have a cute art style? Fortunately, Elevator Action Returns remedies this error.
I love elevator action😊
Fuck that. I played the fuck out of this game as a kid. It will always be the legend of "Cage" to me. I know its not right but my childhood depends on the pronunciation of this word. 40 years later, I still feel like that little boy in the shower trying to wash the shame off with brillo and hot water. Please don't take this from me.
HALLELUJAH!
I could never get over how hideous the box art for Kage was when I saw it in comic book ads.
It's not "Cage" like "Cane Kosugi"?
Wow! The graphics in these games (especially Elevator Action) make them seem as if they're direct ports of Atari 2600 games. The action and mechanics of the games, though, are way beyond what the VCS could do.
Hm... I think you should check out the actual 2600 release of Elevator Action.
@@JeremyParish mea culpa. I never thought I'd see a 2600 port that makes 2600 pacman seem reasonable.
Jeremy, I think we would probably be good friends if somehow our paths crossed. We have similar takes on so many games. What is your beer of choice?
Maybe! My favorite beer is Rittenhouse rye whiskey.
I wanted to throw up each time you pronounced it like cage. Thank you for the good joke after all was said and done!
I always thought Kage was a female.. guess I never paid much attention to the game let alone the box art. If I played it for more than 5 minutes I'd just want to play Ninja Gaiden instead
Understandable, but there was no Ninja Gaiden in 1985 though. Arcade Legend of Kage was quite ahead of it's time.
You have an odd obsession with all things Elevator Action, don't you....
Snazzy Crowd1212 That’s a pretty weird notion.
There's no excuse for that pronunciation in a post-Naruto society.
Excuse me, I hate to be that guy, but it's actually pronounced "Section Zed"
In the original Japanese it's Sekkushon Zetto, THANKS
Legend of Cage?!?! Kage! Kah-geh
Thanks for the info, Mr. Comments Before He Watches The Entire Episode!
I put in so much time on elevator action I should be able to beat it flawlessly, but there's always a cheap death around every corner.... Kage, tho, is always cheap and I cannot STAND it.
I had it on Macintosh shareware before NES , nes is better... I prefer NES to arcade for it too
Ofc japanese character wouldn't be named CAGE :D
Ofc it's a good idea to watch a video all the way through before posting a "correction"
I know you are extremely sensitive and paranoid, being a youtuber and all.. But, it wasn't a correction. It was my reasoning of why I wouldn't default to CAGE pronunciation. Also, commented that after watching the video, and also I haven't checked the official source for the name, because I wouldn't be bothered to really actually care about it, and I don't really care how others say the name of some old ass game.
Me, a RUclipsr? LOL.
Interesting point of contention, but nevermind