Nintendo is Great is a Substack devoted to exploring the world of Nintendo - their games, their consoles, their merchandise - in mostly chronological order, starting with the NES and continuing to the Switch 2.
Elevator Action
PUBLISHER: Taito
DEVELOPER: Taito (port by Micronics)
RELEASE DATE: Jun. 28th, 1985 (JP), Aug. 1987 (US)
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: Arcade, Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, FM-7, Game Boy, Mobile, MSX, NEC PC88, SG-1000, Sharp X1, ZX81/Spectrum, Switch (via Arcade Archives), PlayStation 4 (via Arcade Archives)
Elevator Action. The name seems counterintuitive. Elevators are fine twentieth-century technology, but nothing about them is particularly thrilling. Unless, of course, you’re a secret agent retrieving documents from strangely colored, high-rise buildings, while men in black fedoras and trench coats shoot at you, like you’ve just stolen the Secrets of the Universe. Perhaps then elevators carry some excitement.
You play as ???, a mysterious figure working for an equally mysterious government agency. Which government? Why? For what purpose? Who cares. Sensitive documents are hidden behind red doors, simple as that. Use the elevators to descend from the thirtieth floor down to the first, grabbing documents as you go. Behind the blue doors, dark men often appear and shoot on sight. For some reason, you’re wearing a red turtleneck and you’re real easy to spot. Maybe next time, disguise yourself as the enemy or something.
The buildings have preposterous layouts. From floors 30-19, an elevator takes you down the center of the building with doors on either side. Floors 19-17 require escalators to descend. Floors 15-11 are shrouded in darkness, but doors with agents linger beneath the still black rooms. Floors 10-8 have two elevators operating on both the far left and right side, while doors are interspersed in the middle section. Finally, Floors 7-1 have five elevators operating in the bulk of the building, with single doors sprouting from the sides. These latter sections are free-for-alls, with agents appearing and shooting haphazardly through shaft corridors. Only one of the five shafts takes you to the exit.
Endless buildings, each containing thirty floors, red doors with documents and blue doors with agents clad in black, forever and ever. When is Agent Unknown’s task complete? Perhaps when the Secrets of the Universe have finally been exposed to the people. Probably a long time from now.
Straight From the Arcade
*images courtesy of Arcade Marquee, Pinball Rebel, The Arcade Flyer Archive and Moby Games
Other Versions
ATARI 2600
GAME BOY
PC88
SHARP X1
*all images courtesy of MobyGames
The Legend of Kage
PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Taito
RELEASE DATE: Apr. 18th, 1986 (JP), Aug. 1987 (US)
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: Arcade, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Sharp X1, Switch (via Arcade Archives), PlayStation 4 (via Arcade Archives), Virtual Console (Wii, 3DS, Wii U)
Kage’s the silent warrior type, the kind of guy who’ll leave you alone if you don’t cross him. Steal his girl Kiri, though… that’s like asking for his sword to cut you in half. In Legend of Kage, an assortment of foolish men do just that, then have the gall to act surprised when Kage asserts his legendary status.
Kage can leap with the best of them, it’s his bread and butter. Combined with his unlimited shuriken and lightning-fast sword skills, the shinobi and monks that dare attack him are dead before they know it. Jumping between trees with a single bounce while cutting down your enemies is a truly magical experience. In the forest stage, particularly, Kage is in his element. You could climb the trees, but forget it, it slows you down. Run like a gazelle, soar like a flying squirrel, let the wind hit your face, and watch your enemies fall before you.
Unfortunately, The Legend of Kage’s only half a game, even by 1987 standards. There are four levels, three of which can be completed in under a minute. Once beaten, you rescue Kiri, but she’s quickly kidnapped again. Fight a boss, then play the same four levels again twice more (for a total of 12 stages), before finally beating the Blue Demon and calling it a game.
The first and best level is the forest, where Kage can fight and frolic with abandon. At least you get to play it more than once. The other three stages – a moat, a castle wall, and the castle itself – are fine enough, but they’re over so fast, blink and you’ll miss ‘em. Surely a couple more unique stages wouldn’t hurt? All in all, The Legend of Kage can be fully completed in less than thirty minutes. Wasted potential, alas.
Straight From the Arcade
*Images courtesy of Arcade History, Arcade Museum, The Arcade Flyer Archive and MobyGames
Other Versions
AMSTRAD CPC
COMMODORE 64
MSX
ZX SPECTRUM
*All images courtesy of Moby Games
ONLY FROM NINTENDO…
THE ZELDA RAP IS HAUNTINGLY REAL
Hey, thanks so much for reading to the end and for rapping along with the Zelda boys! If you liked this article, don’t forget to subscribe below!
Loved the news letter pages. The idea of picking up the landline, dialling a number just to talk mad shit about beating an NES game is amazing. Great post!
You say it's an insane strategy, but if the Switch 2 was launching Day One with a new Zelda AND Metroid 4, it would be the fastest selling console of all time. When it hit stores it would be utter pandemonium.