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Spring is in the air and a young Ninja called Kage is taking his beloved, the beautiful Princess Kiri, for a quiet stroll. A lust-stricken Dragon King appears out of the blue, takes a fancy to Kiri and abducts her. Distraught, Kage decides it's time to put his Ninja skills into action and rescue the Princess.

Kiri is being held in the Dragon King's castle. To get there, Kage has to pass through four different landscapes doing battle with an army of vile creatures. Luckily the fighting lad is armed with an unlimited supply of Shuriken stars to throw at the denizens of the Dragon King's domain, backed up by a trusty weapon for close-quarter combat.

The first section is a scrolling forest. The hero can run left and right along the forest floor, climb trees and jump from bough to bough. The Dragon King's minions drop from the skies and attack Kage with sticks. Some throw deadly Shuriken stars which have to be avoided at all costs. A magic prayer book sits in a tree and its power is activated by picking it up and landing on the forest floor. The screen flashes for ten seconds and anything nasty that appears on screen is killed.

A fire-breathing wizard appears after three red Ninjas have been killed. Every fourth wizard is red, and if this hot-head is destroyed Kage can leave the forest and move onto the moat section. Here, the action takes place in front of the castle walls. Some Ninjas hide in the moat, while others run along the adjacent path. Ten enemy Ninjas must be defeated before Kage can scale the wall.

The third part of the mission involves leaping from floor to floor in the castle - the athletic Ninja has to make his way to the castle battlements, avoiding or killing the marauding minions as he ascends.

In the final part of his quest, Kage has to penetrate the Evil One's abode and search for the lovely Princess. The poor girl has been trapped in the uppermost turret of the castle.

After avoiding the Ninja guards, Kage encounters the Dragon King. When he's out of his way, Kage can rush in and rescue his beloved... but to no avail. Just as he leaps into her arms, another Dragon King appears and whisks her away! The mission begins all over again. Oh well, a Ninja's work is never done, as the ancient Chinese proverb goes...

Legend Of Kage is playable, and full of gratuitous violence which makes it doubly appealing. Graphically, it's poor. The sprites are badly drawn and animated, and the backgrounds are simple.

The sound sucks. There's a great tune on the title screen but only five sound effects during the game. It's a shame that Legend Of Kage is so expensive - it would make a great budget game.

This looks and sounds absolutely terrible, and even the plot is really poor, but behind the lacklustre exterior is a pretty addictive and playable game. Running around shooting the enemy Ninjas is great fun and the different sections are quite varied.

It's a real shame Imagine didn't spend more time on the graphics and sound - it would have improved the general feel of the game immensely. If you can stand the dire graphics and pathetic sound effects then it's well worth a look.

Legend Of Kage is unoriginal and crude in appearance, but surprisingly playable. The action is fast, mindless and fun. However, nine quid is asking far too much for what is basically a piece of budget-quality software.

If you fancy some gratuitous violence and your pocket can withstand the strain, buy it. But it's not worth losing any sleep over.

Presentation 45% Adequate instructions. No title screen or options though.

Graphics 36% Jerky scrolling, and badly drawn and animated sprites.

Sound 35% A simple tune and one or two ineffective spot effects.

Hookability 70% Not instantly impressive, but addictive.

Lastability 59% Four 'samey' levels which represent a reasonable challenge.

Value For Money 49% Overpriced for what it offers.

Overall 63% Playable, but nothing special.