The Legend of Kage

The player takes the role of a young Iga ninja named Kage ("Shadow"), on a mission to rescue Princess Kiri (hime) - the Shogun's daughter - from the villainous warlord Yoshi (ro Kuyigusa) and fellow evil samurai Yuki (nosuke Riko).

[6] Kage must fight his way through a forest, along a secret passageway, up a fortress wall, and through a castle, rescuing her twice (three times in the FC/NES version) in order to win the game.

[6][7] In home versions, grabbing a crystal ball causes the player's clothes to change to the next level in color and thereby attain certain powers (bigger shuriken or faster speed).

[9] Game Machine of Japan listed The Legend of Kage on their November 15, 1985 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the month.

The magazine also said Legend of Kage was heavily influenced by Konami's beat 'em up game Shao-lin's Road, released earlier the same year.

Ganin is a dog who can breathe fire similar to the monks in the game and can perform a spin attack that does not have much range but leaves him invulnerable for an instant and kills any enemy that touches him.

There is also a new final boss that all the characters face which is a giant green cobra that slithers on the ground back and forth on the screen at the end of each second run through the levels.

Arcade screenshot
Screenshot from the PSP remake