Kage, star of The Legend of Kage 2, seems to be carefully avoiding wearing a shirt. He's wearing shoulder armor, and even a scarf-- but we suspect that a shirt would do much more to protect him from the cold than that scarf. What is it with ninja and scarves, anyway? We suppose that if they're vain enough to swordfight without upper-body covering, they're vain enough to want all their jumping to be trailed by a pretty red ribbon. The new Kage game also stars a kunoichi named Chihiro, who carries a sickle with a long chain attached.

Their game has them running and jumping (really, really high) in a very lushly colorful, detailed 2D environment. There's some kind of level indicator in the lifebar, which portends either RPG elements or multiple levels of upgradeable weapons. In any case, it's more depth than the arcade-style first game had. Just don't look directly at the guy with the head (you'll see which one) and you'll be every bit as enthused about the game as we are.