The player is armed with a kodachi shortsword and an unlimited amount of shuriken. Main gameplay revolves around killing enemy ninja (blue and red) and enemy fire-breathing monks.

The first stage is a horizontal and vertically scrolling forest, with the player able to jump quite high (more than a screen height), and able to grab/scale trees that are several screen heights. Grabbing a book causes Kage to stand still and meditate for several seconds while approaching enemies drop to the ground dead during a lightning storm.

The second stage is horizontally scrolling at the water's edge. The lower half of the screen is underwater, where ninjas (blue and red) appear with breathing tubes. The player has to kill ten ninjas to advance. Player can jump into the water section, but mobility is severely hampered.

The third stage is another bi-scrolling stage. Player must jump continuously to reach the temple at the top.

The fourth stage is the temple. Make your way up the four sets of stairs, avoiding or killing enemy ninja and monks, to rescue Princess Kiri.

The fifth stage is a boss stage. It starts at the top of the temple, then Kage and Kiri jump off the temple back to the forest, where Kiri is re-kidnapped by the boss. You must kill the boss.

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). If Kage is hit in a home version while in green or orange clothes, he does not die but reverts to his normal red clothes.