I'd say Ken-Go is best described as a R2RHABAUBABOM! (run 2 the right holding attack button and unleashing big ass blast on motherfuckers!). The longer you charge, the bigger your blast. In that sense it actually plays a fair bit like R-Type. The charge blast is also way stronger than your normal attack, which is really only useful for minor zako. Furthermore, in charged state your sword acts a shield and will deflect attacks and projectiles. Since you'll be holding down the attack most of the time you actually jump by pressing up, like in a fighting game. This control scheme brought back some long repressed Amiga memories at first, but turns out you get used to it pretty quickly. The jump tends to the floaty, but you can actually cancel right out of it by pressing down. There's also a Zelda II style downstab, although I didn't really find much use for it.
So on to the game. Stage 1 feels like Saigo No Nindou, with you traversing dilapidated temples and being constantly swarmed by enemies. Music is some dope darkninja chiptune rock as well.
Stage seemed tough: the intense pace made me wonder what the rest of the game has in store for me. First of many mini bosses in the game is a spear dude. Time to test the charge shot if you haven't done yet. After some more Ninja gang bang action you face off with a teleporting Kunoichi in front a giant Buddha statue. Game definitely doesn't hold back in the visuals department. Pretty cool! Crouch in the corner and release charge blast between her attacks to make short work of her.
Stage 2 has you climb a mountain with a bunch of......Karnovs (
) waiting for you. Apart from that it's oddly sparse. Later in the stage some Ninjas will materialize out of thin air. They're immediately vulnerable, so take them out before they've fully appeared. Boss is a stone golem. Charge blast him until the stones fly off, then stand below the summoner at the 5 or 7 o'clock safe spot to whittle away at him without getting hit by his suicide bullets.
Next you're on a ship. Awesome variety! Stage is oddly easy though, with just a few cannons, haplessly flying Ninjas and Karnovs not really putting up much of a resistance. Soon you'll reach a cave with some more mini bosses: Hunchbacks and the double-sworded mofo who slashed your girl in the intro to the game. The boss is a pair of sorcerers, one of whom will throw boomerangs at you, while the other makes stalagtites drop from the ceiling. Stay on the top ledge and wait for your opening to attack.
Stage 4 is the inside of a mechanical castle. Big difficulty spike here. Rampant ninja related crimes everywhere you look, with dudes jumping out of doors on two levels and getting all Rolling Thunder in your business. Lots of traps (fake item boxes, urgh) and tricky bits to work out. Don't destroy the long row of boxes or you'll get fried by the fire that starts spreading. You can smash the boxes once you've defeated the jumping Karnov, but make sure you use the i-frames granted by the life extend and 1up to traverse the fire. Some more traps and miniboss shenanigans up ahead until you get to an elevator with a spear dude. Make sure to kill him before the real boss appears: the mechanical steampunk tank. This one's tricky and I'd be interested to learn a better strat than mine, which is to stand on the second highest platform on the tank (basically right where the turret is) and blast away as soon as the red orb appears. When the tank starts turning red I usually hop right to the top to finish it off, as it tends to troll me by somehow pushing me through the platform.
Final stage time and big Saigou No Nindou vibes again, running through a field at night time. First bit's a bit clunky as you'll have to catch a ride on a few speeding horses to travers some more fire. Jump cancel comes in handy here. After that it's time for a boss rush, interspersed with some intense Ninja onslaughts — although you can actually just jet across the screen to avoid some of it. Final boss is not too hard. Charge'n blast him between deflecting his lasers. When lightning strikes, make sure to jump or the fire will really fuck you up.
Nice ending after that, but what's with you hugging your lady? Didn't she get mowed down in the intro.
Anyway, clear it on a credit and you'll enter the special game. Special meaning that there are twice as many enemies and they take twice as many hits to kill. So you'll have to literally inch your way forward, from spawn point to spawn point. I don't know if I have the energy for this, haha. I guess I'll leave it at 2-2 as my final resting place.
Final thoughts: Music and graphics are top notch Irem quality, and the game system is unique and fun enough too. However, something about the game gives off an unfinished feel. The level design relies a bit too much on Karnovs for my taste (nothing against our buddy Karnov though, he's amazing of course), and some sections are strangely sparse, while others are intense. So yeah, difficulty is oddly balanced as well. My biggest point of criticism however is that the sword deflect tends to be a bit unreliable in spots. Rather than something you can deploy at will, you gotta memorize when and where it's safe to use in what way.
Ken-Go is a nice enough game, but it's nowhere near the perfection of Saigo No Nindou. I give it 7/10 Karnovs.
This game always sounds so cool... dark ninja/samurai sidescrollers are surprisingly uncommon, I've found. Tons of action/martial arts movie-influenced stuff, but for grim feudal tales, only Saigo, Kengo and Taromaru leap to mind. I seem to recall the SFC's Musya having some chops, but it's been forever since my brief test run. Genpei Toumaden and Getsu Fuuma Den have mythic horror in spades, though by the same token, give more of an otherworldly effect, with carnivalesque vibrancy to boot. Granted, Taromaru has plenty of crazy setpieces/monsters, and telekinetic protagonists, but the brutal kills, evil tone (st2 snake lady's intro is legit diabolic 
) and pitch-black BGM keep it grounded.
That which was lost and, no matter how vast the ocean of blood, will never be again 
(DD2AC is legit one of action gaming's most 
)
Mega Man 3 slows down like hell as well, and that's definitely not the console's fault. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts is another Capcom game famous for slowing to a crawl, and that could easily have been avoided.