Of Myths & Monsters, of Brawls & Uprisings: The Kid Icarus Thread

LBD_Nytetrayn · January 2012

(Bah, lousy Photobucket, shrinking my picture...)

With Kid Icarus Uprising coming out this March, as well the recent release of the original game as a 3D Classic in Europe, I thought maybe it was about time to start one of these bad-boys up. Hence, this all-encompassing Kid Icarus thread.

The original Kid Icarus was first released for the Famicom in Japan at the end of 1986 as "Light Myth: Palthena's Mirror", with North America and Europe getting it in 1987. A sort of "sister series" to Metroid, sharing the same engine and developed at about the same time (with Metroid taking precedence) by R&D1 at Nintendo. The legendary Gunpei Yokoi was the Producer, with Toru Osawa and Yoshio Sakamoto on as designers and Hirokazu Tanaka as the composer.

Spoiler:

The story begins in the realm of Angel Land, which is ruled by two goddesses: Palutena, the Goddess of Light, and Medusa, the Goddess of Darkness. Palutena loved the mortals, and would bestow upon them light to help them grow crops and make them happy; Medusa, on the other hand, rather despised the mortals, and took to not only destroying the crops which they'd worked hard to cultivate, but also to turn them to stone.

As you might imagine, Palutena was not pleased, and this is where things start to feel a tad similar to the story in a recent, popular cartoon show. The pissed-off Palutena would proceed to turn Medusa into a single-eyed, snake-haired monster before banishing her to the underworld.

Unfortunately, she probably should have gone with something more remote-- like the moon-- as Medusa managed to gain the loyalty and allegiance of the monsters who dwell beneath. Her army formed, she led the charge against the Palace in the Sky, conquering Palutena's army by turning the Centurions to stone, scattering the Three Sacred Treasures amongst her minions, and imprisoning Palutena within her own home.

In a last, desperate bid, Palutena reached out the former head of her personal guard, Pit, who was now trapped in the Underworld. She used the last of her power to create a magical bow for him to wield against their enemies, and tasked him with retrieving the Three Sacred Treasures so that he may defeat Medusa, ending her tyranny, and freeing Palutena.

Gameplay-wise, Kid Icarus is a platformer, and less a side-scroller than an up-scroller. As Pit seeks to leave the Underworld, he must travel up, up, ever up (as well as off one side of the screen, reappearing on the other). Some later portions do involve actual side-scrolling, and near the end of the game, Pit equips the Three Sacred Treasures-- the Arrow of Light, the Mirror Shield, and the Wings of Pegasus-- and goes through a side-scrolling shooter to face Medusa, who fights from within a large self-effigy of her rather monstrous appearance.

And like Metroid, the ending you receive depends on your performance; despite Pit's subsequent appearances, the best ending sees him become a full-grown adult.

Unfortunately, despite a great setting and wonderful characters, designs, etc., the game is arguably not very good. Many find it a bit too frustrating, though it's said to actually be easier as you go along, and then you can restart with your ending levels/items, making a second run even easier.

If you didn't get to play it, it is currently available on the Wii's Virtual Console. Not only that, but a remake in the 3D Classics line is forthcoming, and has already been released in Europe:

As with other 3D Classics, there are some tweaks to this one, including a new button configuration which allows for the rapid-firing of arrows, said to ease the difficulty. A group of fans have also created a 16-bit styled "Super Kid Icarus" Flash game:

Gotta love the Grim Reaper's screams, if nothing else.

Though not one of Nintendo's top-tier stars, Pit was popular enough to be a regular member of the N-Team in the Captain N: The Game Master cartoon and comic books (where he was known simply as "Kid Icarus," and used a wide-variety of Green Arrow-styled gadget-arrows) and make cameos in other titles.

A sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, was developed and released for the Game Boy in North America in 1991 and Europe in 1992 (Japan saw no release).

Spoiler:

Fast forward to 2008; after a long period of dormancy, his popularity among gamers and Nintendo fans alike finally sees Pit makes his non-Trophy debut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character, and one who takes on an early role in the game's Subspace Emissary story mode. He sports a new design, which came together as a result of the developers trying to figure out how he would appear had the character had the chance to evolve as other Nintendo characters had. Palutena is on hand, too, sporting a similar update.

Pit's resurgence strikes a chord with fans, who want to see the Angel Land warrior get his own sequel. Rumors persisted of a Wii game for years, but it would be at E3 2010 that an announcement would finally be made: Pit was coming back (and he's sorry to have kept you waiting), and it would be on the Nintendo 3DS:

America's box art, and Japan's. Oh, Nintendo...

Spoiler:

Update for 1/10/12:

UncleSporky wrote:

Hey cool!

Masahiro Sakurai has told Official Nintendo Magazine that Kid Icarus Uprising will support the Circle Pad Pro.

The Kid Icarus Uprising director explained that the Circle Pad Pro will be useful for left-handed players who may find it tricky to play the game with the stylus in their right hand.

Without the Circle Pad Pro, you'll use the stylus to aim and rotate the camera while the normal Circle Pad is used to move Pit when he's on land. However, with the Circle Pad Pro, left-handed gamers will be able to switch the controls so that they may use the stylus with their left hand.

"The way we are using the Circle Pad Pro in the game is to provide support for left-handed gamers," said Sakurai in an exclusive interview with Official Nintendo Magazine. "We've made it possible to use the right Circle Pad in place of the left one."

Sakurai went on to explain why his team didn't utilise the Circle Pad Pro in any other way. "I didn't know the specs of the Circle Pad Pro, or what it looked like, until Monster Hunter 3G was announced, so we weren't able to do anything big with it in the time we had. Even if we had known about it from the start, I don't know whether we would have used both Circle Pads in that way."

He added: "This would end up being just the same as controls on other platforms and I think the quick aiming possible with the touch panel suits the game best."

I'm a lefty so this is great news!

Update for 1/15/12:

Reynolds wrote:

LBD_Nytetrayn wrote:

Added confirmation of the Circle Pad Pro to the topic. Great news for lefties, but I'm disappointed both sticks can't be used together. My biggest problem to date has been supporting the device for longer periods with just one hand while pressing on it with the other.

Know that Mario Kart 7 cramping sensation? I remember some of that, but in my left hand... hopefully it won't be so bad without all the demo junk attached to it.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/01/11/kid-icarus-uprising-will-ship-with-a-nintendo-3ds-stand-in-japan/

Other fun stuff to read/look at:

Kid Icarus on Wiki

The actual Kid Icarus wiki, "IcarusPedia"

"You Don't Know Kid Icarus" article at IGN

And I hope that's enough to get us started.

LBD_Nytetrayn · January 2012

This post reserved for Nintendo 3DS Friend Codes when the game is finally released in March.

Taramoor · January 2012

I honestly prefer that my reveal trailers include screaming idiots

Or with poor sound quality:

LBD_Nytetrayn · January 2012

To be honest, I don't think anything will ever top the Skyward Sword reveal....

I'm not sure that anything can, at least not from Nintendo...

...maybe if they did a cel-animated high-definition 2D sequel to Super Metroid, and I don't mean "Other M" sequel, but like an honest-to-God modern Super Metroid... yeah, I could see that getting a huge pop.

Anyway, on topic: A clip from Captain N!

Hmm, it only occurs to me now that the cartoon didn't exactly paint the most flattering portrayal of Pit. Then again, it didn't often tend to paint the most flattering portrayal of anyone.

Nonetheless, this reminds me: something I need to add to the OP is that there are supposed to be a series of free animated shorts from different studios based on Kid Icarus to come out before the game's release, if memory serves. Little else has been said, so far as I know, so I may just wait for more details.

LBD_Nytetrayn · January 2012

Added confirmation of the Circle Pad Pro to the topic. Great news for lefties, but I'm disappointed both sticks can't be used together. My biggest problem to date has been supporting the device for longer periods with just one hand while pressing on it with the other.

Know that Mario Kart 7 cramping sensation? I remember some of that, but in my left hand... hopefully it won't be so bad without all the demo junk attached to it.

LBD_Nytetrayn · January 2012

Reynolds wrote:

LBD_Nytetrayn wrote:

Added confirmation of the Circle Pad Pro to the topic. Great news for lefties, but I'm disappointed both sticks can't be used together. My biggest problem to date has been supporting the device for longer periods with just one hand while pressing on it with the other.

Know that Mario Kart 7 cramping sensation? I remember some of that, but in my left hand... hopefully it won't be so bad without all the demo junk attached to it.

http://www.siliconera.com/2012/01/11/kid-icarus-uprising-will-ship-with-a-nintendo-3ds-stand-in-japan/

Huzzah! ...I think.

It sounds good in practice, but... well, I don't remember the last time I played my 3DS at a table.

...and now I'm wondering if I should just quit posting until more people do.

Xenogears of Bore · January 2012

http://nintendoeverything.com/81468/tons-of-kid-icarus-uprising-details/

RockinX · January 2012

Despite owning the Famicom Mini version of Kid Icarus, I desire the 3D Classics release. I can't preorder at stores because I live outside of the US =(

Can't wait for this game to be released, even though the idea of having Pit in space is a weird one. It's like Sakurai took inspiration from Hideki Kamiya.

BTW, the best reveal was when they decided to show Twilight Princess for the first time.

LBD_Nytetrayn · January 2012

Official Nintendo Magazine has updated with "everything you need to know" about Uprising.

mntorankusu · February 2012

badumpadump

http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo_direct

New videos, multiplayer stuff. I can't believe how fun this looks. I hope the community here for this game fares better than Mario Kart 7...

Cantido · February 2012

LBD_Nytetrayn wrote: »

Official Nintendo Magazine has updated with "everything you need to know" about Uprising.

How rude are Palutena's titties in 3D?

mntorankusu · February 2012

http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/kidicarus/0/0

Iwata Asks about this game.

They're talking about a lot of interesting things! I'm glad that the generally poor reception of Kirby Air Ride (in the west, anyway) hasn't caused him to pretend it doesn't exist, because I think it's awesome.

edit:

Sakurai: Unlike me, Miyamoto-san, for example, is against the players being able to choose their own difficulty.

Iwata: You mean in the thinking of how the optimal level of game difficulty is something that the game creators should determine, not something you have the players choose?

Sakurai: Yes. The same goes for key configuration.12

Iwata: I suppose Miyamoto-san feels that since many players will play with default settings, there should only be one key configuration that the developers determine is right, and they must take responsibility for it and putting it forth.

Sakurai: But I think the players should have a bit greater degree of freedom in their choices.

Iwata: I suppose you belong to a different school of sorts when it comes to the way you think about specific areas of games.

Sakurai: I think it’s good to be in different schools since more games will be different. I personally have a strong desire for as many people as possible to play however they like.

preach it sakurai

LBD_Nytetrayn · February 2012

Hell yeah. Especially on controls.

mntorankusu · February 2012

So the game includes a pack of six random AR cards, and they didn't say anything about other ways to get them. Am I going to have to buy them secondhand to get the full set?!

skeldare · February 2012

You can also get some AR cards from Chocolate snacks! ... in Japan.

mntorankusu · February 2012

Oh, right, I saw that story. Doesn't seem like something they would do here, but maybe. I remember getting Pokemon cards in boxes of fruit snacks. ACTUALLY, interesting story: the gold-bordered Meowth that was randomly included in boxes of Pokemon-branded fruit snacks wasn't very rare at all (or I was very lucky), but it sold for around $15 at the time, so I made a looot of money off of them. Selling Pokemon cards was how I paid for my Gamecube.

anyway, somebody link me to a website where I can import Japanese treats

agoaj · February 2012

You can probably just print the AR cards out, or display them on your phone!

mntorankusu · February 2012

well, of course, if you just want to scan them into the game or play around with the AR features.

I want to have them though.

LBD_Nytetrayn · February 2012

mntorankusu wrote: »

So the game includes a pack of six random AR cards, and they didn't say anything about other ways to get them. Am I going to have to buy them secondhand to get the full set?!

I really wish that my iPhone hadn't somehow eaten my interview when I asked about this. I don't remember all the specifics, but in addition to pack-ins, you won't be able to just buy them in stores. Rather, they'll be used as promotional items-- say, if you attend E3 (where I got a pack), or maybe something like a launch event for the game, for example (I don't remember if he said they were doing something like that specifically or not, so please don't take that as gospel). Or contests, perhaps.

RidleySaria · February 2012

I have a pretty bad gaming backlog (but I just finished Arkham City, go me!) and really shouldn't pick up this game until I knock out a few more..... but I just preordered. Why? For 3D Classics Kid Icarus. I've never been able to wrap my brain around that game and feel that as a Nintendo fan I'm required to give it another go. But dammit, I refuse to suffer AND fork over eShop points for the privilege.

mntorankusu · February 2012

OH AND BY THE WAY it's going to be incredible if Smash Bros 3DS does the same sort of AR card thing. Hopefully they'll go the same path and do nice hand-drawn artwork for characters, items, etc., instead of CG renders.

Brainiac 8 · February 2012

I'll be preordering this from Gamestop tuesday. Didn't really plan to preorder, but I can't pass up the chance to snag the 3D classic for free.

V Faction · February 2012

http://www.shacknews.com/article/72636/kid-icarus-uprising-multiplayer-tournament-leading-to-launch

Nintendo is aiming to make multiplayer a big draw in Kid Icarus: Uprising, with a multiplayer tournament leading up to its March 23 launch. Select GameStop stores will host tournaments with regional championships set for four cities. Those contenders will go on to take part in the national championships on March 22.

Bracketed regional competitions will take place in San Francisco (March 8), Orlando (March 11), Los Angeles (March 15), and New York (March 22). Even if you're not taking part in the tournament, you can show up to play the game before launch. Winners will be competing for Kid Icarus swag and an all-expenses-paid trip to New York for the final competition,

Three winners from each market will take part in the final round at the GameStop store at Broadway and 84th Street. That location will also be hosting a pre-sale, letting customers get their hands on the game a day before its official launch. The announcement doesn't mention what the grand prize will be for the winner, oddly enough.

As previously detailed, Kid Icarus features two multiplayer modes -- one team-based, and one deathmatch-style called Free-for-All. It's unknown which mode will be used for the tournament, but Free-for-All seems like the safer bet.

skeldare · February 2012

V Faction wrote: »

http://www.shacknews.com/article/72636/kid-icarus-uprising-multiplayer-tournament-leading-to-launch

Nintendo is aiming to make multiplayer a big draw in Kid Icarus: Uprising, with a multiplayer tournament leading up to its March 23 launch. Select GameStop stores will host tournaments with regional championships set for four cities. Those contenders will go on to take part in the national championships on March 22.

Bracketed regional competitions will take place in San Francisco (March 8), Orlando (March 11), Los Angeles (March 15), and New York (March 22). Even if you're not taking part in the tournament, you can show up to play the game before launch. Winners will be competing for Kid Icarus swag and an all-expenses-paid trip to New York for the final competition,

Three winners from each market will take part in the final round at the GameStop store at Broadway and 84th Street. That location will also be hosting a pre-sale, letting customers get their hands on the game a day before its official launch. The announcement doesn't mention what the grand prize will be for the winner, oddly enough.

As previously detailed, Kid Icarus features two multiplayer modes -- one team-based, and one deathmatch-style called Free-for-All. It's unknown which mode will be used for the tournament, but Free-for-All seems like the safer bet.

That's really cool, nice to see Nintendo really pushing this game. But of course none of the locations are anywhere near me.

Rorus Raz · February 2012

That's only nice if Sakurai has gotten over his fear of competitive gaming.

agoaj · February 2012

Maybe I can win a Michael Cera statue from this contest too.

mntorankusu · February 2012

I gots me one-a those too

Conando · February 2012

The team match multiplayer reminds me somewhat of some Japanese Gundam game my brother imported. That whole thing about a team lifebar, and it being reduced to revive fallen members, using more depending on the players' layouts. Sounds like fun times to me but, it looks like I'll have to wait until launch to try that out. No GameStop stores nearby have that tournament going on (Seriously? No Boston love?).

Ferquin · February 2012

Cantido wrote: »

How rude are Palutena's titties in 3D?

I saw a pic of Medusa in this month's Nintendo Power, and I notice she's kinda got some side boob action goin' on...

Houn · March 2012

Preorder in today. Sup thread that no one posts in?

agoaj · March 2012

We're not ready yet!

skeldare · March 2012

Now that the general 3DS thread is gone, once more news comes this thread should get more activity.

Brainiac 8 · March 2012

I'm quite excited about this. I'm ready for some angel on angel action, yo!

LBD_Nytetrayn · March 2012

I'm wondering if the 3DS Classics Kid Icarus will have any tweaks made to it from the original, as some of the other 3DS Classics have...

Cantido · March 2012

This game gets my Mass Effect credit!

Houn · March 2012

Today's GameInformer (the AC3 one) has an ad in it with a Kid Icarus "Power of Flight" AR "Idol Card". No idea what it does, but if you're interested, it's in there.

Rorus Raz · March 2012

I expect this to be "the" game of PAX East.

Cantido · March 2012

Ferquin wrote:

Cantido wrote: »

How rude are Palutena's titties in 3D?

I saw a pic of Medusa in this month's Nintendo Power, and I notice she's kinda got some side boob action goin' on...

And a nicer face---OH SH[/stone]

Xenogears of Bore · March 2012

ONM wrote:

“remarkably beautiful game”.

“stunning to behold, in fact, a visual masterpiece on 3DS that routinely surprises with impressive, expansive and detailed sprawling landscapes”.

“rich fantasy world” which has been “teased from the abstract visuals of an 8-bit NES game”

“The single player campaign is huge, for a start, and it sits alongside two full-featured local and online multiplayer modes [offering] countless equippable weapons and powers that work across both.”

“it takes perseverance to comfortably wrap your paws around the game’s on-foot sections … it’s intuitive enough once mastered”.

“(foot sections are) spectacular, self-contained arenas”.

“(there is a weapons store) from which you can purchase new armaments and you can fuse weapons”, mini-achievements, and a scalable risk-versus-reward difficulty system.

“[It feels far bigger than the console upon which it appears, it’s deeper than most home console titles and more content-packed than any other 3DS game yet released. Pit might’ve been sorry to keep us waiting, but this was a wait worth every second.”

mntorankusu · March 2012

Does this game have a Checklist like Kirby Air Ride and Brawl? Is that what they mean by "mini-achievements" or is there a new system?

I think Brawl's Challenges are the best achievement-type thing that's been done so far. Kirby Air Ride was almost identical except most of the boxes didn't have prizes in them.

Cantido · March 2012

mntorankusu wrote: »

Does this game have a Checklist like Kirby Air Ride and Brawl? Is that what they mean by "mini-achievements" or is there a new system?

I think Brawl's Challenges are the best achievement-type thing that's been done so far. Kirby Air Ride was almost identical except most of the boxes didn't have prizes in them.

Don't remind me that the world is due for another SSB. One with online that works. Put it on DS, make millions, Nintendo.

Penny Arcade

Of Myths & Monsters, of Brawls & Uprisings: The Kid Icarus Thread

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