 |
| Source // Wikipedia |
I first heard of Kid Icarus when Kid Icarus: Uprising was doing the rounds for the Nintendo 3DS. I had no idea what it was about - still don't - let alone that it's origins were on the NES many decades before.
As is obvious from the title, you are a kid called Icarus Pit, and your challenge is to find three ancient treasures in order to save Angel Land. Sounds simple enough.
Frustrations
Appearances can be deceiving, as we know, with Kid Icarus providing a nice example for us. There isn't much about this game this is childish or kid-like, beyond perhaps the music and the main character. That means you will be in for a tough time from the moment you press start, whether you know what you're doing or not.
The controls are simple enough, with moving, jumping and shooting being all you need to deal with. Your climb up the screen may look impossible sometimes, so you'll also have to remember that there is screen wrapping to the sides, and if you're too slow to notice, your enemies will take advantage of it to reach you.
They'll come at you from the ground as well as the air, and usually in packs, with a variety of different movement patterns to catch you off guard. You've got a small amount of health that will allow you to take a fair few hits, but you'll run out of it soon enough, at which point it's time to start over.
I started over quite a bit, if not because of my stupidity, then because of slow down throwing me off what little game I had. I didn't get anywhere near succeeding in my quest, so it's over to YouTube to see what's what.
Fun Times
Kid Icarus, while challenging, doesn't look too bad a game. The graphics might look simple, and the gameplay isn't needlessly complicated. It asks a lot of you, sure, but it gives you a lot to help you on your travels, provided you don't walk past the rooms the power ups can be found in.
Stages and opponents seem varied enough to not get old fast, with bosses here and there to make sure you've learned how to play. There are side scrolling bits too, if you can get past the vertical scrolling bits. I don't know why that'd be important to you, really. I'm not even aiming for a word count here.
Stages and opponents seem varied enough to not get old fast, with bosses here and there to make sure you've learned how to play. There are side scrolling bits too, if you can get past the vertical scrolling bits. I don't know why that'd be important to you, really. I'm not even aiming for a word count here.
I can't say for sure whether I'd know what to do to get the most out of the game, or perhaps even what to do to make any real progress, but I'm sure that comes after spending some time trying to figure things out - a skill that I must admit I've not practised much, so I must stop unnecessarily moaning about it and start making improvements.
Final Word
I probably won't see much of the game during my own playing time, but it does look like it should be a simple game to get. I should be better than what I am at Kid Icarus. This can't be that hard, can it? Questions like that keep us going with many games, but from what I've read, in this case, yeah, Kid Icarus will probably kick your arse for a while.
Still, give it a shot and find out for yourself.
Fun Facts
After an absolutely mad final crunch which apparently involved many hours of overtime, sleeping in cardboard boxes at the office and wrapping curtains around themselves to fend off the cold nights, the developers finally finished Kid Icarus three days before it was released. I can't even fathom how they were successful in doing that.
Kid Icarus, developed by Nintendo R&D1, first released in 1986.
Version played: NES, 1987, via emulation
Version watched: NES, 1987 (World of Longplays)