Reading Nintendo Power from 2003 to 2008 had me under the impression that Kid Icarus was a masterpiece, a true gem of the 8-bit era that everyone had just slept on, blindly missing out on its majesty.
why tho
why tho
Perhaps the funniest difficulty curve to come out of Nintendo but you're never beating the allegations buddy
In the best ending your divine girlfriend bestows upon you the gift of totally bypassing puberty. Kid Icarus? How about Tom of Finland-ass beefcake Icarus now, bicth. It's as much a gift for her as it is for you.
his name isn't even icarus
"wow the original kid icarus is really fun and cool once you get past the pretty difficult early stages!"
kid named enemy specifically designed to be unkillable and permanently steal your items that you got by doing challenge rooms with no way to get them back unless do said challenge room again, pay an extortiate sum of hearts or you kill yourself before the stage ends (the items you get make the game way more enjoyable):
kid named enemy specifically designed to be unkillable and permanently steal your items that you got by doing challenge rooms with no way to get them back unless do said challenge room again, pay an extortiate sum of hearts or you kill yourself before the stage ends (the items you get make the game way more enjoyable):
Pros:
+The music is catchy
+Controls are tight. I never once felt like I wasn't in control even in the tight platforming sections in the last world.
+Rewards the player for getting a high score since score is based on how your health increases. Considering score is an arbitrary thing in most games it's nice to have a reason for it.
+Likewise with health, you can get stronger arrows by exploring every doorway, and you can get the extra items by completing challenges, also in doorways. There's a huge sense of power creep for the players who put in the time and effort and it feels great, while it's still possible to ignore everything for a hard mode run.
Cons:
-There are 3 types of enemies that really stop this game from being a very solid platformer. The first is the flying enemies that can move through walls. Their massive amount of mobility combined with your relative lack of it often feels far too unfair. The second is enemies that pop out of the sky or ground directly onto you without warning. The third is the eggplant enemy. Those three enemies alone (which to be fair take up a large amount of the enemy types) turn what should be fun skill-based action platformer into rage inducing damage sponging.
-Like with a lot of old games NOTHING is actually explained in-game. I assume you're supposed to use the manual to learn what all the items do and such, but as I was playing on the Switch's Nes emulator I had no such thing, so I had to have google handy at all times.
-All 3 dungeons felt the exact same.
Mixed/Not important enough to be a pro or con:
~The game honestly gets easier as it goes on. The actual difficulty never really increases imo, but the extra health, strength and weapons you get mean that the first levels where you're working with nothing are by far the hardest.
Notes/Comments:
•Kid Icarus deserved to be a long running series like Mario and Zelda. Too bad the series went into sleep until Uprising and has been dead since.
+The music is catchy
+Controls are tight. I never once felt like I wasn't in control even in the tight platforming sections in the last world.
+Rewards the player for getting a high score since score is based on how your health increases. Considering score is an arbitrary thing in most games it's nice to have a reason for it.
+Likewise with health, you can get stronger arrows by exploring every doorway, and you can get the extra items by completing challenges, also in doorways. There's a huge sense of power creep for the players who put in the time and effort and it feels great, while it's still possible to ignore everything for a hard mode run.
Cons:
-There are 3 types of enemies that really stop this game from being a very solid platformer. The first is the flying enemies that can move through walls. Their massive amount of mobility combined with your relative lack of it often feels far too unfair. The second is enemies that pop out of the sky or ground directly onto you without warning. The third is the eggplant enemy. Those three enemies alone (which to be fair take up a large amount of the enemy types) turn what should be fun skill-based action platformer into rage inducing damage sponging.
-Like with a lot of old games NOTHING is actually explained in-game. I assume you're supposed to use the manual to learn what all the items do and such, but as I was playing on the Switch's Nes emulator I had no such thing, so I had to have google handy at all times.
-All 3 dungeons felt the exact same.
Mixed/Not important enough to be a pro or con:
~The game honestly gets easier as it goes on. The actual difficulty never really increases imo, but the extra health, strength and weapons you get mean that the first levels where you're working with nothing are by far the hardest.
Notes/Comments:
•Kid Icarus deserved to be a long running series like Mario and Zelda. Too bad the series went into sleep until Uprising and has been dead since.
If Pit is canonically unable to read, how did he understand anyone in this game?
Kid Icarus seems like any other straightforward action platformer, and in 1986 why would you expect anything else? But Nintendo R&D1 really did make something innovative and cool for the time: an interesting blend of action and adventure gaming. Underneath the challenging platforming there's an experience point system, leveling up, currency and gear, and multiple endings to achieve; all along to the music of Hip Tanaka! It's a shame that it's all obfuscated in typical 1980s videogame design.
Probably the worst difficulty curve I've experienced. The first level is hell (both figuratively and literally) but after that it gets progressively easier. Not only due to you tanking more but the level design also gets more forgiving. Oh and the flying controls for the final level feel terrible. Other than that: Fun and cute platformer with some interesting mechanics
No.
Just not good
this game is such absolute horeshit dogpiss fuckass but the eggplant cool!
The second favourite NES game of mine, it’s so good. Fuck the haters.
I like the ability to aim upwards, but the movement and short range both bring this game down. Also, healing items can be ridiculously expensive especially considering the amount that they heal
I found the normal levels kind of disappointing, but the dungeons are actually pretty cool.
Much more of a 3 if someone were to release this today but gets points for being from the mid-80s. What stuck out to me the most was world 2 - and how the art and platforming challenges would smoothly change over a level. It reminded me of those giant , horizontal wall paintings describing an epic myth or the like - world 2 being like a contracted narration of Pit's journey across the world. The vertical worlds were okay, but not as visually interesting imo
The more glaring missteps aside, I like how precise Pit's movement and the economy of the arrows feel. At some times the enemies are a bit too fast and nimble to mesh well with the movement (the 'money rooms' with 8 of those quick-moving enemies often face this problem), but at other times the movement really shines (like the world 2 boss - I think that was an amazingly elegant application of the game's rules). Reminds me of some of the gunplay from later games like Cave Story or Kero Blaster.
I actually like the ways the vertical section's platforming gets trickier and trickier - world 3's areas where you need to shoot those demons while going back and forth from different sides of the screen were a highlight. (Even if the punishment of dying from falling is way too high...)
The money economy sort of made sense. I liked how you're encouraged to take a bit of risk to clear out screens of enemies so that you could buy health potions later. I feel like the healing springs were a bit overpowered, though...
That being said, this game reminds me of modern roguelites, especially Kid Icarus's room mechanic. The way you get a random assortment of items in the stores. As the game goes on and it gets easier to maintain a safe amount of health, the rooms become less interesting, although I appreciate the fortress levels removing your (overpowered?) weapon/armor upgrades.
The fortress levels were a cool twist, although they never amount to any kind of interesting spatial feeling - merely a labyrinth that feels randomly generated (despite being hand-authored). The need to buy the mapping items is a mistake - smaller dungeons without maps or automapping from the start would have been more interesting.
Other than that, I do love the kind of structural play Kid Icarus does with the labyrinth, vertical and horizontal levels...even if it's not executed great all the time
The finale was disappointing - to me, turning the game into a poorly executed shmup was not the best way to make finding these 'three great treasures' feel exciting. Pit's movement is slow and imprecise, the level often boring with lots of waiting, the only reasonable Medusa strategy (hanging to the back of the screen) feels like a cheese more than anything. If you removed the flying and made it a high or double jump, then built some enemies around pit's Light Arrow and the Shielding Mechanic, that could have made for a fun twist on what the game had been building up the whole way.
The more glaring missteps aside, I like how precise Pit's movement and the economy of the arrows feel. At some times the enemies are a bit too fast and nimble to mesh well with the movement (the 'money rooms' with 8 of those quick-moving enemies often face this problem), but at other times the movement really shines (like the world 2 boss - I think that was an amazingly elegant application of the game's rules). Reminds me of some of the gunplay from later games like Cave Story or Kero Blaster.
I actually like the ways the vertical section's platforming gets trickier and trickier - world 3's areas where you need to shoot those demons while going back and forth from different sides of the screen were a highlight. (Even if the punishment of dying from falling is way too high...)
The money economy sort of made sense. I liked how you're encouraged to take a bit of risk to clear out screens of enemies so that you could buy health potions later. I feel like the healing springs were a bit overpowered, though...
That being said, this game reminds me of modern roguelites, especially Kid Icarus's room mechanic. The way you get a random assortment of items in the stores. As the game goes on and it gets easier to maintain a safe amount of health, the rooms become less interesting, although I appreciate the fortress levels removing your (overpowered?) weapon/armor upgrades.
The fortress levels were a cool twist, although they never amount to any kind of interesting spatial feeling - merely a labyrinth that feels randomly generated (despite being hand-authored). The need to buy the mapping items is a mistake - smaller dungeons without maps or automapping from the start would have been more interesting.
Other than that, I do love the kind of structural play Kid Icarus does with the labyrinth, vertical and horizontal levels...even if it's not executed great all the time
The finale was disappointing - to me, turning the game into a poorly executed shmup was not the best way to make finding these 'three great treasures' feel exciting. Pit's movement is slow and imprecise, the level often boring with lots of waiting, the only reasonable Medusa strategy (hanging to the back of the screen) feels like a cheese more than anything. If you removed the flying and made it a high or double jump, then built some enemies around pit's Light Arrow and the Shielding Mechanic, that could have made for a fun twist on what the game had been building up the whole way.
Over the many years that they have been a company, Nintendo has created many franchises, with them still making entries for a good number of them to this very day. However, there have been plenty of franchises they have made that they let slowly die over the years with a major lack of releases, such as F-Zero, Earthbound, and Advance Wa- wait a minute, that last one is getting a remake soon, never mind on that one. Anyway, you get the point, there are many dead Nintendo franchises, and one of the ones that has been treated more poorly than most of the others would be Kid Icarus.
Whenever people bring this series up, they mainly talk about Kid Icarus: Uprising (as they should, because that game is fucking amazing), but in terms of the original Kid Icarus, the one that started it all, it still holds up pretty well, and I had a pretty good time with it overall. I wouldn't consider it perfect by any means, but it does still hold up quite a bit after all this time.
The story is simple, yet it is enough to get you engaged (at least for me), the graphics are good, even if they don't look as good as other NES games at the time, the music is very catchy and iconic, the control is pretty good, although I wish Pit's movement was a little less floaty, and the gameplay is simple, yet diverse enough to where you won't get bored with the game easily.
The gameplay in Kid Icarus is pretty varied, with three separate gameplay styles seen throughout. The first is a 2D platformer mixed with adventure elements, where you traverse up and to the right of stages, shooting enemies, gathering hearts and hammers, while also exploring the various doors that you find along the way, where you can defeat enemies for even more hearts, buy plenty of items to aid you on your quest, gather upgrades to your bow, and face off against endurance tests to gain upgrades to your arsenal. Even after the my second time playing through it, I had a lot of fun with these levels, as it does feel pretty satisfying to conquer these stages and their challenges, with the upgrades and items also being extremely helpful for what you have to deal with throughout.
The second gameplay style would be with the fortresses at the end of each world, where you go through a dungeon-like labyrinth, freeing Centurions, buying more items that help you out, and fighting bosses to get the three Sacred Treasures. To be completely honest, I don't like these parts of the game. A lot of the rooms in these labyrinths look incredibly samey, meaning that it is incredibly easy to get lost, and it can take a long while to find the boss to get a move on. Not to mention, there's also those times when you get turned into an eggplant, and you gotta go to a hospital to take care of that, which can be a hassle.
The third and final gameplay section (also, spoilers for a 35+ year old game or whatever) is when you collect all three of the Sacred Treasures and you then enter a side scrolling shooter segment, where you also fight Medusa to beat the game. This section is also pretty good, and can be fun at times, although I wish you had a much higher firing rate for your projectiles.
In terms of overall complaints I would have with this game, I would say the difficulty could be a little too much at points, with enemy spawn points and rates can be pretty unpredictable at times, along with enemy movement being very erratic at points. In addition, in order to use several of the upgrades you get, you need to have a bigger, full health bar, which is kind of a hassle, but it isn't too hard to get there. And finally, the boss fights SUCK. Seriously, they just walk, float, or jump around, and you shoot them, that's it. There is no variety in their strategies, except for maybe a fireball or two. Hell, even with the final boss, you can literally just sit there and spam the attack button, and you won't get hit.
Overall, while it does certainly have plenty of problems, I still find the original Kid Icarus to be pretty fun and different compared to other Nintendo games at the time, and I would definitely consider it a classic of the NES library.
Game #85
Whenever people bring this series up, they mainly talk about Kid Icarus: Uprising (as they should, because that game is fucking amazing), but in terms of the original Kid Icarus, the one that started it all, it still holds up pretty well, and I had a pretty good time with it overall. I wouldn't consider it perfect by any means, but it does still hold up quite a bit after all this time.
The story is simple, yet it is enough to get you engaged (at least for me), the graphics are good, even if they don't look as good as other NES games at the time, the music is very catchy and iconic, the control is pretty good, although I wish Pit's movement was a little less floaty, and the gameplay is simple, yet diverse enough to where you won't get bored with the game easily.
The gameplay in Kid Icarus is pretty varied, with three separate gameplay styles seen throughout. The first is a 2D platformer mixed with adventure elements, where you traverse up and to the right of stages, shooting enemies, gathering hearts and hammers, while also exploring the various doors that you find along the way, where you can defeat enemies for even more hearts, buy plenty of items to aid you on your quest, gather upgrades to your bow, and face off against endurance tests to gain upgrades to your arsenal. Even after the my second time playing through it, I had a lot of fun with these levels, as it does feel pretty satisfying to conquer these stages and their challenges, with the upgrades and items also being extremely helpful for what you have to deal with throughout.
The second gameplay style would be with the fortresses at the end of each world, where you go through a dungeon-like labyrinth, freeing Centurions, buying more items that help you out, and fighting bosses to get the three Sacred Treasures. To be completely honest, I don't like these parts of the game. A lot of the rooms in these labyrinths look incredibly samey, meaning that it is incredibly easy to get lost, and it can take a long while to find the boss to get a move on. Not to mention, there's also those times when you get turned into an eggplant, and you gotta go to a hospital to take care of that, which can be a hassle.
The third and final gameplay section (also, spoilers for a 35+ year old game or whatever) is when you collect all three of the Sacred Treasures and you then enter a side scrolling shooter segment, where you also fight Medusa to beat the game. This section is also pretty good, and can be fun at times, although I wish you had a much higher firing rate for your projectiles.
In terms of overall complaints I would have with this game, I would say the difficulty could be a little too much at points, with enemy spawn points and rates can be pretty unpredictable at times, along with enemy movement being very erratic at points. In addition, in order to use several of the upgrades you get, you need to have a bigger, full health bar, which is kind of a hassle, but it isn't too hard to get there. And finally, the boss fights SUCK. Seriously, they just walk, float, or jump around, and you shoot them, that's it. There is no variety in their strategies, except for maybe a fireball or two. Hell, even with the final boss, you can literally just sit there and spam the attack button, and you won't get hit.
Overall, while it does certainly have plenty of problems, I still find the original Kid Icarus to be pretty fun and different compared to other Nintendo games at the time, and I would definitely consider it a classic of the NES library.
Game #85
It is just not happening for me. All the stereotypes people have about NES games in terms of aging poorly and being needlessly obtuse in places are ever present in this game. It's constantly playing clown music at you for daring to play the game normally. I cannot be bothered to make it past 1-2, so I won't leave a score just in case it becomes secretly amazing after that, but I seriously want nothing to do with this game after every couple years tricking myself into trying it again. Thank god Uprising exists otherwise the Kid Icarus series would just be unsalvageable.
Far from the best NES game but definitely overhated.
I finally took the time to push past the first level and it really gets going by that point when you get strength powerups and the bow upgrade.
Level design is pretty cool, especially the boss labyrinth levels, feels very inspired by the original Zelda which I imagine was being worked on at the same time.
Overall a good NES game and I think it deserves the frustrating first 30 minutes to get past the first stage or two!
I finally took the time to push past the first level and it really gets going by that point when you get strength powerups and the bow upgrade.
Level design is pretty cool, especially the boss labyrinth levels, feels very inspired by the original Zelda which I imagine was being worked on at the same time.
Overall a good NES game and I think it deserves the frustrating first 30 minutes to get past the first stage or two!
Played this game on wii virtual console back in the days, but didn't get very far cause it was too hard for me.
Well, this game really isn't that difficult, I was just bad back then.
The music is good and there are some catchy tunes in the game.
Gameplay is overall really solid with some fun platforming. I thought the jumparc was slightly weird at first, but it didn't take that long before I got used to it.
Levels are for the most part fun, but the last level in each world is a labyrinths which could be really confusing and frustrating. There are also these eggplant enemies that turns you into an eggplant which makes you unable to attack. The only way to get back to normal is to find healing rooms around the labyrinths.
Sometimes they will hit you just as you enter their room and you almost can't dodge them.
Luckily the healing room are close to most eggplant enemies, so it could be worse. The labyrinths are still the worst part about this game and drags it down a little.
The other stages are pretty fun tho.
The first world is the hardest and then it gets easier from there cause you grt more life and damagr upgrades.
Overall the game is really soild with some stages dragging it a little down
Without those the game would be really high up in terms of NES games for me.
It is still pretty high up there.
I give Kid Icarus 3.5/5.
Well, this game really isn't that difficult, I was just bad back then.
The music is good and there are some catchy tunes in the game.
Gameplay is overall really solid with some fun platforming. I thought the jumparc was slightly weird at first, but it didn't take that long before I got used to it.
Levels are for the most part fun, but the last level in each world is a labyrinths which could be really confusing and frustrating. There are also these eggplant enemies that turns you into an eggplant which makes you unable to attack. The only way to get back to normal is to find healing rooms around the labyrinths.
Sometimes they will hit you just as you enter their room and you almost can't dodge them.
Luckily the healing room are close to most eggplant enemies, so it could be worse. The labyrinths are still the worst part about this game and drags it down a little.
The other stages are pretty fun tho.
The first world is the hardest and then it gets easier from there cause you grt more life and damagr upgrades.
Overall the game is really soild with some stages dragging it a little down
Without those the game would be really high up in terms of NES games for me.
It is still pretty high up there.
I give Kid Icarus 3.5/5.
more like dumb fuckarus
Good balance between platforming and action game, with a certain richness in the mechanics. The inertia is good and makes the fights quite enjoyable. We can regret the cryptic nature of the bonuses and the fact that a death is largely punitive, since it ruins the farming efforts. The dungeons lack a little elegance, especially in the mapping, but are welcome additions to the game. The title thus mixes several different genres with some success: nothing is particularly brilliant, but the whole retains a charming coherence.
Before Kratos there was Pit and I can tell you that he didn't leave much of an impression compared to Kratos.
This is a very mediocre game, who would've known! This is a common early NES game issue, they tend to be really frustrating and just not fun enough to complete.
This is a platformer game, unsurprising for an NES game, and the obvious goal is to get to the end of each stage. The main idea of Kid Icarus is kinda fun and doesn't seem all that hard but with the number of enemies spawning right next to you, above you or anywhere else you don't expect them to be trust me they will be there and at the worst moment. Otherwise, for an NES game, it's pretty in-depth since this game doesn't rely on a high score system since there's an actual ending but good luck getting there without cheats or saves states because you will die over and over and with how repetitive this game is it's not like Super Mario Bros 1 or 3 where when you lose it's like "Aw man, guess I'll try it again" No with Kid Icarus it's just "I'm not grinding hearts ever again fuck this game".
Should you play this game? Dear god no, it's not worth going back-... to this version, maybe you should check out the 3D classic version of the game on the 3DS.
This is a very mediocre game, who would've known! This is a common early NES game issue, they tend to be really frustrating and just not fun enough to complete.
This is a platformer game, unsurprising for an NES game, and the obvious goal is to get to the end of each stage. The main idea of Kid Icarus is kinda fun and doesn't seem all that hard but with the number of enemies spawning right next to you, above you or anywhere else you don't expect them to be trust me they will be there and at the worst moment. Otherwise, for an NES game, it's pretty in-depth since this game doesn't rely on a high score system since there's an actual ending but good luck getting there without cheats or saves states because you will die over and over and with how repetitive this game is it's not like Super Mario Bros 1 or 3 where when you lose it's like "Aw man, guess I'll try it again" No with Kid Icarus it's just "I'm not grinding hearts ever again fuck this game".
Should you play this game? Dear god no, it's not worth going back-... to this version, maybe you should check out the 3D classic version of the game on the 3DS.
Seems like an evolution of Metroid, but you have to grind for everything(HP, strength, coins, even to face the final boss) which grows tiresome, specially in the beginning where you're very weak and have few weapons at your disposal. Also has missable itens which are needed to get stronger and get the best ending, definitely recommend a guide or a map, specially for the confusing dungeon levels.
I like this but I am just not good enough to beat it and I have to just hold that
0/10 Some dude thre a eggplant on my head. Fuck that guy.
probably the best NES soundtrack along with kirbys adventure
What would a lot of people consider this game as a classic, this game is average when it comes to gameplay.
Graphically , this game looks decent. The Enemies sprites looks good, the main characters as well. However, the background is kind of basic. A black background with obstacles in the middle is average to the other games that I played so far.
This game is a platformer that you go from bottom to the top of the screen. The screen will follow the character. However, you can't go back. Once the screens goes up, you cannot go down again. This is present in most of the game. You also have some doors that have some shops in them or simply some bonus rooms. The bonus rooms are really unclear on what to do.
Your main character can shoot tiny arrows and jumps all around. This game have also a health bar system. The character can level up when completing a stage or in bonus rooms. Like I said previously, it is really unclear on what you need before entering the room. Once you exit that room, you lose the ability to go back in. That means you can lose some upgrade along the run.
There are some dungeons setting that you can pass through doors and the screen is still until you cross a door. Those dungeon are really easy to get lost in them. The enemy spawns in certain rooms can also be really annoying at some time.
One part that is really nice to do is at the end when it is a side scrolling part where your character flies and becomes a side shooter style game. That part was a nice change to the pacing. However, it only occurs at the end of the game.
Even though I have my complains about the game, the controls are good and the shooting part is kind of fun. However, I still don't understand why so many people adore this game when I only found it decent. Maybe it's simply because I don't have the nostalgia for it.
Game #45 of my challenge.
Graphically , this game looks decent. The Enemies sprites looks good, the main characters as well. However, the background is kind of basic. A black background with obstacles in the middle is average to the other games that I played so far.
This game is a platformer that you go from bottom to the top of the screen. The screen will follow the character. However, you can't go back. Once the screens goes up, you cannot go down again. This is present in most of the game. You also have some doors that have some shops in them or simply some bonus rooms. The bonus rooms are really unclear on what to do.
Your main character can shoot tiny arrows and jumps all around. This game have also a health bar system. The character can level up when completing a stage or in bonus rooms. Like I said previously, it is really unclear on what you need before entering the room. Once you exit that room, you lose the ability to go back in. That means you can lose some upgrade along the run.
There are some dungeons setting that you can pass through doors and the screen is still until you cross a door. Those dungeon are really easy to get lost in them. The enemy spawns in certain rooms can also be really annoying at some time.
One part that is really nice to do is at the end when it is a side scrolling part where your character flies and becomes a side shooter style game. That part was a nice change to the pacing. However, it only occurs at the end of the game.
Even though I have my complains about the game, the controls are good and the shooting part is kind of fun. However, I still don't understand why so many people adore this game when I only found it decent. Maybe it's simply because I don't have the nostalgia for it.
Game #45 of my challenge.
Pretty ambitious for the time, though it's definitely surpassed by Zelda 1 and Metroid 1 from the same year. Interesting mix of 2d platforming, a Contra-style run-and-gun, light RPG mechanics, and some Zelda-like dungeons. Unfortunately it does feel held back by the limitations of the NES and archaic game designs of the era. A Kid Icarus sequel on the SNES probably would've gone so hard.
really solid actually! jump physics feel super tight and enjoyable, level design is generally tough but fair, but most interesting and important to me is the way that the game plays with conventions in a surprisingly forward-thinking way. going from upwards to lateral travel in world 2 was a surprising, exciting change of pace, and the total genre switch during the final boss was awesome and a super memorable way to close out the game, just delightful to see stuff like this in an older title. other details, like freeing little angel guys in the dungeons only for them to help out in your battle against the boss, just bustle with imagination and whimsy. curious about a world in which this got a ton of iterative sequels like its 1986 siblings metroid and zelda. it's lacking a bit of the wow factor and cohesiveness of those games, but is still a remarkably fun time nonetheless.