I like this but I am just not good enough to beat it and I have to just hold that
This is an absolutely gorgeous game with a fantastic, almost vaporwave atmosphere of crumbling Greek temples bursting through clouds and 8-bit neon Venus de Milo statues. Also the Eggplant Wizards, as annoying as they are, are some of my favorite enemy designs in any game I've played. (Between Kid Icarus and Ice Climbers, what's the deal with the Eggplant as iconic video game fruit?)
That being said, there are some major flaws with accessibility and difficulty in this which are impossible to overlook- health is hard to come by, and very expensive to buy considering how little the potions heal you. This is one game where having the Switch rewind button comes in really handy, but the fortresses are doable without it, as getting back to the hot springs or Eggplant hospital is perfectly manageable, if a good challenge.
I feel like there is a world where a brilliant SNES sequel to this was produced where this became one of the truly iconic Nintendo series.
That being said, there are some major flaws with accessibility and difficulty in this which are impossible to overlook- health is hard to come by, and very expensive to buy considering how little the potions heal you. This is one game where having the Switch rewind button comes in really handy, but the fortresses are doable without it, as getting back to the hot springs or Eggplant hospital is perfectly manageable, if a good challenge.
I feel like there is a world where a brilliant SNES sequel to this was produced where this became one of the truly iconic Nintendo series.
The FDS or 3D Classics version is great. NES is an absolute stinker.
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.
Kid Icarus has a very rough start for the series with this game. As a fan who loved Kid Icarus Uprising, I wanted to see how the series had really developed from its roots. And I can see why it went dormant until 2012. Kid Icarus is a really hard game to start out with, but with the upgrades you get later on, some of the levels become a little easier.
The bosses were all rather easy with Twinbellows being extremely exploitable. The only one that gave me trouble was Medusa, the final boss of the game, needing a strict 50 enemies slain to get to her. But other than that, the game was okay.
The bosses were all rather easy with Twinbellows being extremely exploitable. The only one that gave me trouble was Medusa, the final boss of the game, needing a strict 50 enemies slain to get to her. But other than that, the game was okay.
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.
It's like Ice Climbers but a little worse!
I found the normal levels kind of disappointing, but the dungeons are actually pretty cool.
A pesar de su Bizarro desarrollo el juego es bastante bueno
Pero su dificultad es monstruosamente alta y es literal el pionero de los enemigos molestos
Serpientes que se matan fácil pero al juntarse muchas se complica todo
Ojos voladores
Lo shinigami que aparte de tener mucha vida al mirarte llaman a sus esbirros y cambia la música
Esas weas con las mansas narizes que no para de moverse etc.
Fuera de eso es bastante bueno
Pero su dificultad es monstruosamente alta y es literal el pionero de los enemigos molestos
Serpientes que se matan fácil pero al juntarse muchas se complica todo
Ojos voladores
Lo shinigami que aparte de tener mucha vida al mirarte llaman a sus esbirros y cambia la música
Esas weas con las mansas narizes que no para de moverse etc.
Fuera de eso es bastante bueno
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.
Apesar da primeira fase passar uma impressão que Kid Icarus será um jogo de plataforma com fase de rolagem vertical, ele surpreende bastante. Há um intercalamento entre 3 modelos de level design: um vertical contínuo, um horizontal contínuo e um modelo de mosaico, similar às masmorras de RPGs, com foco maior na exploração.
Essas masmorras coincidem com as fases onde encontramos os chefões, por isso elas são recheadas de locais pra grindar o dinheiro necessário para comprar os martelinhos que serão usados pra quebrar as estátuas dos guerreiros que auxiliam no combate contra o chefe, além da tocha e do lápis pra que o Pit possa se localizar e desenhar o mapa da dungeon.
Há uma boa variedade de salas especiais ao longo das fases lineares, acessadas por meio de portas. Um desafio de força, uma sala cheia de inimigos, um jogo de sorte, uma loja, uma fonte termal, sempre há algo que quebra a progressão linear daquele estágio para permitir ao jogador se equipar com itens que ajudam a sobreviver e a ficar mais forte.
Apesar disso, o level design do jogo não tem muita consideração em relação a desafios específicos. Aparenta ser algo criado de forma orgânica, sem exatamente um propósito além de simplesmente existir. Na verdade, a estrutura de níveis é bem similar a alguns arcades. Temos praticamente a mesma estrutura de fase linear, fase linear, masmorra, chefe. Sempre com as mesmas mecânicas, o que não é uma surpresa para um título de 1986.
Boa parte da narrativa, inclusive, se encontra no manual do jogo, onde o prelúdio é apresentado com ilustrações toscas cheias de charme e personalidade, mas que curiosamente não aparentam ter sido feitas com o nível de qualidade que normalmente se atribui a uma empresa profissional.
A impressão que tive foi de que aproveitaram material do GDD primitivo do jogo e puseram no material final do manual, mas eu repiso: apesar desse traço amador, tem um carisma inexplicável e ilustra o que muitos chamam de charme oitentista.
Mas a história está lá e trata de uma guerra entre seres angelicais e demônios, com as fases servindo de progressão para a batalha final contra o chefe final. São 3 setores contendo 3 tesouros especiais e uma fase final concluindo com o último combate.
Essa última fase também traz uma reviravolta: a sua mecânica transforma o jogo em uma espécie de shoot’em’up, conduzindo de forma ludonarrativa a um desfecho épico de luta no espaço aéreo.
Após a cena final, como quase todo jogo da época, uma “New Game Plus” reseta o jogo, mantendo os atributos e itens especiais que o jogador tinha ao finalizar a primeira “run”.
E lá em cima, também característica da época, o sempre presente Hi-Score para registrar o desempenho do jogador.
Kid Icarus é um dos jogos que surpreende bastante com suas peculiaridades que fogem de alguns chavões da época, do console, e até mesmo da empresa. Ele se destaca bastante de outros jogos de plataforma não só pelo seu design recheado de ideias criativas e elementos diversos, mas também por sua estrutura, o que em conjunto com todos os outros elementos fazem dele um título com características bem marcantes.
Tive muitas surpresas com ele, já que sempre espero o pior de títulos dessa época.
Essas masmorras coincidem com as fases onde encontramos os chefões, por isso elas são recheadas de locais pra grindar o dinheiro necessário para comprar os martelinhos que serão usados pra quebrar as estátuas dos guerreiros que auxiliam no combate contra o chefe, além da tocha e do lápis pra que o Pit possa se localizar e desenhar o mapa da dungeon.
Há uma boa variedade de salas especiais ao longo das fases lineares, acessadas por meio de portas. Um desafio de força, uma sala cheia de inimigos, um jogo de sorte, uma loja, uma fonte termal, sempre há algo que quebra a progressão linear daquele estágio para permitir ao jogador se equipar com itens que ajudam a sobreviver e a ficar mais forte.
Apesar disso, o level design do jogo não tem muita consideração em relação a desafios específicos. Aparenta ser algo criado de forma orgânica, sem exatamente um propósito além de simplesmente existir. Na verdade, a estrutura de níveis é bem similar a alguns arcades. Temos praticamente a mesma estrutura de fase linear, fase linear, masmorra, chefe. Sempre com as mesmas mecânicas, o que não é uma surpresa para um título de 1986.
Boa parte da narrativa, inclusive, se encontra no manual do jogo, onde o prelúdio é apresentado com ilustrações toscas cheias de charme e personalidade, mas que curiosamente não aparentam ter sido feitas com o nível de qualidade que normalmente se atribui a uma empresa profissional.
A impressão que tive foi de que aproveitaram material do GDD primitivo do jogo e puseram no material final do manual, mas eu repiso: apesar desse traço amador, tem um carisma inexplicável e ilustra o que muitos chamam de charme oitentista.
Mas a história está lá e trata de uma guerra entre seres angelicais e demônios, com as fases servindo de progressão para a batalha final contra o chefe final. São 3 setores contendo 3 tesouros especiais e uma fase final concluindo com o último combate.
Essa última fase também traz uma reviravolta: a sua mecânica transforma o jogo em uma espécie de shoot’em’up, conduzindo de forma ludonarrativa a um desfecho épico de luta no espaço aéreo.
Após a cena final, como quase todo jogo da época, uma “New Game Plus” reseta o jogo, mantendo os atributos e itens especiais que o jogador tinha ao finalizar a primeira “run”.
E lá em cima, também característica da época, o sempre presente Hi-Score para registrar o desempenho do jogador.
Kid Icarus é um dos jogos que surpreende bastante com suas peculiaridades que fogem de alguns chavões da época, do console, e até mesmo da empresa. Ele se destaca bastante de outros jogos de plataforma não só pelo seu design recheado de ideias criativas e elementos diversos, mas também por sua estrutura, o que em conjunto com todos os outros elementos fazem dele um título com características bem marcantes.
Tive muitas surpresas com ele, já que sempre espero o pior de títulos dessa época.
The only reason i started playing this game was because of a challenge with my friends. There are some really cool and innovative ideas in this game, but the execution is just pure and simple garbage. It doesn't feel good to criticize a game that is way older than me, programmed in the ancient times of the 80s, but there were so many better games at the time. It's not the limitations of the technology that made this game terrible, it's just bad choices.
The first three stages were kinda fun actually. There was some problems like slight delay in the controls that can result in some deaths (mainly in the slipy ice) but at least it was kinda funny. And then come the first boss stage (1-4). This is the moment when the monster that designed this game shows his true facet. The enemies have way too much health, and not only that, but there are enemies that can transform you extremely easily into a state where you can't fight. So, along with the fact that they have gigantic health, you can't defend yourself unless you perform a miracle and find a place to remove your curse without dying to the multiple enemies falling from the sky or throwing things at you in the way.
There are also multiple moments when there are so many monsters on the screen that not only does the game slow down, but you can't avoid the damage that comes from all directions. It's just annoying really hard game design that feels really bad and unlike Castlevania (which was released in the same year as this game), that feels fair most of the time, Kid Icarus is just a unfair and uninspired experience that try the best it can to stretch it's gameplay time by ruining what could have been a really amazing NES game. It's no surprise that this game never became a big franchise on Nintendo.
TL;DR: Not fun. Avoid. Play something else.
The first three stages were kinda fun actually. There was some problems like slight delay in the controls that can result in some deaths (mainly in the slipy ice) but at least it was kinda funny. And then come the first boss stage (1-4). This is the moment when the monster that designed this game shows his true facet. The enemies have way too much health, and not only that, but there are enemies that can transform you extremely easily into a state where you can't fight. So, along with the fact that they have gigantic health, you can't defend yourself unless you perform a miracle and find a place to remove your curse without dying to the multiple enemies falling from the sky or throwing things at you in the way.
There are also multiple moments when there are so many monsters on the screen that not only does the game slow down, but you can't avoid the damage that comes from all directions. It's just annoying really hard game design that feels really bad and unlike Castlevania (which was released in the same year as this game), that feels fair most of the time, Kid Icarus is just a unfair and uninspired experience that try the best it can to stretch it's gameplay time by ruining what could have been a really amazing NES game. It's no surprise that this game never became a big franchise on Nintendo.
TL;DR: Not fun. Avoid. Play something else.
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.
Overhyped? sim, mas sempre vale apena dar uma conferida.
Fun but not fun enough to make me want to complete it, like most NES games.
No.
Lowkey not as bad as people make it out to be. Almost at the level of Pokemon Arceus ngl. Not trash but not good, just mediocre ok
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.
No
I speedran this game for a little bit and its really good once you dont suck ass at it like most people who gave it a low score. The skill ceiling is high with a good challenge being presented. The controls can be a lil slippery and the later dungeons can be confusing. But hey, this is one of the more playable early nes games and has aged a lot better than its sister game Metroid. Check it out, its either be there or be square.
fine
Joguinho legalzinho pra época porem puta merda envelheceu mal.
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.
a game that has more than 3 decades the first of the franchise even though it is difficult is a very remarkable game!
wish there was some backgrounds
It's fun at first, then you have to figure out what items do and what they are used for otherwise you'll end up running around in circles and being brutally murdered by some extremely strong enemies. No thanks.
I adore how mysterious this game is.
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
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
Ohio Metroid