The fact that we still don't have a sequel to this near-masterpiece is highly disappointing. This game took everything great about the original (which wasn't much), and completely started from scratch on everything else, and for the better I might add. This game is everything that Kid Icarus could be as a franchise: great gameplay, fantastic characters and story, extremely unique and creative style and world, and so much more. The fact that this is currently the last game will forever be upsetting.

Man after beating this game I know there's so much to love and appreciate, the writing is humorous and entertaining, the characters are all charming and witty, the music is grandiose and striking, but what does all of this mean when the controls for this game are horrendously bad. I want to love this game but playing through it was as an exhausting chore that I liked thinking about this game more than I liked actually playing it. I'm sorry but this NEEDS to be on another console other than the 3DS, it's the biggest thing holding it back from greatness. The idea and foundation of this game are solid but I cannot in good faith recommend this to someone who likes having hands. I think if you watched a playthrough or the cutscenes you'll have just as good of an experience, if you don't want to do that proceed with caution, this game is straining on the hands and everyone who made those arthritis jokes is right.
It pains me to give it anything less than 4 stars but it really is that bad to play, I thought at first maybe it's something you get used to but with how this game controls it made it downright annoying trying to do the higher difficulties and it sucks. If they port this to a console with an actual controller we'd be seeing a higher rating but because its stuck on a dead console it's hard for me to give it anything higher than this.
Updating this because I feel like it needs to be said, I'm left-handed, and I've experimented with all of the control styles in this game. If you want my recommendation for all my lefties out there, I did the circle pad for reticle movement and abxy for general movement, with the shoulder buttons acting as the skill selector. While this did help out tremendously for me I lost out on the ability to move in a precise manner, though problem is if you decide to do it the other way then you also lose out on the precise reticle movement. Which both are needed for the sky and ground sections so... pick your poison.

the most underrated 3DS game.

played this game for the first time a couple years ago, and jesus christ it absolutely blew me away. i will admit that the first few chapters didn't win me over, but the slick writing and interesting combat had me coming back for more. over time i started to get hooked, it's a blend between fast-paced rail shooter with gorgeous visuals (seriously, it's like a roller coaster ride that doesn't end), with the admittedly not as exciting ground combat, but makes up for the lack of adrenaline with sick level design and VERY unique combat options. the difficulty is handled weirdly, if anyone's played smash classic mode you'd see what i mean, it essentially works on a slider mechanic, being able to choose exactly how hard you want some rock with hands to kick your ass. anyways, the story is engrossing and the characters are absolutely top-notch, the interactions between them make the game worth it on its own. i would love to give this game a perfect score BUT we come up on the reason why uprising has fallen to the wayside for so long: the controls. the game would absolutely love if you were right handed and would probably stab you in the heart if you were left handed and if it had the chance. playing for prolonged periods starts to have an impact on your wrists (nothing serious, but it's a nagging feeling) with how you have to hold your ds to control pit. absolutely needs a re-release (or better yet, a sequel), but for the time being, playing it this way isn't so bad. begging everyone to give it a shot, you won't be sorry

With vast steps from its predecessor, Uprising took a fearless leap onwards into 3D with its own bag of flair, while at the same time remaining faithful to the Icarus universes share of recurring elements.
Through a narration composed with hands down excellent writing and great voice actor performances the plot pivots unpredictably between the whimsical and surprisingly darker territories. although most of this is played for satire through banterings between our heroes and villains as background noise while playing the game, it's still very fun and well synced dialogues to what happens on screen as you play.

The unpredictable nature of Uprising also carries through the presentation, set pieces to hazards and enemy designs.
For every stage there are jaw drop moments of realisation and discoveries, with a good handful of laugh out moments for silly attention to details to splendours of soaring through space and below waters. It's simply a joyride throughout.

Every stage presents their own tune of aestetical values as you slice, dice and barrage enemies through a technical two segmented gameplay foundation. Mainly from the preluding and cinematic sky shooter parts into the more technical and semi platformy ground combat segments.

It is unfortunate that the biggest gamekeeper in Uprising is namely the controls that requires heavy hand coordinations for both moving and aiming around at the same time, in addition to absorbing everything happening on screen.
The control schemes asks a lot from the player, not to mention the durability of the 3ds analog as you need to flick from left to right, to constantly dash around or dodge enemy projectiles and the likes.

Once you get to grips with the controls it only gets better from there as you unlock better weapons and can adjust
the difficulty to your liking from playing it safe to harder difficulties to keep on unlocking better gears.

In addition to the main story there's a lot of collectables and different weapons to alter melee, range and movement speed. There's plenty of game optimising to play around with which adds up for great replay value.

Not to mention there's a multiplayer mode with arena combat and seperate modes, which to my delight were still active when I tried it out.

Whether you're soaring through the skies, or sweeping through the grounds. Uprising will light your path with its divine tongue in cheek energy and creativity.

Gameplay: Absolutely fun flying sections with some good challenge depending on how hard you make it via the Fiend's Cauldron (or basically how you set the difficulty in a modern Smash Bros). The ground sections are pretty aright with the game's take on a TPS and I personally don't mind the trackball stylus controls for camera movement, though your mileage may vary. Plenty of different weapons to collect and use with fun enemy encounters along with memorable boss fights.

Story: Charming characters with fun dialogue and banter.
The whole story is woven very well into the gameplay, be it in-game dialogue or moments of spectacle that happen during action.

Graphics and Sound: Probably the prettiest game on the system. Soundtrack is amazing and feels especially great during the flying sections where a lot of it is timed to the gameplay, making things feel very organic.

to summarize, if you own a 3DS/2DS/AnythingThatPlaysGamesForThe3DS - then you should give this a try.