While I played the original Kid Icarus on the NES, most of my tenure was spent playing it on the Wii virtual console. Often maligned as Metroid's deformed cousin, Kid Icarus is hard. Especially the first world, which was often a common breaking point that people failed to get past. God knows I stubbornly grinded my face against it for hours until I got to 1-4 and the game opened up. Figuratively and literally, the 4th levels of each world are dungeons where the Metroid comparisons come into play. Also the power curve of Pit through the game bears some similarities with Metroid.

Truth be told? I like Kid Icarus more than the original Metroid. It's linear, sure, but the tightness of the controls makes it feel good to play and unlike Metroid you won't spend the entire game getting lost. They really aren't comparable though. I think as far as platformers go on the NES, you can do a lot worse than Kid Icarus. I'd even call it "good".