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Kid Icarus: Uprising Review

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Ever read about Greek mythology? You know, lots of violence, lots of sex, lots of weirdos? Basically Jersey Shore with gods? It's always been an interesting subject. It's something that can easily been expanded upon or simply exploited to make a great work of fiction. The easiest thing to make with Greek mythology (besides books, but those are boring), however, is a video game. Greek mythology is all about the elements; there's a god for water, a god for the sun, a god for lightning... imagine exploring each god's creation, facing the elements with the help of all sorts of weird mythical creatures. It just comes naturally. Of course, Nintendo caught on rather quickly. Like, 25 years ago quickly.

Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror was released on the Famicom in 1986, and was released in America as Kid Icarus on the NES in 1987. The game got its English name from a man named Icarus in Greek mythology. Icarus's father, Daedalus, built his son some wings out of feathers and wax to escape from Crete. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun. However, Icarus was so amused during his flight that he forgot the instructions. The wax melted, and Icarus promptly fell into the ocean. And died. The "Icarus" in this game however is a young angel named Pit who can't fly by himself. In order to save Angel Land, Pit needs to defeat Medusa, a gorgon (mythological female demon-like creature who can turn people to stone with her stare) and in this game, the queen of darkness. He does this in the name of Palutena, the goddess of Light. No goddess named Palutena is actually in Greek mythology, but her character traits seem to match those of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, civilization and just warfare, among other things. Palutena could very well be a mistranslation of Pallas-Athena. The object of the game is to shoot yourself through each level and each boss to reach the three sacred treasures, which must be equiped to defeat Medusa. It plays a lot like Metroid, except probably with more climbing and more death. The game is known to be pretty hard... and it is. You've got more herds of enemies than Space Invaders, not to mention there are a ton of ways to get killed in one shot. Seriously, it's like the game just decides you're doing too good and kills you. And you get sent back to the start of the level every time you die.

The game got mixed reception back in its day and it became largely overshadowed by Metroid, which was deemed a much better 2D shooter. However, the game eventually garnered up a cult fanbase. Why? Well, if you can get past the difficulty, it's actually really cool. You can't JUST call Kid Icarus a poor man's Metroid; the game incorporates lots of different elements into it to. Much of the game actually resembles Ice Climbers, and later levels completely abandon the platforming elements of the game and go for a full-on scrolling shooter. The developers weren't afraid of defying formula. And beyond the gameplay, the game's weirdness also gave it charm. The mocking music, the strange effects, the diverse enemies, the somewhat disturbing joke ending... basically all eggplants, but still. The game had the potential to become a great series. Eventually a sequel called Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters was released for the Game Boy in 1991, but for some reason it wasn't released in Japan, only America and Europe. The game was actually considered an improvement over the first by many critics. Despite this, it somehow killed the potential series. No more Kid Icarus games. The only place you could see Pit now was on Captain N: The Game Master, a terrible 90's cartoon that advertised Nintendo's crap where Pit was for some reason an annoying little douche referred to as Kid Icarus.

Flash forward 16 years. Super Smash Bros. Brawl had just been released, and to the fanbase's amusement, Pit appeared as a playable character with a completely new design. After that happened, everyone knew that a new Kid Icarus game HAD to come out eventually. I mean, come on, you can't just stuff a bucketload of potential into someone's face and just... leave it there. Sure enough, Nintendo started thinking about it. Originally, the new Kid Icarus game was going to be for the Wii, and it would feature ANOTHER overhaul of Pit's design, this time leaving him as a grown man. This was scrapped pretty quickly. There was still hope, however, in Project Sora, a new developing team founded by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and Sora developer Masahiro Sakurai. The new group was creating a game for the 3DS where you would switch between air combat and land combat. Nintendo rightfully decided that this was a good chance to bring Pit back for good. In 2012, it happened, with the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising. Was it worth the 21-year wait?

In Kid Icarus: Uprsing, you once again play as Pit, who is assigned by Palutena to take down the mysteriously revived Medusa along with her associates Pandora (named after either the first woman in Greek mythology or the box of evil she opened), Thanatos (the personification of death), and the rest of the Underworld army. To accomplish this, Pit must take to the skies. However, as he can't fly, he must be granted the power of flight by Palutena. The power of flight only last five minutes, and if Pit keeps flying after those five minutes are gone, his wings burn up, in reference to the Icarus legend. Nice touch. Of course, he usually gets to land before that happens. On land, Pit must infiltrate enemy bases while taking out every member of the Underworld army he sees. During his entire adventure, Pit is constantly aided by Palutena, who I must say ultimately does most of the work. She makes Pit fly, sets up his flight pattern, creates paths and rails for him, gives him food... all Pit really has to do is shoot things. It's like if Navi were to actually DO things while blabbing to Link about crap. I actually like how it constantly feels as if you're not the only one doing anything. It eases frustration and makes the game feel more like an experience.

Before I talk any more about the presentation, I need to talk about the gameplay. Before starting each level, or in this game, chapter, you get to select your difficulty in the form of a number between 0 and 9, 0 being effortless and 9 being nigh impossible. The higher the difficulty, the more enemies show up and the more stuff you'll earn. Because of this, difficulty isn't a problem; you can challenge yourself just as much as you want. Inside each chapter, you must take to the sky and the land. Each chapter has an air combat stage and a land combat stage. First, let's talk about the air combat. Palutena controls exactly where you're flying, but you can still move around the screen with the circle pad. You aim with the stylus and shoot with the L button. Your goal is to avoid getting hit by enemies while taking down as many as you can until the stage is over after up to five minutes. Basically, it's an on-rail shooter. And a damn good one at that. Rather then just throwing you into a plain sky with random lines of enemies coming at you while you move in a straight line, something different is always happening. You're constantly flying through diverse and beautifully designed areas, with twists and turns at every corner. The camera work is simply amazing; sometimes it'll zoom out or turn around to reveal a huge enemy coming up behind you, or twist around when you're falling through a tight space. The Sora crew made sure to make the air combat stages really atmospheric and really intense. Chances are, they will make you go "wow" at least once. There really are no problems with the controls either (unless you're left handed, in which case you probably need the Circle Pad Pro). Using the stylus to control your aim is actually more fun and less frustrating than you'd think. You may be wondering "Alright, where does the dumb stand come in?" For those of you who don't know, the game came with a 3DS stand to use while playing. This indicates the game would be difficult to play while simply holding the 3DS, especially with the 3D on. In all honesty... the stand is useless. The game isn't so intense you can't hold the frickin' system, even when you do crank the difficulty up. The 3D also makes the game EASIER, as the depth perception makes aiming more precise.

Now let's talk about the land combat. Unlike in the air, you're free to move wherever you want, using the circle pad to move. Pushing the circle pad gently makes Pit walk, and flicking it quickly makes Pit dash or dodge. You once again aim with the stylus, however this time around where you aim also controls where the camera is pointing. You once again shoot with L. If you run up close to an enemy and press L, you can do a melee attack. If you dash and shoot while away from an enemy, you'll do a dash attack, which is more powerful than a normal shot. You can also use powers that you've collected throughout your journey against enemies. Your goal is to fight your way through each area to make it to and destroy the boss. It's hard to define these stages as just one thing; they're part shooter, part platformer, and part beat 'em up, sometimes drifting into vehicular combat. There's a lot of variety to the simple concept, and in that way these stages resemble the original Kid Icarus. However, they are pretty flawed. The biggest problem with these stages is the camera. As I said before, you have to move it by yourself with the stylus. The fighting is EXTREMELY fast paced, so constantly having to turn around while beating up a fast enemy can really screw you up. To make matters worse, you select powers to use on the bottom screen during battle. Not only can that screw you up when you're trying to move the camera but it also requires you to take your eyes off of all the action on the top screen. Dashing can also screw you up during the platforming parts. It's really easy to dash by accident, so whenever the game decides to take away invisible barriers to let you fall to your death… good luck. I spent about twenty minutes trying to get past one particular part in chapter eight where you had to stand on a moving, un-railed platform until you got to a certain place where you had to get off and then get back on the platform, which was still moving. I just kept dashing off the platform, and when I didn't, I couldn't turn the camera around fast enough to get back onto the moving platform. In a game as full as this, weird controls were kind of required. However, the Project Sora crew should've had this in mind and built the game around these controls rather then just making whatever looks cool and having people deal with the sloppiness. Still, despite these flaws, the land combat stages are immensely fun. Once you get used to the controls, you can strategize with your various attacks and powers to take down different enemies. It actually feels a lot like the Smash Bros. series: a little bit of strategy inside of intense action. We all know how fun those games are. The areas you explore on land may not be as beautiful as the ones in the air, but they are still very cool looking and (most of the time) well-designed. To be honest, I stopped thinking about the controls rather quickly and just started having fun. Something new is always happening; you're always finding a new area, fighting a new enemy, or experiencing a new form of play. Despite the technical sloppiness, the land stages still manage to be extremely entertaining, which is great since they take up most of the game.

Now here's something I really want to gush about: the presentation. There are usually only two cutscenes in each chapter: one before the boss and one after the boss. However, that doesn't really matter, because pretty much the ENTIRE GAME is a cutscene. During gameplay, Pit and Palutena are constantly speaking to each other, the main villain, the boss of the current chapter, and whoever else may be present at the time. Every character is fully voiced, and well so, so you don't have to stop the game or even so much as look away from the action to advance conversations. Rather than having the story unfold through cutscenes, the story unfolds as you're playing the game. The conversations between the characters often times affect what's going on in the game, and plot points are revealed pretty much every two seconds. You'd expect a game with a big story, a ton of characters, and hours of voice acting to feel more like a movie than a game. Well, this one doesn't. It just feels like a really innovative, entertaining, atmospheric, GOOD game. This is how you should make a game with an engaging story that never actually takes away from the game. Of course, I should mention that this game doesn't take itself seriously at all. When the story isn't being moved forward, the characters are teasing each other, making snarky remarks, and breaking the fourth wall. And you know what? It's charming. Every character has a distinct personality, and they are all aware of that personality. This makes their interactions with other characters golden. Not to mention the characters are genuinely funny. My favorite character has to be the main villain, who manages to be one of the most hideously evil Nintendo characters ever yet still snarky and loveable. My favorite scene with him had to be when he was explaining his "wish" around halfway through the game… I don't want to spoil everything, just play it yourself. I also have to give props to Palutena for being not only helpful but also funny and Pyrrhon for being voiced by Troy Baker. Beyond the characters, story, and voice acting, it goes without saying that the music is amazing, being composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, Motoi Sakuraba, Yuzo Koshiro, Masafumi Takada, and Noroyuki Iwadare, some of the biggest names in gaming music. This is one of the best soundtracks for a handheld game ever. The music varies widely from chapter to chapter and even within chapters, going from orchestral to acoustic to even chiptune. It always adds to the atmosphere and it always sounds great. My favorite song from the game? Probably the Orne Theme. Less is more, they say. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYyeXi… The graphics are also the best on the 3DS thus far. Unlike Mario Kart 7, you can't notice any blocky polygons just by looking at the game.

Beyond the main game, you can battle other players online in one of two modes: Light VS Dark, in which players team up to defeat the other team's angel, and Free For All, which is exactly what it says on the tin. The battle modes have the same controls as the land combat stages, so the flaws from that are carried on. But beyond that, the online modes are great. You have no idea how hectic they can get until you actually play one. Everything is always exploding. Everything. And yet, there is almost never any lag. I'm really impressed, both by the fact that the developers took the time to make sure the battle modes were un-faltered and the fact that such a small system can handle so much going on at once. Nintendo fanboys should be proud. There is also the weapon customization system. You can get weapons by finding them in the game or using points ("hearts") you get from playing the game to buy them. You can also fuse two weapons to make a different one. There are several different classes of weapons, each with their own strengths and weaknesses; for example, clubs are extremely powerful but they can't do long range shots and they slow you down. Each weapon also has its own stats, too, so basically every weapon is different. It's a lot of fun experimenting with different weapons to find which one you play best with, and it also makes the online battle modes a lot more interesting. There are plenty of collectibles in the game, too. There are hundreds of trophies in the game, just like a Smash Bros. game would have. However, Smash Bros. pulls it off a lot better by scattering trophies all over the game. In this game, you can only get trophies in three ways: playing the Idol Toss game (which is basically a really lame form of gambling), turning weak enemies into trophies with a certain power (which is annoying to use), and using AR cards compatible with the game. Speaking of the game's AR cards… they're not worth your time unless you really like collecting. The "battling" advertised for the AR cards is practically non-existent, as there is no strategy, no different moves, no stats aside from a health bar, and no battle animations. Using an AR card does get you it's trophy like I said before and a few hearts though, so they're worth something. Just not money. Finally, there are 360 achievements hidden in the game which you unlock by either simply progressing through the game or performing self-imposed challenges. Sometimes beating an achievement gets you hearts or a weapon, not to mention each achievement unlocks a new piece of a puzzle, so you're always inspired to try new things.

So with all that said, there's no questioning that Kid Icarus: Uprising is a great game. While it is flawed, it manages to make up for it in sheer entertainment. You'll be having fun no matter what, whether you enjoy beating up enemies, exploring new areas, unlocking new things, or just hearing the characters mess with each other. But here's the big question: is it a good revival for the Kid Icarus series? Definitely. The developers managed the keep the spirit of Kid Icarus within this game even while making it something much more advanced. What is the spirit of Kid Icarus, exactly? The weirdness, the variety, the way such a simple concept is turned into something no one has ever seen before. I want to see more Kid Icarus games. I want to help Pit face new challenges and meet new characters. This series can be expanded upon so much more. So welcome back, Pit. We have a lot of catching up to do.

- lukeguy
Yeah, this is how I spent my spring break. This is actually a half-tribute half-review. I'm sure most of the comments (if I get any) will just be "tl;dr" but I actually had a lot of fun researching Greek mythology as well as the Kid Icarus series.

That drawing is of an Orne by the way.

Kid Icarus (c) Nintendo
© 2012 - 2024 lukeguy97
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ShipsCaptain's avatar
I have to agree with you. 
-Uprising was amazing/
-[SPOILER CENSER] is the best villain in any game.
-Ongoing dialogue fit the game perfectly.
-Ornes are great.
-Character design was well thought out and executed perfectly
-The last paragraph
-I still love this game
 -Gimme a sequel.