Review Having laid dormant for twenty years (Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters being his last outing on Game Boy back in 1991), Pit returns once again to face Medusa’s Underworld Army currently indulging in their favourite activities that include ransacking cities, mercilessly slaughtering humans, and generally causing quite a mess. Palutena, goddess of light, provides Pit with guidance on his quest and grants him with the power of flight, regrettably limited to only allowing him to remain airborne for no longer than five minutes. Such a fact helps correlate aross to game design, which sees each chapter within Kid Icarus: Uprising’s ‘Solo’ mode beginning with air-based combat before seeing Pit take to the ground, eradicating enemies across distinctive environments as you hunt down increasingly daunting bosses who each pose their own individual challenges. Prior to any chapter you must first designate your chosen ‘Intensity’ level, which sees the player gamble gathered hearts by placing them into the ‘Fiend’s Cauldron.’ The scale ranges from ‘Effortless’ right through to ‘White Hot’, the more heightened the difficulty seeing the player receive more hearts from bested foes and the chance to obtain stronger weaponry for your efforts. It becomes vitally important that your choice matches your level of in-game prowess, as, if defeated, hearts will spill from the Fiend’s Cauldron and you’ll find your level of challenge suitably lowered as a result.
Perhaps what will prove most divisive amongst those that pick up Kid Icarus: Uprising will be its chosen control scheme, remaining at its core similar in design across both air and land battles. The player uses the Circle Pad for movement, aiming through use of the stylus with the touch screen, and performing either ranged or melee attacks dependent on how close you are to an enemy by the L Button. Firing, smartly, is continuous when pressed, removing the need to keep hammering away. During flight sequences this works well enough, yet noticeably suffers during land battles mainly due to camera control being subjected to the player being required to slide the stylus quickly to the left or right to spin it to face enemies. Over-sensitivity will cause bouts of frustration, the player resoundingly never feeling that they truly have as much precision as the game necessitates at times. A bundled stand seeks to improve comfortability and accuracy, yet seems an odd requirement for a handheld fundamentally designed to be played on the move. Whilst this proves cause for concern, Nintendo have thankfully seen fit to ensure that those left tearing their hair to shreds can delve into an array of control customisation options to find whichever settings suit them best. If wished, you can ditch using the touch screen for camera control entirely, A, B, X and Y moving the reticle instead. What remains baffling, is that whilst support for the recently released Circle Pad Pro attachment ensures left-handed players have a reversed control scheme, it grants no ability to use each Circle Pad for movement and aiming. Bizarre.
Players can also dash or run by pushing forwards on the Circle Pad in quick succession, as well as dodging incoming attacks by moving it to the side just before the point of impact. Evading also grants a further opportunity for the player to immediately sling a charged shot back at your attacker, whichever direction you’re leaping in, enabling you to always remain on the offensive. Having touched upon combat, Kid Icarus: Uprising sees players able to implement use of a diverse arsenal of weaponry from across nine categories, each granting their own style of play – Blades, Staffs, Claws, Bows, Palms, Clubs, Cannons, Orbitars and Arms. Acquired sporadically throughout your adventures, no two weapons are the same and are further differentiated through modifier stats. Those accumulated are viewable through the ‘Arms Altar,’ where the player may also convert unwanted weapons for hearts that may then be redeemed to expand your arsenal. ‘Weapon Fusion’ also proves to be invaluable, seeing you fuse any two weapons together to create something entirely new, with previously held modifiers having the chance to be carried across. StreetPass support also comes into play here, with players able to share ‘Weapon Gems’ that may also be used to craft new creations. Powers further diversify your experience, providing additional offensive or defensive abilities such as health recovery, elemental attacks, or the hugely satisfying ‘Mega Laser.’ Whilst numerous powers become available, those that you choose have a designated shape that must be slotted within an adjacent grid – ensuring that the player never becomes overpowered. As seen within Super Smash Bros. Brawl, unlockable content serves to expand upon an otherwise purely gameplay experience and there’s a sheer wealth to explore here. ‘Idol Toss’ sees players fling eggs to gather Idols (3D models of characters, enemies, items and locations), a ‘Power Portrait’ tasks you with gathering every power within the game, whereas a ‘Music Gallery’ allows you to sit back and listen to Kid Icarus: Uprising’s rousing orchestral score in its entirety. There’s also the ‘Offering,’ where you “offer up hearts to the goddess” to bring her closer in spirit, although I haven’t quite figured out the benefits of doing so yet…! Similarly, Solo mode also includes ‘Treasure Hunt’ which faces the player with certain tasks that they are able to receive rewards for. Many will be accomplished through natural progression, but such inclusion helps to objectify your experience beyond completion. Also proving to be fairly addictive is the game’s fast-paced multiplayer offering, playable through either a local connection (‘Nearby’) or online across the Nintendo Network (‘Far Away’). You’ll find two contrasting modes here; the self explanatory Free-For-All, and Light Vs. Dark.
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Origins
3D Classics Kid Icarus Price: £5.40/€6.00 Available through the Nintendo eShop, 3D Classics Kid Icarus provides the opportunity to revisit where Pit’s adventure began. This is the original 1986 NES title, complete with remastered 3D visuals. Pit must save goddess Palutena from evil Medusa to defend Angel Land. Using his trusty bow and arrow he must seek out the Three Sacred Treasures on a journey from the underworld to the sky.
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters Price: £2.70/€3 Also available, this time through the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, is the sequel, which followed in 1991 on Game Boy. Here, Pit made his return to face off against the evil forces of the mysterious demon Orcos. Whereas the original was a solely vertical-scrolling action game, Of Myths and Monsters expanded upon this through introducing an added side-scrolling dimension.
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