| Kid Icarus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo EAD Group No.1 |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | NES |
| Release date(s) | JP: December 19, 1986
EU: February 15, 1987 NA: July 1987 Wii Virtual Console: JP: January 23, 2007 NA: February 12, 2007 PAL: February 23, 2007
EU January 5, 2012 JP: January 18, 2012 NA: April 19, 2012 |
| Genre(s) | Action-platformer |
| Players | 1 player |
| Rating(s) | {{{ratings}}} |
| Media | NES Cartridge |
| Input | NES Controller |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters |
Kid Icarus (光神話 パルテナの鏡 Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami?, "Myth of Light: The Mirror of Palutena", lit. "Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror") is an action platform video game for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. The first entry in Nintendo's Kid Icarus series , it was published in Japan in December 1986, and in Europe and North America in February and July 1987, respectively. It was later re-released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan during 2004, and for the Wii 's Virtual Console online service in 2007. A sequel to this game was released for the Game Boy in 1991, and a third entry to the series was published for the Nintendo 3DS handheld console in March 2012. The game was developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division . It was designed by Toru Osawa and Yoshio Sakamoto, directed by Satoru Okada, and produced by Gunpei Yokoi. Despite its mixed critical reception, Kid Icarus is a cult classic and has shipped 1.76 million copies by late 2003. Reviewers praised the game for its music and its mixture of gameplay elements from different genres, but criticized its graphics and high difficulty level. It was included in several lists of the best games compiled by IGN and Nintendo Power. After the release of the Game Boy sequelKid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters in 1991, the game series lay dormant for 20 years. It was eventually revived with a 3D shooter for the Nintendo 3DS, titled Kid Icarus: Uprising , after Pit's inclusion as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Gameplay[]
Plot[]
The plot of Kid Icarus revolves around protagonist Pit's quest for three sacred treasures, which he must equip to rescue the Grecian fantasy world Angel Land and its ruler, the goddess Palutena. The player controls Pit through platform areas while fighting monsters and collecting items.The game is set in Angel Land , which is a fantasy world with a Greek mythology theme.[17][18] The backstory of Kid Icarus is described in the instruction booklet: before the events of the game, Earth was ruled by the goddess, or Queen of light, Palutena, and the goddess, or Queen of darkness, Medusa . Palutena bestowed the people with light to make them happy, but Medusa hated the humans, dried up their crop and turned them to stone. Enraged by this, Palutena transformed Medusa into a monster, and banished her to the underworld. Out of revenge, Medusa conspired with the monsters of the underworld to take over Palutena's residence, the sky temple.[18] She launched a surprise attack, and stole the three sacred treasures — the Mirror Shield, the Light Arrows and the Wings of Pegasus — which deprived Palutena's army of its power. After her soldiers had been turned to stone by Medusa, Palutena was defeated in battle, and imprisoned deep inside the sky temple. With her last power, she sent a bow and arrow to the young angel Pit. He escapes from his prison in the underworld, and sets out to save Palutena and Earth. Throughout the course of the story, Pit retrieves the three sacred treasures from the fortress gatekeepers at the end of the game's stages. Afterward, he equips himself with the treasures, and storms the sky temple, where he defeats Medusa and rescues Palutena. The game has multiple endings: depending on the player's performance, Palutena either presents Pit with headgear, or transforms him into a full-grown angel.