Kid Icarus (series)

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Kid Icarus
Logo since 2012
Genre(s)Platform
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1 (1986–1991)
Tose (1986-1991)
Project Sora (2012)
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Platform(s)Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
First releaseKid Icarus
December 19, 1986
Latest releaseKid Icarus: Uprising
March 22, 2012

Kid Icarus[a] is a series of fantasy video games by Nintendo. The games are set in a Greco-Roman fantasy world called "Angel Land", which is a fictional setting that's loosely based on Greek mythology. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure and platform elements. The Kid Icarus franchise is known as a cult classic and a sibling series to the Metroid franchise.

The first installment, Kid Icarus, was released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was received to critical acclaim despite poor sales. A sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, was later released for the Game Boy. After a 20-year hiatus, Kid Icarus: Uprising was released in 2012 for the Nintendo 3DS handheld.

Plot[edit]

Characters[edit]

The Kid Icarus series has a cast of recurring characters. Some common characters in the series include Pit (the main character), Palutena, Viridi, Hades, Magnus, Dark Pit, Medusa, Pyrrhon, Pandora, Arlon, Poseidon, Phosphora, Dyntos, Thanatos, Cragalanche and the Eggplant Wizard.

Pit was conceived for the original Kid Icarus game. GamePro identified Pit's gameplay mechanics as taking elements from three of Nintendo's biggest franchises; Mario's jump, Link's ability-enhancing objects, and Samus Aran's projectiles.[1] Pit takes inspiration from Greek mythology, with IGN's Lucas M. Thomas viewing him as a combination between Eros and Icarus. Thomas identified both his bow and his wings were his most iconic characteristics.[2]

Pit's design was vastly updated for his inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and has become his standard design since then. According to Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Super Smash Bros. series and director of Kid Icarus: Uprising, he initially alternated between using Pit's 2D design, his cartoonish art design, and a 3D redesign for Pit's inclusion before ultimately settling on the latter.[3] Sakurai stated that Pit's redesign was based on the concept of how his appearance would have slowly modernized had the Kid Icarus series remained active, much like how Link's design has done throughout the various subsequent installments within The Legend of Zelda series.[3] In comparison to his previous design, Pit now appears approximately 13 years old in angel years.[4] While Pit's bow was initially unnamed, it has been given multiple names, including the Sacred Bow of Palutena and the Palutena Bow.[citation needed]

Development[edit]

Release timeline
1986Kid Icarus
1987–1990
1991Of Myths and Monsters
1992–2011
2012Uprising

After Nintendo's release of commercially successful platforming games in the 1980s, including Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, and Super Mario Bros., as well as the critically acclaimed adventure game The Legend of Zelda, the company was interested in entering a different genre. They began work on an action game. The game was called Metroid. Nintendo released Metroid for the Family Computer Disk System on August 6, 1986, and on the Nintendo Entertainment System one year later.[5] Kid Icarus was developed alongside as its sister game, as it shares elements and programmers with Metroid.[6] The game was produced by the same man who produced Metroid, Gunpei Yokoi, who previously produced Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior (1982) and the original Mario Bros. (1983), and it featured music written by Hirokazu Tanaka, who also composed for Duck Hunt (1984).[5]

After the release of its handheld sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, the series received no new installments for two decades. During 1990s, a different gaming magazine claimed another project named Kid Icarus: Angel Land Story, sometimes called Super Kid Icarus, to exist in-work for Super NES though it is unknown if the source is real or not.[7][8] An installment for the Nintendo 64 was rumored to be in development,[9] but was never released. During early 2000s, Capcom moved their resources to redo Dead Phoenix into new untitled Icarus game, to debut on GameCube.[10] A series revival was planned for Wii, developed by Factor 5, but this appearance eventually led to cancellation.[11][12][13] In 2008, Pit appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a new design. During their E3 event in 2010, Nintendo unveiled Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS, the first game in the series since 1991. The game was released in March 2012 to positive reviews from critics. Palutena and Dark Pit appeared later in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.[14] Pit, Palutena, and Dark Pit returned, alongside all previous characters, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.[15]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror (光ひかり神話しんわ パルテナの鏡かがみ, Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Top 10 games deserving of a remake". GamePro. 2007-10-25. Archived from the original on 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  2. ^ Lucas M. Thomas (26 January 2011). "You Don't Know Kid Icarus". IGN. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Sakurai Speaks on Brawl Character Development".
  4. ^ 4Gamer: プロジェクトソラの桜井さくらい政博まさひろ氏しが，新あたらしいパルテナを解説かいせつ！ニンテンドー3DSタイトル「新しん・光ひかり神話しんわ パルテナの鏡かがみ」プレゼンテーションレポート (Japanese)
  5. ^ a b Metroid Retrospective Part 1 (video). GameTrailers. Defy Media. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  6. ^ Thomas, Luca M (2007-03-06). "Kid Icarus VC Review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 9, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  7. ^ https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_4_Issue_03%7Cjournalmagazine=Gamefan |issue=03|pages=93}}
  8. ^ "10 Cancelled Super Nes Games That You May be Unaware of, Though I Don't Care if You Did Know About Them Already".
  9. ^ "Gaming Gossip". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 92. Ziff Davis. March 1997. p. 28.
  10. ^ "Missing in Action -- the Lost Games of GameCube: Dead Phoenix - IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  11. ^ Brian (2008-08-05). "Factor 5 officially developing Kid Icarus for Wii?". Nintendo Everything. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29.
  12. ^ "Wii Recomendations: Kid Icarus Wii Sequel". 16 April 2010.
  13. ^ "Factor 5's Lost Wii Kid Icarus Boasted a Dark Hero with 60fps Airborne Action". 19 September 2015.
  14. ^ Luckerson, Victor (2014-06-10). "WATCH: 'Kid Icarus' Character Lady Palutena Joins Smash Bros. Roster". Time. Archived from the original on 2014-06-10. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  15. ^ Zaher, Troy (2018-06-28). "Everyone is here with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". Softonic. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
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