Video game series
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.
Characters
[
edit
]
Main protagonist
[
edit
]
Pit initially appeared in
Kid Icarus
(1986). In the game, Pit plays a role in rescuing the Goddess of Light, Palutena, from the clutches of the wicked Medusa. Pit escapes his Underworld prison and descends the steep cliffs, fending off the armies of Medusa's troops, including snakes and the deadly God of Death. Along the way, Pit overcomes Zeus' challenges and gains stronger weapons to combat the Underworld's hordes. In conclusion, once Pit had completed the stage, he would explore a gigantic stronghold filled with traps and puzzles.
[1]
In
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
(1991). Palutena's nightmare is interpreted by a fate teller as an imminent invasion by the demon Orcos and his goons. The goddess summons Pit, the leader of her army, and tells him to report for specific instructions so that he might use the priceless treasures of Angel Land. While Pit is on his quest, Palutena has these under the watchful eyes of three fortress guards to ensure their safety from Orcos. After Pit defeats the guards and finishes his training, Palutena gives him the priceless wealth.
[2]
Pit reappears in
Kid Icarus: Uprising
(2012) following a twenty five years break, collaborating with Palutena to vanquish Medusa and her army.
[3]
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.
[4]
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.
[4]
In comparison to his previous design, Pit now appears approximately 13 years old in angel years.
[5]
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.
[6]
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.
[7]
He was featured as the front cover in Nintendo Blast's 2012 Portuguese book titled "Nintendo Blast Ano 3 Edicoes 25 a 36".
[8]
GameZone's Vito Gesualdi considers Pit a combination of
The Legend of Zelda
's
Link, and American filmmaker
Woody Allen
saying that "Pit is equal parts Link and Woody Allen, a handsome young warrior with all the self-confidence of our favorite neurotic Jew".
[9]
Other characters
[
edit
]
There are a number of regular characters in the
Kid Icarus
series. Palutena, Viridi, Hades, Magnus, Dark Pit, Medusa, Pyrrhon, Pandora, Arlon, Poseidon, Phosphora, Dyntos, Thanatos, and Cragalanche are the few additional common characters in the series besides Pit.
The Eggplant Wizard first appeared in the 1986 video game
Kid Icarus
. In the game, he serves as an arch-nemesis to Pit and depicted as an anthropomorphic
eggplant
sorcerer who can shoot eggplants at other characters and disable all of their abilities by encasing them into an eggplant.
[10]
[11]
He also appeared in the animated television series
Captain N: The Game Master
and serves as an antagonist.
[12]
The Eggplant Wizard was inspired by the game's creator Toru Osawa's passion for eggplants and the eggplant men from
Wrecking Crew
. Osawa said that he drew the character to celebrate his summer bonus.
[1]
Development
[
edit
]
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.
[13]
Kid Icarus
was developed alongside as its sister game, as it shares elements and programmers with
Metroid
.
[14]
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).
[13]
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.
[15]
[16]
An installment for the
Nintendo 64
was rumored to be in development,
[17]
but was never released. During early 2000s, Capcom moved their resources to redo Dead Phoenix into new untitled
Icarus
game, to debut on
GameCube
.
[18]
A series revival was planned for
Wii
, developed by
Factor 5
, but this appearance eventually led to cancellation.
[19]
During the E3 event in 2010, Nintendo unveiled
Kid Icarus: Uprising
for the
Nintendo 3DS
, the first game in the series since 1991.
[20]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Known in Japan as
Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror
(
光神話 パルテナの鏡
,
Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami
)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"
"Making of a Myth: The Grueling Development of the Original Kid Icarus"
"
.
Nintendo World Report
. March 19, 2012.
Archived
from the original on April 7, 2023
. Retrieved
June 3,
2024
.
- ^
"The Tale of Kid Icarus". Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters Instruction Booklet
.
Nintendo
. November 1991.
- ^
"
"Kid Icarus essentials All the facts you should know before Pits return"
"
.
GamesRadar+
. March 17, 2012.
Archived
from the original on May 8, 2024
. Retrieved
June 3,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Sakurai Speaks on Brawl Character Development"
.
Archived
from the original on 2024-01-19
. Retrieved
2024-02-06
.
- ^
4Gamer: プロジェクトソラの?井政博氏が,新しいパルテナを解?!ニンテンド?3DSタイトル「新?光神話 パルテナの鏡」プレゼンテ?ションレポ?ト
Archived
2024-01-19 at the
Wayback Machine
(Japanese)
- ^
"Top 10 games deserving of a remake"
. GamePro. 2007-10-25. Archived from
the original
on 2010-09-02
. Retrieved
2010-04-07
.
- ^
Lucas M. Thomas (26 January 2011).
"You Don't Know Kid Icarus"
.
IGN
.
Archived
from the original on 30 January 2011
. Retrieved
29 January
2011
.
- ^
Nintendo Blast Ano 3 Edicoes 25 a 36
[
Nintendo Blast Year 3 Editions 25 to 36
]
. Retrieved
June 3,
2024
– via
Apple Books
.
- ^
"Kid Icarus: Uprising review"
.
GameZone
. May 4, 2012.
Archived
from the original on June 8, 2015
. Retrieved
June 3,
2024
.
- ^
Kalata, Kurt.
"Angel Land Story"
.
Hardcore Gaming 101
. Archived from
the original
on September 12, 2011
. Retrieved
April 30,
2014
.
- ^
Thomas, Lucas M. (February 29, 2012).
"The Unsung Innovations of Kid Icarus"
.
IGN
.
Archived
from the original on June 3, 2024
. Retrieved
April 30,
2014
.
- ^
Thomas, Lucas M. (June 29, 2007).
"Smash It Up! - Volume 2"
.
IGN
.
Archived
from the original on August 22, 2023
. Retrieved
April 30,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Metroid Retrospective Part 1
(video)
.
GameTrailers
.
Defy Media
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-14
. Retrieved
May 19,
2016
.
- ^
Thomas, Luca M (2007-03-06).
"Kid Icarus VC Review"
.
IGN
. Archived from
the original
on March 9, 2007
. Retrieved
2009-02-21
.
- ^
"Gamefan Volume 4 Issue 03 March 1996"
. p. 93
. Retrieved
June 3,
2024
– via
Internet Archive
.
- ^
"10 Cancelled Super Nes Games That You May be Unaware of, Though I Don't Care if You Did Know About Them Already"
. Archived from
the original
on 2022-09-11
. Retrieved
2022-09-11
.
- ^
"Gaming Gossip".
Electronic Gaming Monthly
. No. 92.
Ziff Davis
. March 1997. p. 28.
- ^
"Missing in Action -- the Lost Games of GameCube: Dead Phoenix - IGN"
.
IGN
. Archived from
the original
on 17 December 2010
. Retrieved
7 September
2022
.
- ^
"Factor 5's Lost Wii Kid Icarus Boasted a Dark Hero with 60fps Airborne Action"
. Nintendo Life. 19 September 2015.
Archived
from the original on 18 April 2024
. Retrieved
27 August
2022
.
- ^
"
"E3 2010: Masahiro Sakurai Makes Kid Icarus Fly Again on the Nintendo 3DS"
"
.
Time
. June 28, 2010.
Archived
from the original on December 1, 2023
. Retrieved
June 3,
2024
.