Kid Icarus | |
---|---|
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 release | Kid Icarus December 19, 1986 |
Latest release | Kid Icarus: Uprising March 22, 2012 |
Kid Icarus [lower-alpha 1] 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.
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 ]
1986 | Kid Icarus |
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1987–1990 | |
1991 | Of Myths and Monsters |
1992–2011 | |
2012 | Uprising |
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]
Kid Icarus is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. It was released in Japan in December 1986, in Europe in February 1987, and in North America in July.
Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures.
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Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy It is a sequel to Kid Icarus (1986) for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America on November 5, 1991, and in Europe on May 21, 1992. Despite being developed in Japan it was originally not released there until on February 8, 2012 through the 3DS Virtual Console, which, however, retained its original English title, in an effort to commemorate the release of Kid Icarus: Uprising, followed by its re-release in Europe on March 8, and North America on July 19. The story of Of Myths and Monsters is influenced by Greek and Roman mythology, and follows the angel soldier Pit on his quest for three sacred treasures. His objective is to defeat the demon Orcos, who has invaded the kingdom of Angel Land. The game features the core gameplay mechanics of its predecessor. Players explore two-dimensional environments while collecting items and fighting monsters. Of Myths and Monsters was named the 18th best Game Boy game by Nintendo Power, and commended by critics for its gameplay, graphics, and music.
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