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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 fantasyvideo gamesbyNintendo.The games are set in aGreco-Romanfantasy worldcalled "Angel Land", which is a fictional setting that is loosely based onGreek mythology.Thegameplayconsists of a mixture ofaction,adventureandplatformelements. TheKid Icarusfranchise is known as acult classicand a sibling series to theMetroidfranchise.

The first installment,Kid Icarus,was released in 1986 for theNintendo Entertainment Systemand was received to critical acclaim despite poor sales. A sequel,Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters,was later released for theGame Boy.After a 20-year hiatus,Kid Icarus: Uprisingwas released in 2012 for theNintendo 3DShandheld.

Development

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

AfterNintendo's release of commercially successfulplatforming gamesin the 1980s, includingDonkey Kong,Ice Climber,andSuper Mario Bros.,as well as the critically acclaimedadventure gameThe Legend of Zelda,the company was interested in entering a different genre. They began work on anaction game.The game was calledMetroid.Nintendo releasedMetroidfor theFamily Computer Disk Systemon August 6, 1986, and on theNintendo Entertainment Systemone year later.[1]Kid Icaruswas developed alongside as its sister game, as it shares elements and programmers withMetroid.[2]The game was produced by the same man who producedMetroid,Gunpei Yokoi,who previously producedDonkey Kong,Donkey Kong Jr.(1982) and the originalMario Bros.(1983), and it featured music written byHirokazu Tanaka,who also composed forDuck Hunt(1984).[1]

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 namedKid Icarus: Angel Land Story,sometimes calledSuper Kid Icarus,to exist in-work forSuper NESthough it is unknown if the source is real or not.[3][4]An installment for theNintendo 64was rumored to be in development,[5]but was never released. During early 2000s, Capcom moved their resources to redo Dead Phoenix into new untitledIcarusgame, to debut onGameCube.[6]A series revival was planned forWii,developed byFactor 5,but this appearance eventually led to cancellation.[7][8][9]During the E3 event in 2010, Nintendo unveiledKid Icarus: Uprisingfor theNintendo 3DS,the first game in the series since 1991.[10]

Plot

[edit]
Pit (left), Palutena (middle), and Medusa (right) are the central characters in the story

Pit initially appeared inKid 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.[11]

InKid 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.[12]Pit reappears inKid Icarus: Uprising(2012) following a 25-year break, collaborating with Palutena to vanquish Medusa and her army.[13]

Characters

[edit]

Pit

[edit]

Pit's design was vastly updated for his inclusion inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl,and has become his standard design since then. According toMasahiro Sakurai,the creator of theSuper Smash Bros.series and director ofKid 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.[14]Sakurai stated that Pit's redesign was based on the concept of how his appearance would have slowly modernized had theKid Icarusseries remained active, much like how Link's design has done throughout the various subsequent installments withinThe Legend of Zeldaseries.[14]In comparison to his previous design, Pit now appears approximately 13 years old in angel years.[15]

GameProidentified Pit's gameplay mechanics as taking elements from three of Nintendo's biggest franchises:Mario's jump,Link's ability-enhancing objects, andSamus Aran's projectiles.[16]Pit takes inspiration fromGreek mythology,withIGN's Lucas M. Thomas viewing him as a combination betweenErosandIcarus.Thomas identified both his bow and his wings as his most iconic characteristics.[17]He was featured as the front cover in Nintendo Blast's 2012 Portuguese book titled "Nintendo Blast Ano 3 Edições 25 a 36".[18]GameZone's Vito Gesualdi considers Pit a combination ofThe Legend of Zelda'sLink, and American filmmakerWoody Allensaying that "Pit is equal parts Link and Woody Allen, a handsome young warrior with all the self-confidence of our favorite neurotic Jew".[19]

Eggplant Wizard

[edit]

The Eggplant Wizard first appeared in the 1986 video gameKid Icarus.In the game, he serves as an arch-nemesis to Pit and depicted as an anthropomorphiceggplantsorcerer who can shoot eggplants at other characters and disable all of their abilities by encasing them into an eggplant.[20][21]He also appeared in the animated television seriesCaptain N: The Game Masterand serves as an antagonist.[22]The Eggplant Wizard was inspired by the game's creator Toru Osawa's passion for eggplants and the eggplant men fromWrecking Crew.Osawa said that he drew the character to celebrate his summer bonus.[11]Shigeru MiyamotoandMasahiro Sakuraiboth consider the character key to the enduring popularity of theKid Icarusseries.[23][24]

Since his debut inKid Icarus,Eggplant Wizard has received largely positive reception from critics, withIGNwriter Luca M. Thomas called him the "most popular, most cunning enemy character to come out" of theKid Icarusseries.[22]Shacknewswriter Ozzie Mejia called Eggplant Wizard as the most aggravated antagonist in all of video games and she wrote that she throw her controller against the television after Eggplant Wizard turns her into an eggplant for the hundredth time when she was kid.[25]Destructoidwriter Chad Concelmo ranked him as "the biggest asshole video game wizard" and stating that there is no other characters who has more hatred than Eggplant Wizard due to his high defense and his ability to transform Pit into an eggplant.[26]1UP.comwriter Jeremy Parish called him a weird idea for an enemy, but also Pit's most challenging. He compared the enemy to the Hammer Bros. from theMariofranchise because they often come in pairs and throw projectiles at the player character, but also noted that the Eggplant Wizards were worse because they would target Pit.[27]Nonstop Nerdstaff wrote that Eggplant Wizard can completely ruin anyone’s playthrough of the game and he was manages to be the most threatening enemy because he can damage the player with his projectiles and magically transforms all who oppose him into eggplants. The staff also wrote that any gamer who has received the curse understands how terrible it is which after becoming an eggplant, players can't deal damage to enemies.[28]

UGO Networkswriter Chris Plante ranked the moment when Eggplant Wizard was turning people into eggplants as one of the 20 most memorableNintendo Entertainment Systemmoments.[29]GamesRadar+included Eggplant Wizard in their list of the "top seven edible enemies in gaming". They stated that he was "one of the strangest, most talked-about weirdos in all of gaming" and questioned why he is in a game about Greek mythology.[30]GamesRadar+also claimed that the character was "clearly-designed-by-a-madman old bastard of the NES baddo fraternity" and that his "oddness belied a far more insidious property".[31]Eggplant Wizard has been suggested as a playable character or item forSuper Smash Bros.series by critics.[22][32][33]Chris Morgan ofYardbarkernamed Eggplant Wizard as the true cult icon of earlyNintendoand he noted of how could readers resist espousing his many charms.[34]

Eggplant Wizard has been viewed as synonymous with theKid Icarusseries even outside the gaming community. Jason Cipriano ofMTV Multiplayer Blogwrote that he described Eggplant Wizard as the emblematic of series' wacky design and stated that fans would be excited to see him appear inKid Icarus: Uprising.[35]To celebrate the release of the game,ABC Newswriter Lauren Torrisi featured several eggplant recipes.[36]Ishaan Sahdev ofSiliconerareported about aGameStoppromotion forKid Icarus: Uprisinggave away a selection ofaugmented reality3DS cards, one of which features Eggplant Wizard.[37]

Other characters

[edit]

There are a number of regular characters in theKid Icarusseries. 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.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^Known in Japan asLight Mythology: Palutena's Mirror(Quang thần thoại パルテナの kính,Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami).

References

[edit]
  1. ^abMetroid Retrospective Part 1(video).GameTrailers.Defy Media.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-14.RetrievedMay 19,2016.
  2. ^Thomas, Luca M (2007-03-06)."Kid Icarus VC Review".IGN.Archived fromthe originalon March 9, 2007.Retrieved2009-02-21.
  3. ^"Gamefan Volume 4 Issue 03 March 1996".p. 93.RetrievedJune 3,2024– viaInternet Archive.
  4. ^"10 Cancelled Super Nes Games That You May be Unaware of, Though I Don't Care if You Did Know About Them Already".Archived fromthe originalon 2022-09-11.Retrieved2022-09-11.
  5. ^"Gaming Gossip".Electronic Gaming Monthly.No. 92.Ziff Davis.March 1997. p. 28.
  6. ^"Missing in Action -- the Lost Games of GameCube: Dead Phoenix - IGN".IGN.Archived fromthe originalon 17 December 2010.Retrieved7 September2022.
  7. ^Brian (2008-08-05)."Factor 5 officially developing Kid Icarus for Wii?".Nintendo Everything.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-04-29.
  8. ^"Wii Recomendations[sic]: Kid Icarus Wii Sequel".16 April 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 27 August 2022.Retrieved27 August2022.
  9. ^"Factor 5's Lost Wii Kid Icarus Boasted a Dark Hero with 60fps Airborne Action".Nintendo Life. 19 September 2015.Archivedfrom the original on 18 April 2024.Retrieved27 August2022.
  10. ^""E3 2010: Masahiro Sakurai Makes Kid Icarus Fly Again on the Nintendo 3DS"".Time.June 28, 2010.Archivedfrom the original on December 1, 2023.RetrievedJune 3,2024.
  11. ^ab""Making of a Myth: The Grueling Development of the Original Kid Icarus"".Nintendo World Report.March 19, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on April 7, 2023.RetrievedJune 3,2024.
  12. ^"The Tale of Kid Icarus". Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters Instruction Booklet.Nintendo.November 1991.
  13. ^""Kid Icarus essentials All the facts you should know before Pits return"".GamesRadar+.March 17, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on May 8, 2024.RetrievedJune 3,2024.
  14. ^ab"Sakurai Speaks on Brawl Character Development".Archivedfrom the original on 2024-01-19.Retrieved2024-02-06.
  15. ^4Gamer: プロジェクトソラの anh tỉnh chính bác thị が, tân しいパルテナを giải thuyết! ニンテンドー3DSタイトル “Tân ・ quang thần thoại パルテナの kính” プレゼンテーションレポートArchived2024-01-19 at theWayback Machine(Japanese)
  16. ^"Top 10 games deserving of a remake".GamePro. 2007-10-25. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-09-02.Retrieved2010-04-07.
  17. ^Lucas M. Thomas (26 January 2011)."You Don't Know Kid Icarus".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on 30 January 2011.Retrieved29 January2011.
  18. ^Nintendo Blast Ano 3 Edições 25 a 36[Nintendo Blast Year 3 Editions 25 to 36].Archivedfrom the original on May 14, 2024.RetrievedJune 3,2024– viaApple Books.
  19. ^"Kid Icarus: Uprising review".GameZone.May 4, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on June 8, 2015.RetrievedJune 3,2024.
  20. ^Kalata, Kurt."Angel Land Story".Hardcore Gaming 101.Archived fromthe originalon September 12, 2011.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  21. ^Thomas, Lucas M. (February 29, 2012)."The Unsung Innovations of Kid Icarus".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on June 3, 2024.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  22. ^abcThomas, Lucas M. (June 29, 2007)."Smash It Up! - Volume 2".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on August 22, 2023.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  23. ^Kshofsy (July 7, 2010)."Kid Icarus Director Says Nintendo 3DS Will Change Gameplay".Wired.Archivedfrom the original on May 2, 2014.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  24. ^Casamassina, Matt (May 19, 2005)."E3 2005: Shigeru Miyamoto Interview".IGN.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  25. ^Mejia, Ozzie (December 26, 2011)."Most Anticipated of 2012: Ozzie's Picks".Shacknews.Archivedfrom the original on November 23, 2013.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  26. ^Concelmo, Chad (October 5, 2011)."The ten biggest asshole videogame wizards EVER!".Destructoid.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  27. ^Parish, Jeremy (September 7, 2011)."Kid Icarus: A Retrospective".1UP.com.Archived fromthe originalon May 15, 2014.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  28. ^"Gamers Still Hate the Eggplant Wizard".Nonstop Nerd.2022-02-03.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-07-22.Retrieved2024-03-09.
  29. ^Plante, Chris (February 27, 2010)."Top 20 NES Moments".UGO Networks.Archived fromthe originalon May 2, 2014.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  30. ^"The Top 7 Edible Enemies in Video Games".GamesRadar.June 23, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on August 17, 2024.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  31. ^"The Top 7... Games where you play as food".GamesRadar+.June 23, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on May 2, 2014.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  32. ^Reeves, Ben (January 6, 2012)."Dream Team: What We Want In A New Smash Bros".Game Informer.p. 3. Archived fromthe originalon January 15, 2012.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  33. ^"Blah Blah Blah - GC Launch Mayhem! Launch and Beyond".Nintendo World Report.November 18, 2001.Archivedfrom the original on May 2, 2014.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  34. ^Morgan, Chris (October 6, 2021)."The most memorable characters from old school Nintendo games".Yardbarker.Archivedfrom the original on October 6, 2021.
  35. ^Cipriano, Jason (March 27, 2012)."'Kid Icarus: Uprising' Review - A Gift From The Heavens ".MTV Multiplayer Blog.Archived fromthe originalon March 29, 2012.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  36. ^Torrisi, Lauren (March 23, 2012)."Kid Icarus: Celebrate the Return of the Eggplant Wizard With These Recipes".ABC News.Archivedfrom the original on August 17, 2024.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
  37. ^Sahdev, Ishaan (March 14, 2012)."The Different Ways You Can Procure More Kid Icarus: Uprising AR Cards".Siliconera.Archivedfrom the original on May 2, 2014.RetrievedApril 30,2014.
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