Kid Icarus

is a videogame produced by Nintendo in 1986. The game was published on the Famicom Disk System in Japan and Nintendo Entertainment System in other markets. Kid Icarus was produced by Gunpei Yokoi and the music was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka."Transcription of game's credits". The Kid Icarus Coliseum. Retrieved 27 January 2005. It was the first game released in the Kid Icarus series.

Plot

In a time where man and gods coexisted in harmony, the kingdom of Angel Land was ruled by two goddesses, Palutena the Goddess of Light and Medusa the Goddess of Darkness. While Palutena administered the light and helped the mortals cultivate their crops, Medusa despised the mortals and used the darkness to destroy their crops and turn the mortals into stone. Enraged, Palutena transformed Medusa into a hideous monster and banished her into the dark underworld.

But Medusa would not go quietly. She assembled an army of monsters and evil spirits of the underworld to conquer Palutena's home, the Palace in the Sky. War erupted and Medusa's minions overwhelmed Palutena's army, eventually imprisoning the Goddess of Light. Medusa then seized the Three Sacred Treasures, The Mirror Shield, The Arrow of Light, and the Wings of Pegasus, and gave them to her most powerful minions.

Defeated and imprisoned, Palutena's only hope was to seek the help of Pit, a young angel trapped in the Underworld. Using her last bit of strength, she sent Pit a magical bow.

Thus, Pit set out on a quest to escape the Underworld, retrieve the sacred treasures that would help him defeat Medusa, rescue Palutena and restore peace to Angel Land.

History

Kid Icarus was based on the Metroid game engine and contained both side and vertical scrolling action sequences. In fact, both games were released on the same day with the same "Password Pak" selling point. (However, the Famicom Disk System version featured save slots, unlike the NES version of the game which has a password system in-game as "Sacred Words".) Metroid went on to become a major Nintendo franchise while Kid Icarus became a cult classic.

There was a sequel Kid Icarus released to the Gameboy in 1991 called Of Myths and Monsters. The game is similar to the NES game though there are a few new features like the ability to float down slower after jumping by pressing the jump button repeatedly (much like the raccoon tail in Super Mario Bros. 3).

Despite being overshadowed by Metroid, Kid Icarus is regularly recognized as a significant game. It was awarded the 84^th slot in IGN's 2003 list of the Top 100 Games of All Time"IGN's Top 100 Games of All Time (81-90)". IGN. 29 April 2003. Retrieved 24 May 2006. and was also inducted into the GameSpy Hall of FameCassidy, William. "Like its mythological namesake, Kid Icarus's time in the sun was entirely too brief". GameSpy. 14 September 2003. Retrieved 24 May 2006..

On August 10, 2004 Kid Icarus was re-released in Japan on the Game Boy Advance as part of the Famicom Mini Series.

Packaging artwork

Image:Kid Icarus box.jpg|Kid Icarus
North America (NES) Image:Kidicarus-mini.jpg|Hikari shinwa: Parutena no Kagami
Japan (GBA)

Trivia

The game's title is an allusion to the Greek myth of Icarus.
The Nintendo DS game Electroplankton uses sound effects and the dungeon theme from Kid Icarus.
A microgame in Twisted! is an homage to Kid Icarus, and there is a remixed version of the main theme for Kid Icarus as an unlockable. The game even states "This is the closest you'll ever come to getting a sequel".
In the Great Cave Offensive game in Kirby Super Star, the player can collect the Pegasus Wing, one of the three Legendary Treasures from Kid Icarus (bottom row, fifth column on the treasure screen).
The enemy Komayto is actually a Metroid. Also, the enemy Shulm bears a resemblance to Goomba from Super Mario Bros.
On page 38 of the Kid Icarus manual, the Syren enemy is perhaps the first (and only) Nintendo-owned female character to sport breasts with nipples in North America.

References

External links