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It was game that fit right alongside other NES heavyweights. But as Mario became a superstar,
and Zelda and Metroid spawned a pair of the best 16-bit games ever made, Kid Icarus was
left behind. After slaying Medusa in 1987, the heroic angel Pit got one sequel, released
on the Game Boy in 1991.
After that, Nintendo kept him grounded for 21 years.
Fortunately, the Kid Icarus story has finally been given a happy ending. The series makes
its triumphant return on the Nintendo 3DS with Kid Icarus: Uprising, a game we’re
reviewing...tomorrow. And in the meantime, we are celebrating Pit’s glorious return
by revisiting his legendary debut...in 3D!
It’s 3D Classics: Kid Icarus for the Nintendo 3DS.
Kid Icarus is the latest release under Nintendo’s 3D Classics label, a series of retro games
faithfully recreated on the 3DS with 3D graphics. You can find this game in the eShop, but if
you pre-ordered Uprising, it was a free gift from Nintendo, which is really brilliant.
A big part of Uprising’s appeal is its context. It’s reviving a lost franchise. So providing
newcomers with that context is a really smart move.
The gameplay has aged exceptionally well, and the new graphics are just beautiful. Kid
Icarus looks fantastic with its 3D facelift, not only because of the cool effect of 8-bit
sprites popping off your screen, but also because the backgrounds have been tweaked.
Instead of the plain colors of the NES version, you get these beautiful scrolling vistas.
The aesthetic improvement aside, this also brings the Kid Icarus concept to life. Pit’s
journey takes him from the underworld to the heavens, and the new backgrounds make the
game’s environments and ancient Greek themes more prominent. They bring out a lot of the
character that the NES couldn’t.
If there’s a drawback to this version, it’s that the passwords are gone. That means I’m
screwed, because this game is still ridiculously hard. But despite its difficulty, there has
always been a charm to Pit that makes him an endearing hero...that makes him worth remembering
21 years later. And if you’ve never met him, there’s no better time than now with
the gorgeous 3D Classics: Kid Icarus.