Kid Icarus (game)

Kid Icarus

光神話 パルテナの鏡

Hikari Shinwa: Palthena no Kagami

Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo R&D1 Console: Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console Genre: Action, Platforming Release: JP: December 19, 1986 NA: July 1987 EU: February 15, 1987 Ratings: ACB: G CERO: A ESRB: E PEGI: 7+ Predecessor: N/A Successor: Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

Kid Icarus (光神話　パルテナの鏡 Hikari Shinwa Parutena no Kagami, literally meaning "Light Myth: Palthena's Mirror") was a video game released for the NES in 1986. It features Pit, the main protagonist of the series. Kid Icarus had two successors, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, and the upcoming Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Plot

There once existed a land where man and gods coexisted peacefully. This place was known as Angel Land. This land was ruled by two beautiful goddesses: Palutena, the Goddess of Light and Medusa, the Goddess of Darkness. While Palutena loved the mortals and helped them cultivate their crops, Medusa despised them. In her hatred for them, she destroyed the crops that the mortals toiled to grow, and turned humans into stone. Enraged, Palutena turned Medusa into a hideous monster and banished her into the Underworld.

Medusa would not go quietly, however. She began building an army of demons and monsters. With this army, she broke out of the Underworld and waged war against Palutena's army. The latter's army suffered many casualties and Palutena herself was imprisoned in the Palace in the Sky.

Meanwhile, a young angel named Pit was trapped in the Underworld. Using the last of her power, Palutena granted Pit a magical Bow and entrusted him with the duty of defeating Medusa and saving Angel Land. To do this, however, Pit would have to reclaim the Three Sacred Treasures. These sacred items rightfully belonged to Palutena, but Medusa stole them and gave them to her three most powerful minions. Pit would have to escape the Underworld, which would prove easy since most of Medusa's forces were in the Palace in the Sky. Pit must also travel through two other realms, the Overworld and the Skyworld, before reaching the Palace in the Sky.

Gameplay

Kid Icarus is a side-scrolling platformer, though the last stage undergoes a genre shift and becomes a side-scrolling shooter, with a small looping twist.

Pit's arrows have only a short range and he has a jump height of about three times his height; despite having wings, he cannot fly naturally. He can crouch to avoid enemies and even move while crouching at the same speed (which looks rather comical, even more so when under the Eggplant Curse). However, there are many platforms, such as ice and clouds, that Pit will fall through should he crouch while standing on them. Being damaged will result in a small amount of knockback and very brief invulnerability (even less so when standing on a damage tile, such as lava). Pit can walk behind certain objects, such as pillars and plants, but this won't protect him from being damaged by an enemy.

Pit starts off with one block of health that contains 7 Hit Points. He can earn more blocks, each of which contain 8 additional HP, upon reaching certain score values:

• Level 2: 20,000
• Level 3: 50,000
• Level 4: 100,000
• Level 5: 200,000

All weapons require Pit to be at a certain "experience level" in order for them to activate, and have full health for that bar, so a high score is a must. The first weapon (after being obtained) activates when Pit reaches two bars, the second weapon requires three, and the third weapon needs a total of four full health bars to activate. Once activated, a weapon stays active even if Pit should fall below the required health level needed to activate it.

Pit's mission will take him through four worlds, each with four stages culminating in an intimidating Fortress. Here, Pit must defeat the guardian and obtain the Sacred Treasure. In the last area, Pit must fly through the remaining forces of Medusa. After defeating Medusa, Pit will restart the game at level 1-1; however, his score, weapons, hearts, level, strength, and Credit Card debt all remain intact, making the next playthrough much easier (especially since the Sacred Chamber in 1-1 will now likely grant Pit a strength upgrade if he's not already at 5). However, any password for 1-1 will override Pit's status and restart the game as though it were a new one. Therefore, players should proceed to 1-2 before acquiring the password.

Rooms

Pit's quest will allow him to explore many chambers. Once Pit leaves a room it's forever sealed, with the exception of Fortress rooms. They include:

• Enemy Lair
• Hospital
• Hot Springs
• Sacred Chamber
• Sacred Training Chamber
• Store
• Treasure Chamber

Items

Pit has a variety of items at his disposal. Some are earned in Sacred Training Chambers, others discovered in Treasure Chambers, others must be bought with Hearts in a variety of Stores.

Weapons

The three weapons.

Pit's weapons do not necessarily activate when obtained; they require him to reach a certain level of health before they'll activate automatically (which in turn requires him to increase his level; see the Gameplay section above). Pit must reach 15 HP to activate the first weapon he picks up. The second weapon requires 23 Hit Points, the third demands 31.

• Arrow of Strength
• Fire Arrow
• Protective Crystal
• Sacred Bow

Regular Items

• Angel's Feather
• Credit Card
• Harp
• Mallet

Fortress Items

Fortress items disappear when Pit leaves the Fortress that they were found in.

• Torch
• Pencil
• Check Sheet

Recovery Items

• Water of Life
• Water Barrel

Enemies

Pit will encounter a vast variety of monsters in his quest, including Fortress guardians protecting the Sacred Casket.

Underworld

• Commyloose
• Ganewmede
• Kobil
• McGoo
• Monoeye
• Nettler
• Twinbellows

Overworld

• Girin
• Hewdraw
• Keron
• Mick
• Minos
• Pluton
• Rokman
• Shulm
• Snowman
• Tamambo

Skyworld

• Collin
• EelEye
• Holer
• Keepah
• Komayto
• Octos
• Pandora
• Pluton Fly
• Tros
• Uranos

Palace in the Sky

• Daphne
• Erinus
• Medusa
• Moila
• Syren
• Tanatos
• Totem
• Zuree

All Areas

• Eggplant Wizard
• Monolith
• Reaper & Reapette
• Shemum
• Specknose

Trivia

Mythology

The universe of Kid Icarus borrows heavily from Greco-Roman mythology, as is evidenced by the items, monsters, and characters within. The story itself is (very) loosely based on the legend of Perseus, a human youth who made the dangerous boast of being able to kill Medusa. Aided by Athena, and a few fetch-quests to obtain powerful magic items later (Mirror Shield included), he finally slew her.

The appellation "Icarus" is from a story of a separate youth, the titular son of the famous inventor and genius Daedalus. While kept prisoner, Daedalus created set of human-sized wings, crafted from wooden strats with bird feathers stuck to the frame by wax. Icarus borrowed the wingframe and flew high into the sky, over the seas. Though Daedalus warned his son not to fly too high to the sun, Icarus disobeyed him and kept flying higher. The intense heat from the sun melted the wax binding the feathers to the frame and Icarus fell, dashing himself upon the ocean and dying instantly.

Metroid

Kid Icarus was released on the same day as Metroid and functions on the same game engine. Kid Icarus even includes an enemy from Metroid, a Komayto which is said to have come from another planet. Unlike Kid Icarus, the Metroid series has been highly successful, with several sequels on many different consoles.

External Links

• Kid Icarus Shrine