Together Mode
The Multiplayer Mode in Kid Icarus: Uprising is a brand new feature to the series that allows six players to battle each other in what appears to be a combat training program. The entire mode plays in the same way as the ground missions of the game, with the on-rails flight mechanics never being used during any part of a match. It was first introduced at E3 2011 and allows 3 on 3 battles using the same weapons that are featured in the single player campaign. Multiplayer also features both normal Pit and Dark Pit, as well as the Fighters with which you will primarily use in battle. It is currently unknown if less than six players can use this mode.
Game Rules
Two multiplayer battle modes have been revealed, both with different rules:
Descent of the Angels
The rules of this mode are both unique and simple. All six players are divided into two teams: Light Team and Dark Team. Each team consists of three Fighters with separate health bars and each armed with a weapon of choice. In addition to the individual health bars, each team also has a life gauge that is depleted each time a team member is eliminated. The main goal of the game is to keep defeating the opposing team's Fighters until their life guage is depleted. Once that occurs, the enemy team's last defeated member will spawn as either Pit or Dark Pit, depending on the team's color. At this point, the life gauge for that team will be used as the angel's health bar, and once again must be depleted for the other team to win. However, angels are much stronger in battle and have more health than the typical Fighter, making teamwork very necessary to beat the enemy. When either spawned as Pit or Dark Pit, a small icon of their heads will appear on the guage at the bottom of the screen. Pit's icon seems to be cheerful, while Dark Pit's is less so.
Battle Royale
This mode has no teams and likely no angels, instead having different colored Fighters battle each other until only one is left standing. The battlefields in Battle Royale are also considerably smaller than those of Descent of the Angels. Not much else is known about this battle mode.
Weapons and Items
At the beginning of each match, all of the players will be able to choose amongst the weapons they have collected during the single player campaign. In addition, some items can also be found such as Food to replenish health, and Grenades to blast your opponents sky high. Finally, Miracles can be used to heal oneself or execute powerful attacks against opponents, although it is unknown how these are obtained in the mode.
Stamina
Although it hasn't been directly confirmed, it appears that each Fighter will also have a limited amount of stamina during battle. If a player runs for too long or uses too much energy (causing sweat to drop from them) to climb up a hill, they will begin to slow down and stumble while flashing red. Until a player completely stops to catch their breath for a few seconds, they will remain slow and extremely vulnerable to attack.
Chance
It appears that players can bet each other with different weapons. How exactly this works is currently unknown.
Arenas
The Multiplayer Mode will feature a number of arenas for players to battle in. Most of them will likely be based on locations featured in the story mode. So far, multiple different arenas have been confirmed, although their names are currently unknown:
- The first arena seems to have been inspired by the setting of The Return of Palutena, featuring a grassland rife with cliffs and ruins. The area is wide open and contains many structures to hide behind, but the steep hills on each side of the arena can cause players to quickly lose stamina.
- The second arena is much more segmented than the first, and doesn't appear to be based on any known locations. Not much else is known about this map, although it appears to be more confined than the grassland arena.
- A third arena was shown to be located in a town underneath a scenic sunset.
- A forth arena located in a dark castle-like area has also been shown.
- A fifth arena appears to take place in an eerie location with fog and tall ruins. It appears that Grind Rails will be used in this arena.
Connectivity
The game is confirmed to support local and online multiplayer, allowing six people nearby or across the globe to battle each other in both random and friend matches.
Trivia
- Dark Team happens to have a darker skin tone than the Light Team.