Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus ( Japanese 光神話パルテナの鏡 , Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami , Eng . "Light myth: Palutena's mirror") is a video game series from Nintendo that takes place in a fantasy world that draws elements from ancient Greece. The first game, Kid Icarus , was released in 1986/1987 for the Famicom Disk System / Nintendo Entertainment System , the second, Kid Icarus: Von Mythen und Monsters , 1991/1992 for the Game Boy . With Kid Icarus: Uprising in 2012, the third part of the series was released for the Nintendo 3DS .

Computer games

Kid Icarus

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

Original title

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters

Erstveröffent-
lichung

GB
USA: 1991
Europe: May 21, 1992

3DS-VC
Japan: February 8, 2012
Europe: March 8, 2012
USA: July 19, 2012

platform

Game Boy , Virtual Console (Nintendo 3DS)

Game mode

Control pad + buttons

Game Boy cartridge

English

For the Game Boy, the follow-up Kid Icarus: von Mythen und Monsters (Original: Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters ) was published by Nintendo of America (NoA) in 1991 , but was not released in Japan at the time.

The story begins with a terrible dream of Palutena about the fall of Angel Land . She quickly calls a interpreter of dreams, who explains to her that the palace is being attacked by Orcos, king of the demons, and his subordinates. So she sends the young Pit on a mission to bring the sacred treasures back to the palace. This mission is also a test to prove that Pit is worthy to carry these treasures. Then Orcos comes, kidnaps the goddess with the words “I kidnapped the goddess, you won't get her back until you defeat me in battle!” So Pit defeats Orcos and brings peace to Angel Land again.

The game mechanics of Kid Icarus are largely retained, but unlike in the first part, Pit still cannot fly with his little wings, but he can use them to glide more slowly to the ground (just like Raccoon Mario by constantly pressing the A Button in Super Mario Bros. 3 can slide slowly to the ground). In addition, the way you play depends on whether you are allowed to carry all the sacred treasures at the end or whether you are not worthy of them. The three sacred treasures were also changed: the arrows of light were retained, the pegasus wings no longer allow permanent hovering in the air, but an infinite number of air leaps. However, the biggest change received the mirror shield. This has been converted into silver armor, which increases the hero's defense. Since Medusa can no longer petrify Palutena's troops due to her defeat in the original, the hammer is only used to smash stones and walls.

The game now also supports vertical and horizontal scrolling at once and consequently in every direction (not like its predecessor, which only allows you to either ascend vertically or run horizontally per level)

Kid Icarus: Uprising

More sequels and rumors

Aside from long-forgotten rumors about a sequel to the Super Famicom / Super NES (which never appeared), nothing was known about a sequel to the game. In 2003 it was speculated that the discontinued Capcom game Dead Phoenix was planned for the Gamecube as a sequel to Kid Icarus .

In 2004, Kid Icarus was re-released in Japan for the Game Boy Advance as part of the Famicom Mini series. Since February 23, 2007, Kid Icarus has also been available for the virtual console of the Wii game console .

In 2005, Nintendo's legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto indicated in an interview with the IGN.com website that a "Kid Icarus" game would be possible for the Wii game console, which was still in development at the time . One year later, the “Kid Icarus” hero Pit was presented at the E3 2006 entertainment fair as a new playable character for the third part of the popular “ Super Smash Bros. ” series for Wii .

reception

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

After an absence of more than 15 years, it was announced at E3 2006 that Pit would be a playable character in Nintendo's latest installment of the hit fighting game Super Smash Bros. for the Wii. Pit's main weapon is the sacred bow of the Palutena ("Sacred Bow of Palutena"), which he can split into two short swords depending on the fighting situation. This ability of the bow was never mentioned in the game Kid Icarus itself and is so far an exclusive attack for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In addition, he carries all three sacred treasures right from the start: The wings of Pegasus make him jump in the air several times, the light arrows are his primary projectile weapons and the mirror shield reflects incoming attacks.

The Pit Ultra Smash attack is the army of the Palutena. Palutena herself appears on the screen and summons the centurions who, just like in the original game, attack the opposing teammates. Just like in the original game, the centurions die pretty quickly in an attack. Here, however, they cannot shoot with a bow and arrow, but only ram the enemy.

The Realm of the Skies is a playable world in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The main arena, located above a picturesque sea of clouds bathed in yellow sunlight, consists of a large lower level, two small platforms to the side of the main level and a slightly larger level above all the others, as well as a platform below the main level. The special thing about these stone plains: If attacked, they can burst and cause damage. This creates immediately accessible, cloud-like platforms. Another flying island can be seen in the background with the palace in the sky. Around this building there are more pillars on which more statues stand. A huge statue represents the goddess Palutena: in the left hand the mirror shield, in the right hand a scepter. Another island in the background lets a small waterfall down through the sea of clouds. As in the original game, you can easily fall through cloud levels and you cannot jump through stone platforms.

A new arrangement of the underworld theme can be heard in the background of this world. The end-of-game theme and the attack of the Grim Reaper can also be heard in this piece. Other pieces of music include a new arrangement of the title theme and the Kingdom of Heaven theme. The final track is a medley of all the original NES music in the game: title topic, underworld, upper world, goal achieved, end of game.

Pit is dubbed in the Japanese version by Minami Takayama , who is known there as the dubbing voice of Detective Conan from the anime series of the same name. In all other versions he is dubbed by Lani Minella.

Cameo

The hero pit or other game elements made guest appearances in the following games:

1989: Tetris ( NES ) - Pit plays the harp if you win Game B at Level 9, Level 5
1990: F-1 Race ( GB ) - Before starting Track 8, Pit greets the player. When you've played through the game, all the Nintendo heroes congratulate you again
1996: Kirby Super Star ( SNES ) - The Great Cave Offensive Treasures features the Pegasus wings.
2001: Super Smash Bros. Melee ( NGC ) - There's a pit trophy that says, "Will he ever fight again?"
2004: WarioWare: Twisted! ( GBA ) - A mini-game based on Kid Icarus. You control Pit and have to avoid snakes and the bullets of the Eggplant Wizard. The music is also a passage from the original soundtrack.
2006: Electroplankton ( NDS ) - used a. a. Sound effects and the Kid Icarus dungeon theme.
2007: WarioWare: Smooth Moves ( Wii ) - Opening Night: Nintendo heroes play in an orchestra, including Pit. Among other things, they play the "Kid Icarus" title song.
2008: Super Smash Bros. Brawl ( Wii ) - The Kid Icarus series is represented in the newest part of the Super Smash Bros. series. Among other things, Pit is a playable character, equipped with the three sacred treasures, Palutena is an NPC in the subspace emissary, Palutena is summoned as Ultrasmash by Pit and an army of centurions is summoned, the castle in the sky is a battle day, some artwork from the Series are included in the game as stickers and the underworld and heavenly themes play in the background of the battle days.
2014: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS ( Nintendo 3DS ) / Super Smash Bros. for Wii U ( Wii U ) - Pit is included as a playable character. Palutena and the Dark Pit have been added as playable characters.
2018: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate ( Switch ) - Both Pit and the Finstere Pit and Palutena are included in the game as playable characters.

Captain N: The Game Master

Pit is also one of the main characters from the animated series Captain N: The Game Master and was spoken in English by Alessandro Juliani. On the series, he's a member of the N-Team, a group of video game characters led by the human Kevin. Together they protect Video Land against many video game villains, including one of the main villains Eggplant Wizard (one of the more powerful standard opponents from Kid Icarus) and, in one episode, Medusa, goddess of darkness. Similar to the game, Pit has a magic bow with which, unlike in the game, he can shoot different types of special arrows (à la Green Arrow ). In addition, he can fly all the time, which Pit can only do in the game if he is wearing the wings of the Pegasus.

Pit is called "Kid Icarus" in the series, but in the comic by Captain N he is called Pit again. Many of his words and sentences also end with the suffix "-icus", which was only an idea of the writer and does not appear from the game series.

Princess Lana was previously intended as the goddess Palutena, as they have a lot in common in character design.

Character design

Pit's character design had changed little over the years, but it often drew elements from ancient Greece (such as the toga and sandals). His main weapon is the bow. In From myths and monsters Pit has received a laurel wreath.

As part of the character's evolution, the developers of Super Smash Bros. Brawl saw it as appropriate to redesign the character's design. Pit now appears older and no longer in the childish design of previous games. Nintendo describes the new design as "a giant leap forward in his evolution".

Trivia

Pit, Palutena and many other characters are based on Greek mythology. Just like Medusa, Cerberus, Hydra and Pandora. In addition, there are temples, columns and other elements of ancient Greece that offer the player an ancient flair.
Palutena is a typical "lady in need" (like Princess Peach and Princess Zelda, who have had more and more character since the 1980s)
Palutena is a mixture of several Greek deities: Apollo, god of light, Demeter, god of agriculture, and Athena, from which part of her name comes.
Palutena is called in the Japanese original パルテナParutena . This name refers to the Parthenon . Pit is called there ピットPitto .
As a homage to the original sister game of Metroid , the unknown items that can be obtained in Metroid: Zero Mission can be derived from the 3 sacred treasures of Kid Icarus: the plasma beam and the arrows of light fly through several opponents at once, the space Jump and the wings of the Pegasus allow jumps in the air, the gravity suit and the mirror shield increase the defense.
Link from The Legend of Zelda also often has to collect items that relate to the three sacred treasures: Pegasus boots, light arrows and a mirror shield.
The opponent Komayto from Kid Icarus is actually a Metroid. The Japanese pronunciation of this opponent is actually (Ko Me To). The "MeTo" is the short version of "Metoroido" or "Metroid" and "Ko" stands for child. The name Komayto means something like "Metroid child". In addition, the opponent Shulm is very similar to a Gumba from Super Mario .
On page 38 of the Kid Icarus handbook, the opponent Syren is shown. She is the only humanoid (torso) female Nintendo figure whose bare breasts can be clearly seen.
Pit shoots his arrows with his left hand, as seen in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl Preview from E3 2006.
In the game Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, Pit is playable again, and Palutena has also been announced as a playable character, which is making her debut as a playable character.