“Kid Icarus,” released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, is the rare cult classic that deserves that designation. Unlike, say, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” whose “cult” includes pretty much everybody, “Kid Icarus” has been intensely loved by very few, for reasons unclear to the rest of us. The game is pretty much “Metroid” with an ancient-Greek makeover, so you’re a demigod shooting arrows instead of a space marine shooting lasers. But its fans have been pestering Nintendo for a sequel ever since.
Twenty-five years later, and 19 years after “Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters” for the Game Boy, the cult gets what it asked for. For the general video game audience, though, “Kid Icarus: Uprising,” a 3-D shooter instead of a 2-D action-platformer, is less a nostalgia kick than proof that the recent release of Sony’s hand-held Vita didn’t render the Nintendo’s 3DS obsolete.
“Uprising” was beautiful when Nintendo gave a sneak preview in 2010, and it remains the hand-held system’s best-looking game, packing more impressive visuals than most of the higher-powered Vita’s launch titles. It’s the rare 3DS game that I played in 3-D the entire time, enduring a minor headache to feast my eyes on the surrounding cliffs, trees, clouds and ocean as winged hero Pit flew around blasting the warriors of the Underworld.
Maybe the headache just seemed minor in comparison with the pain in my hands. “Uprising” features one of the oddest control schemes around. Your left hand does triple duty — holding the system, while your thumb moves Pit with the joystick and your index finger taps the left shoulder button to blast and slash your way through (blood-free) fights. Your right hand, meantime, manipulates the stylus against the bottom touchscreen to aim at enemies on the top screen. This indirect aiming system is really no different from using a mouse, and you get used to it quickly, but it all adds up to something that feels very unnatural. The game comes with a stand, so you don’t have to support the 3DS’ weight, but this just further served to make me think, “Geez, Nintendo should have put a second control stick on this thing.” Here’s one area where the Vita, whose left stick controls characters while the second stick, at right, takes care of aiming, indeed makes the 3DS seem obsolete.
| ‘Kid Icarus: Uprising’ |
| » System: 3DS |
| » Price: $39.99 |
| » Rating: 3 out of 5 stars |
“Uprising” still inspires a lot of affection, though. Pit jokes about how his “ancient Greek” weapons are pretty much machine guns and grenade launchers, and openly acknowledges that he’s in a video game. Warned by a female companion about a dark lord he’ll be fighting soon, Pit cuts through the gobbledygook, asking simply if the bad guy is a boss or a miniboss.
With a snappy script, gorgeous graphics and extensive online shootouts, “Uprising” has a lot to offer. If only it could rise above its control scheme.
