Kid Icarus is supposedly modeled after the Greek Myth of 'Icarus' where Icarus and his father were escaping the island of Crete with a pair of wings crafted by said father. Icarus got giddy from flying and carelessly flew too close to the sun, melting his wings (made of wax and feathers -- yeah, that would work). He then took a dive into the sea where he presumably drown.Yeah, right.
Kid Icarus (nes) is a basic platformer where you make your way through 4 worlds (3 levels, one boss maze dungeon each, and one big boss level for the 4th world) all the while, killing little snake chickens and destroying an armada of flying 'whatthefucks', and avoiding being turned into an eggplant (WAT?!!). All leading to final boss battles against.. some bigger snake thing, a soap bubble, and finally.. a giant eye!
At least they stayed true to the legend.
Legend aside, as a game, Kid Icarus is frustrating and repetitious. The 'vertical scrolling' aspect of the game is also frustrating, as the second you jump up to the next platform, you can't go back down a platform without dieing.
The game follows a 3 level - 1 dungeon pattern and is thankfully pretty short, there are only 3 'worlds' and then one final boss level. I say thankfully because of how difficult and frustrating the game can be, all the while being incredibly repetitious. Also, the final dungeon is a bitch. It takes about 4-5 hours to finish this game, but you could easily breeze through it in 2 hours if you don't suck like I do.
Five bucks to anyone who can explain what 1/2 of these enemies are supposed to be.
The graphics suck and don't get me started on the audio. The enemies range from.. is that a snake or a chicken to what the HELL IS THAT THING?! I think there was some angry mutant mud and some flying Jellyfish in there too (I still don't understand the whole 'eggplant wizard' thing). Each level had different amorphous enemies too, so just when you figure out what an enemy is, BOOM another random assortment of pixels.
At one point, this game may have been thought of as 'innovative' or 'revolutionary', but - legacy aside - I call it a pile of shit and I am happy to cross this game off of my bucket list.
Now the fun part: comparing the NES version to the GB sequel. Apparently someone at Nintendo was listening to complaints about this game, as almost every aspect is improved in the GB sequel "Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters".
The GB game is easier, less frustrating, and adds some interesting gameplay into the fold. First off, you can go back down and re explore parts of the level that you pasted up already.. a welcome edition. You can also purchase 'keys' that let you reenter rooms that you've already visited, albeit for a hefty price (there is also a master key at the end of each world that you can retrieve to open ALL doors in the world if you want to go back for something).
The enemies are actually recognizable (snakes instead of chicken snakes), the graphics and sound are better (yes, BETTER on GB than NES), the game is funner (shut up) and it is much less frustrating. Add to that a 'save' feature, and Kid Icarus's 'slow fall' wings and the GB game blows the NES game out of the water.
Bottom Line: Since they are practically the same game, unless you are determined to play a crappy NES game.. play the GB game and leave the Kid Icarus game at your deadbeat uncle's house (long story).
If you want more of "Pit" (what a terrible name, right? .. isn't he supposed to be Icarus??) a new Kid Icarus is coming out for the 3DS and Pit is an unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii.
