Elf Blood

So, Kid Icarus: Uprising came out last week for the 3DS. Now, I wouldn’t qualify myself as a fan of the series, having never played any of the original, but I’d absorbed enough information over the past few years to experience a kind of… Sympathetic nostalgia over the release of the game. Perhaps the little throwbacks the game constantly makes to its 8-bit roots revive memories of the original Gameboy Brick for me, and that’s a delightful trip down memory lane.

Playing the game as it stands now, however, is pretty damn fun. Of course, it’s a complete turn about face from its platforming/metroidvania origins, but the new direction is quite entertaining. The format of the levels comes in three stages; An initial, bullet-hell style on-railes shooter flight section, a second ground-based section that feels quite God-Handy to me (that’s my frame of reference, feel free to use your own!) and the final boss segment which will probably be more familiar to console action players than me in my RPG experience. It’s fast-paced and frenetic, with plenty of baddies, loot and customisation to keep you keen throughout.

As far as story goes, I’m not that far into it so I can’t really comment. The story is mostly there to justify the action, but the game is arcadey enough that it doesn’t suffer for it. I do suspect, however, that if you’re not quite as nerdy as I am, you might find the near-constant banter between Pit and his patron Lady Palutena a bit grating and, in some cases, a little too meta.

The only other negative I would cite is that the Circle Pad Pro does not function as intended: It’s there to offer an alternate, more natural control scheme for lefties, but is otherwise pointless for right-handers. A shame, because I’d like to get more use out of my Circle Pad Pro, but using the touchscreen to aim is actually pretty decent. Almost surprisingly so, given my expectations!

To sum: Kid Icarus is a fantastically fun arcade shooter/brawler that could be a little too nerdy for some, but will provide an excellent nostalgia hit for others. Even without leaning too heavily on its predecessors, it’s enough of a challenge to carry itself to players new to the series. I’m enjoying it, and I hope you might do so too!

M.