Kid Icarus: Uprising Review

Posted By Austin Yorski about 1 year, 1 month ago

Kid Icarus: Uprising Review

In one of the tutorial videos of Kid Icarus: Uprising, protagonist Pit asks who the “Icarus” of the title is. This is an interesting question, because Pit is repeatedly and emphatically described as an “angel,” and not the titular human from Greek mythology. This moment illustrates a lot of what you need to know about the game: While technically a sequel, Uprising is so different from the NES original that it’s actually a point of comedy. And like it’s hero, the game is more angelic than ill-fated inventor’s son. Of course, that means it’s an intimidating, multi-faceted beast.

On the surface, Uprising appears to be, of all things, an on-rails shooter. And while there are certainly portions of the game that are, the gameplay is actually broken down into three distinct segments that repeat for each chapter. The first section is the rail shooting you’ve likely seen in all the trailers for the game, which is followed by an on-foot section, and then a boss fight. Each part has similar controls, but they each feel a bit different.

I guess you can skip that last paragraph and just look at this.

The controls are the sticking point though, and just might be the thing that this title is remembered for. While you can customize them more to your liking, the fact is that every possible scheme is difficult and awkward. In fact, the game comes packaged with a little plastic stand for you to place your 3DS on, considering it’s difficult to both hold the system and play the game. This does seem to defeat the purpose of handheld gaming in and of itself, but I was able to find a way to make it work, with the caveat of eventual hand-cramping.

What’s so bad about the controls? Well, the default setting has you firing with the left shoulder button, moving with the left analog stick, and aiming by using the stylus on the touch screen. In case you’re finding this difficult to visualize, that setup means you’re going to have to hold the device with the one hand that is also doing the shooting and moving, in addition to trying to hold the 3DS at the exact right angle to achieve the 3D effect. I made it work by balancing the other side of the system on the heel of my stylus-hand, but it still isn’t a perfect fix. However, with the second thumbstick add-on, the aforementioned plastic stand, and some customization options (it supports left handers), it is clear that Team Sora realized there was a problem and at least tried to address it.

Pit brought his boomstick.

The question that all of this begs is whether or not such an unorthodox control scheme was necessary. Honestly, I think it was. Kid Icarus: Uprising feels wholly unique, perhaps to its detriment, but at least you can say it’s original. The shooting is as good as Star Fox ever was, but if you can actually master the controls, it feels so much more rewarding. Ground combat fares a little worse, considering each setup makes the camera a pain to manage, but there are plenty of things to keep it fresh, from the enemy variety to vehicle sections. The boss fights are pretty awesome as well, although it is sometimes hard to use equipped powers in the heat of battle because of (you guessed it!) the unintuitive controls.

Luckily, the game has a dynamic difficulty system reminiscent of The World Ends With You, in which you can raise the stakes for a chance at greater rewards. This takes the form of a slider at the beginning of each level in which you wager collected enemy hearts (also the game’s currency) which dumps them into a boiling cauldron. Difficulty not only increases enemy damage and health, but completely changes the flow of enemies in the shooter sections. For people looking for an old-school “bullet hell” experience, Kid Icarus might just be the first triple A fix to make it to America in some time. An interesting side effect of all of this is that there is a real threat on higher difficulties, as dying causes you to lose wagered hearts and get bumped down a difficulty level. This makes the experience quite a bit more tense and exciting.

Kid Icarus: Uprising Review

By Austin Yorski

This may be the best game ever to cause physical pain.