Kid Icarus: Uprising

Genre: On-Rails Shooter / Action-RPG

Players: 1-6 Competitive / Team Competitive (Local Wireless / Online)

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Review:

Kid Icarus: Uprising is the long-awaited return to the Kid Icarus Franchise, coming to the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, over two decades after the previous entry in the series, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters for the original Game Boy. However, while this game features essentially the same characters, enemies, and world of the first two Kid Icarus games, its gameplay is wholly unique – where the original Kid Icarus games were both Action-Platformers, Uprising is a blend of On-Rails Shooter and Action-RPG.

Before getting to that gameplay, I need to talk about this game’s presentation. In short, Kid Icarus: Uprising is a jaw-droppingly beautiful game, probably one of the best showpiece games on the Nintendo 3DS. To some extent, I feel this may be due to some clever cheating going on – the most impressive visuals here are during the on-rails sequences that have you flying over, around, and through massive impressive 3D environments at high speeds… but something tells me what we’re seeing are 3D characters in front of a pre-recorded background video. However, the two are so seamless it still comes across as highly impressive.

Even without these sequences, Kid Icarus: Uprising looks great, with well-animated detailed 3D characters in nicely-detailed environments, and with everything moving so fast-paced, it’s nice to see the framerates for the game remain steady.

That’s not the only element of the presentation that’s wonderful here – this game doesn’t just look great, it sounds great too. Kid Icarus has a wonderful epic soundtrack, but the real treat here is the fully voiced characters who jabber back and forth as you fight through enemies. Protagonist Pit is constantly chatting with Goddess Palutena (who acts as a sort of “mission control”), but also finds himself conversing with various other characters throughout the game’s campaign, and their casual, witty banter back and forth with each other makes this a game you’d want to play through to see these people interact, even if the action wasn’t good.

Having said that, the action is very good.

The gameplay here takes part in two distinct phases. Firstly, players will be targeting enemies using the touchscreen while dodging their attacks with the circle pad in an On-Rails Shooter that’s a bit like taking the Star Fox games and crossing them with a Shooting Gallery-style game. Then, they’ll fight enemies on-foot with similar controls to deliver ranged and melee attacks, with gameplay that feels somewhat reminiscent of the Sin and Punishment franchise, although unlike those games, you have full freedom of movement here.

The resulting gameplay is delightfully action-packed, with players blasting, dodging, and slicing through enemies in a wonderfully fast-paced game that’s full of wonderful set piece experiences. Making things more interesting, the game even allows players to swap out their weapon and arrange a slew of support items (in an inventory that’s kinda’ like arranging Tetris pieces), giving players a lot of flexibility with determining how they want to go about playing the game.

The intense action is mostly wonderful, but the game does run into problems whenever an enemy appears behind you, as turning around in this game is a frustrating ordeal. Additionally, tying a dodge move to the circle pad (requiring that players tap it in a direction quickly to dodge) seems like game designer Masahiro Sakurai was trying a bit too hard to make this game feel like its controls are tied to the Smash Bros. series, as the precision often needed for dodging in the heat of battle would have been better if it was tied to a button or perhaps a touchscreen gesture.

There’s also a multiplayer mode here, with both local and online play, with both a team-based game and a free-for-all mode. I suspect the online mode is filled with bots, but I can’t quite be sure, which means if they are bots, they’re decent bots. Either way, this mode is a great addition to the game, though it’s so chaotic and limited in features that I’d say the main attraction is still the campaign mode.

Ultimately, Kid Icarus: Uprising is a surprise and a delight. I don’t think anyone expected a Kid Icarus game to see release in 2012, much less a Kid Icarus game that departs so drastically from the series’ Action-Platformer roots. However, there’s no denying that the result is both a truly gorgeous game, one with some fantastic, memorable characters, as well as a game with some compelling, intense gameplay. Some frustrating control issues do poke their head up here and there, but overall this is a must-buy game on the Nintendo 3DS for anyone who enjoys good Action games, especially those looking for something unique and original. Do not miss this one.

tl;dr – Kid Icarus: Uprising is a game that combines elements of On-Rail Shooters and Action-RPGs to craft an intense, action-packed experience with gorgeous graphics, great voice acting, and memorable characters. The game has some minor control issues, but overall this is a must-have experience for Action game fans on the Nintendo 3DS.

Grade: A-

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