I spent quite a bit of time working on it, so i'm desperate to push it through. I'm willing to re-write the whole thing if thats what it takes.

<i>Kid Icarus is an odd franchise. Loosely based on Greek mythology, the original Kid Icarus on the NES follows Pit, (an angel who is incapable of flying) that is tasked with defeating the various forces of evil. Unfortunately, the original game wasn't received too well, which was mainly due to its brutal difficult and unforgiving nature. Despite this, there are many (myself included) who appreciated the quirky and unconventional gameplay and interesting universe, and have been pining for a proper sequel since then. It’s been 21 years since we last Pit embark an epic adventure for the Game Boy title: Of Myths and Monsters(the sequel to Kid Icarus). For many of us, we had thought that the series had been officially discontinued, and its loveable cast of characters were doomed to fade into obscurity. Many fans of Kid Icarus were clamoring for another entry in the series, and despite Pit’s appearance in the Super Smash Bros Brawl, that wasn’t enough to satiate the thirst of these fans. As luck would have it, Mashiro Sakurai (creator of the Smash Bros series) would orchestrate the complete revival of the series. Hope at last! A trailer for Kid Icarus: Uprising was shown at E3 2010, which threw fans in a frenzy (old school Kid Icarus fans and newcomers alike) The wait for Kid Icarus: Uprising was on. After many teaser trailers and numerous delays, Kid Icarus Uprising has finally gotten into the hands of the gamers. Was it worth the wait? To put it bluntly:

Absolutely.

“Do you hear that? Do you hear the people’s cheers? They’re celebrating the return of Kid Icarus!”

Graphics

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a gorgeous game that doesn’t skimp on the details. From the get go, you’ll notice the vibrant menu and colorful menu. In terms of actual gameplay, the stages are downright stunning. Aerial battles steal the show when it comes to visuals, and are unquestionably incredible to look at.. Each aerial stage is beautifully rendered, with each stage being vastly different from the last. You’ll go from flying through a hurricane to maneuvering your way through the deep reaches of space. In comparison, Land battles don’t look nearly as good in comparison and stages themselves aren’t nearly as ambitious. However, that doesn’t mean Land battles are bad. They’re still a treat to look at, and you’ll easily be overcome by some of the stages you will get to explore on foot. The character designs are fun, creative and filled with charm. Sakurai and his team really did a great job at giving the old characters a new makeover, and new characters that are introduced look fantastic as well. I won’t go into much detail, but there are many unexpected characters from Greek mythology that appear in this game. The weapons are terrific in design, and are vastly from one another. For example, one weapon is capable fire beautiful hearts that flow versus another that fires giant cannon balls. This game arguably makes the best use out of the system’s 3D effect, by enhancing the already incredible visuals, and making the game that much more immersive. There are certainly more things to say about this games presentation, but beautiful, vibrant and ambitious are the first words that come to mind.

Sound

Kid Icarus: Uprising has an incredible soundtrack, that is largely due to its all-star composer list. Describing this games ost quality is a difficult task; you really have to hear the songs for yourselves in order to judge. The are typically songs are a blend of rock and orchestra, mixed together in a way that is just too good to put in words alone. Each of them are extremely memorable in their own way, and after a while, you’ll have a them engraved into your mind. Sakurai has even taken the liberty of implementing a music gallery so you can listen to any of your favorite things at any time. In terms of VA work, Kid Icarus: Uprising has some high quality voice acting. Favorites like Ali Hillis, and Troy Baker knock it out of the park with their top notch performance. Voice actors who aren't as common like Cree Summers and Hynden Walsh are incredible as well. Newcomer Anthony Del Rio does a spectacular job at portraying all sides of Pit (including Dark Pit) and is a welcomed addition. The games sound effects are standard fare for a Sakurai; the end result is that they’re “just” right for this type of game.

Story

Surprisingly, Kid Icarus: Uprising has a detailed and robust story, which is a huge departure from the original 2 Kid Icarus games. The games plot starts out rather simply; Medusa, the goddess of the underworld has been revived, and is wrecking havoc across the land and it's up to Pit and Palutena stop her. What could have been a stock story is actually well thought and thought provoking; there are several story details in this game that legitimately surprised me. The story takes several plot twists (none of which I will spoil) that actually end up shocking you as a player. The games single player story mode follows an “episodic” format (think of your favorite childhood cartoon) and you’re not necessarily confined to fighting just Medusa.This ends up working fabulously, since you’re not fighting the same foe over and over again, and each new chapter is not monotonous, but fresh and exciting. The game’s dialogue from head to toe is filled with charm, and it’s impossible to resist its allure. Pit and Palutena constantly converse between each other, but various other characters join in (including bosses!) It’s literally never a dull moment since characters talk ALL of the time. I’ve heard others say they dislike the constant chatter since it breaks the immersion for them, but find that they’re non-intrusive, and really humorous to boot. </i>

Gameplay

The meat of every game is its gameplay, and Kid Icarus: Uprising doesn’t pull any punches when it comes down to it. At its core Kid Icarus: Uprising is an action based shooting game, that revolves around 3 gameplay segments: Air battles, Land battles, and Boss battles. Air battles are on the rail shooters (similar to Star Fox games) that have Pit flying through various locations, and shooting enemies, while Land battles are action based shooters that have Pit scurrying around on a 3 dimensional plane. Pit is capable of wielding an assortment of weapons (9 different types each housing dozens of different weapons) for each of these modes. The game uses a unique difficulty system, the field cauldron. The field cauldron determines various factors (enemy’s strength, their AI and even what attacks bosses will use.) In order to increase the "intensity" (difficult level), players will have to bid with “hearts” (the games currency, typically obtained from killing enemies). Increasing the intensity level is a good way to challenge yourself, but there is another a reason for doing so. The higher the intensity level, the more hearts you receive in battle and the various rewards you obtain (weapon and abilities) are almost always of a higher quality in comparison to rewards obtained on lower intensity levels. Furthermore, all stages have an intensity gate, a locked door that can only be opened if the players corresponding intensity level is equal or higher than the number on the gate. It's a fun system that always challenges you to do better, and its sort of your own personal coach. Be careful however, since if you die at any time during the stage, your intensity level is immediately dropped by 1 full point.

Aerial battles, are at most 5 minutes long and typically comprise of 1/3rd of the entire the game on their own. Aerial battles are incredibly fun, and If I could compare to a real life experience, I'd compare to a rollercoaster ride that doesn’t let up. You move Pit with the circle pad, aim with the touch screen and shoot by pressing the L button. The controls are simple and intuitive; they just work. Land battles comprise of most of the stage (2/3) offer noticeably more freedom and versatility. Controls for land battles are identical to air battles, but on a 3D dimensional plane. You can change the game’s camera by swiping the touch screen with your stylus towards the desired direction. On top of being able to use weapons, Pit can also use special abilities (like healing or a speed boost) and is given an all new dodge ability. This dodge ability allows him to dodge any enemy attack, provided you dodge the moment before an enemy hits you. Dodging is a valuable tool, and is extremely helpful for users who increase the intensity level. Dodging is performed by flicking the circle pad, the moment before an enemy attacks you. Boss battles round off every stage, and typically use the Land controls. The boss battles are epic brawls that are grandiose in nature. Pit faces an assortment of foes, each with their own custom set of moves and abilities that require you learn by trial and error in order to defeat them. It's a fun experience, and you feel like an absolute badass when you beat down some of the stronger bosses in this game. Now I don't personally have a problem with these ground controls, but there are many that would say that the controls during land battles are bad. While they aren’t stellar, I would never outright call them “bad” but instead, but it will take some time for you to get used to these controls. After a while, they become second nature and you should have no problem with running, shooting or dodging with Pit. I'll admit, that manoeuvring Pit through a field of enemies can be somewhat of a pain, especially when the action gets to hectic. It's a minor hindrance in a system that works so well. The game offers you many ways to control Pit, so its entirely possible to tweak the controls that suit you. Sadly, circle pad pro does not support dual stick control.

On top of having an awesome solo mode, there are also several different other gameplay modes you can experience. Kid Icarus: Uprising has a robust multiplayer mode that offers 2 modes of play; Light vs Dark and Free for all. Light vs Dark is a unique team based multiplayer mode that pits 3 players of 2 teams against each other. Both teams have a “life bar” and the goal of both teams is to deplete the opposite teams life bar. This is done by killing opposing team member but there’s more to it than that. The higher your weapons value is, the more your teams life gauge will drop when you die. This introduces a high-risk high-reward type element into multiplayer. Stronger weapons come with the risk of hurting your team in the long run, but some of the more powerful weapons can be absolute game changers, so its entirely up to the discretion of the player. It’s a really fun mode, that's actually balanced to boot, and its something play over Solo mode. Free for all is exactly as the name suggests. 6 players duke it out in a no holds bar battle royale. There is no penalty for using high powered weapons in this mode, and the matches are lot more hectic and less orderly as a result, but they’re fun nonetheless. Weapons and abilities obtained from solo mode can be used in Multiplayer and opposite is true as well. Idol toss is a game mode that has you tossing eggs into the air to potentially earn idols (this games equivalent to trophies from Smash Bros.). It's really similar to the slot machine minigame from Super Smash Bros Melee. There’s also vault that contains an Idol viewer, a music gallery and treasure hunt, a system that is not unlike the achievement system/trophy system for Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively. Honestly, I think this game is second to none when it comes to gameplay, there's always "something" you can do.

The end result is that game ends up being rife with content, so much so that arguably rivals many of the next gen titles in terms of depth and quality. Kid Icarus is a fantastic game that represents everything that fully exemplifies what “should be done” when designing a game. It doesn’t cut corners, and is chock full of content. This is THE definitive 3DS game, and you’ll be hard pressed to finding anything that on the market that comes close matching this game. This game appeals to a wide variety of video game players, be it casual players who are looking for a good time or hard core players who wants a game that challenges them and pushes them to their limit. I'm really not exaggerating when I say this game has everything. We're glad to have you back Kid Icarus, we really missed you.

Final Score: 10/10 </i>