Kid Icarus (series)

Kid Icarus
Genres Platform
Developers Nintendo R&D1, Project Sora
Publishers Nintendo
Platforms Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
Platform of origin Nintendo Entertainment System
Year of inception 1986
First release Kid Icarus
December 19, 1986
Latest release Kid Icarus: Uprising
March 22, 2012

Kid Icarus, known in Japan as Hikari Shinwa (光神話?, "Myth of Light"), is a franchise of fantasy video games by Nintendo. The games are set in a fantasy world, based on classical antiquity and Greek mythology, called "Angel Land". The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, and platform elements. The Kid Icarus franchise is known as a cult classic and sibling series to the Metroid franchise.

The first installment, Kid Icarus, was released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was received to critical acclaim despite poor sales. A sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters was later released for the Game Boy. On June 15, 2010, at their E3 conference, Nintendo announced Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS, thus reviving the franchise after a 19-year hiatus.

History

Timeline of release years
1986Kid Icarus
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012Kid Icarus: Uprising

After Nintendo's release of commercially successful platforming games in the 1980s, including Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, and Super Mario Bros., as well as the critically acclaimed adventure game The Legend of Zelda, the company was interested in entering a different genre. They began work on an action game.[1] The game was called Metroid. Nintendo released Metroid for the Family Computer Disk System on August 6, 1986, and on the Nintendo Entertainment System one year later.[1] One year later Kid Icarus was developed alongside as its sister game, it shares elements and programmers with Metroid.[2] The game was produced by the same man who produced Metroid, Gunpei Yokoi, who previously produced Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior (1982) and the original Mario Bros. (1983), and it featured music written by Hirokazu Tanaka, who also composed for Duck Hunt (1984).[1]

After the release of its handheld sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, the series received no new installments for nearly two decades. In 2006, Pit was revealed to appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a new design. This appearance eventually led to rumors that a series revival was planned for the Wii. On June 15, 2010, during their E3 event, Nintendo unveiled Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS.

Characters

The Kid Icarus series has a cast of recurring characters. The most common characters in the series are Pit, Palutena and Eggplant Wizard.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Metroid Retrospective – Part 1". GameTrailers. 2007-07-25. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  2. Thomas, Lucas M. (2007-03-06). "Kid Icarus VC Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
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