Kid Icarus: Uprising — Control Freak

If someone were to ask me if I could sum up Kid Icarus: Uprising in one word, it would be “customization”. The game ostensibly seems like a peculiar fit for 3DS, given how it’s mainly a third-person shooter on a platform lacking second analog stick without a hilariously bulky attachment. The development team at Project Sora implemented a control scheme they felt the game would best be played with, but also made sure to provide a plethora of options in an attempt to make almost everyone feel comfortable.

And that’s “almost everyone” as there’s no dual analog control style. The Circle Pad Pro is only used as a substitute for the default one for left-handed people. That’s basically a $20 tax for left-handed people. Classy.

Having multiple options for controls is a holdover from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a trait director Masahiro Sakurai kept from his time at HAL Laboratory. You could argue that game automatically had better options due to being on a console, offering the choice to use the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, Classic Controller, or the Gamecube Controller for those who were still accustomed to playing Melee. But the…actually, that’s an accurate assessment. KIU would have controlled better had it been on Wii (or its successor) and given the aforementioned options. But saying it controls badly on 3DS is a stretch.

This looks easy enough. And it is!

There’s a good control method here that suits your style, but it will take patience to adjust to whichever option you choose; and even more to actually master. That’s because the game has two modes you’ll have to get used to: flight mode and ground mode. The flying sections of many levels are similar to Treasure’s Sin & Punishment games, and has protagonist Pit flying on a predetermined path, shooting multiple enemies while dodging attacks and obstacles. The ground levels also feature shooting and dodging, but use a different control method and allow for free roaming. It sounds like there are two different games competing for dominance in the description, but both styles segue well in the actual game.

It probably won’t take you too long to master flight mode, if you’ve played a number of DS games that depended on the stylus for movement (of which there were many). But fighting on the ground takes more practice, due to the amount of versatility Pit has. The focus is on shooting, melee attacks, and dodging, which is somewhat similar to a Devil May Cry game. It doesn’t sound like something that would work on a system lacking a second analog stick/nub (or the ability to use it), but it does. Somehow.

This looks easy enough. And it is! After seven hours.

That it’s so reliant on the stylus and stand the game comes packed with makes it very not portable friendly. Unless you can master using the face buttons to aim or like hand cramps, you’ll have to play the game using the stand and stylus, which have to be placed on a flat surface. That makes Nintendo’s choice in system questionable, but it does end up working well.

It’s not the kind of game you usually see on a handheld. It’s reliant on set-pieces, similar to most modern third-person shooters. But unlike them, it executes that concept in a way that doesn’t make the player feel like the game is playing itself. What’s appreciable is that it strikes a perfect balance between the two, the kind you don’t see in many shooters. The game gives you a chance to use all of Pit’s abilities in common battles, but this is taken to its highest level in boss battles.

At times, it feels like the game has too many customization options, which is why I would use that word to describe it. It gives Pit multiple choices for weaponry. Some have satisfactory close-range and long-range abilities, but don’t specialize in either. It also offers plenty that specialize in one or the other. That won’t make much difference in the scrolling shooter-style stages, but they do on the ground; and that’s where you’ll spend the bulk of your time, and where most boss battles are fought. If you don’t like some of the weapons you have, you can either purchase more or fuse weapons to create a new one.

The bosses put all your stylus skills to the test.

The difficulty level is also adjustable for each stage, depending on how many hearts you’re willing to put on the line. The more you wager, the better the bonuses you’ll get. The risk is that the level will lower every time Pit falls in battle, meaning you’ll lose some of the hearts. Additionally, there are doors in every level that won’t open unless you have the difficulty set to a certain level. The average difficulty is Level 2, and some of them go as high as Level 9. This tells the player there’s more incentive to raising the difficulty than to challenge yourself, though that’s still part of it. Raising it that high isn’t recommended on your first time through, unless you’re an unfathomably fast learner or are feeling masochistic.

Though it seems like a reboot ostensibly, the game takes place after and acknowledges the events of the original NES game. Medusa has risen again, and goddess Palutena has tasked Pit to save mankind from the Underworld army. The reason why the game has land and air battles is because Palutena only has enough power to keep Pit airborne for five minutes, though it feels like he can go for longer than that. The story serves its purpose: it’s an enjoyable tale that acts as a complementary aspect of the game, and it doesn’t need to be anything more.

The presentation is stunning for a 3DS game. This was the title that wowed everyone when it was revealed back at E3 2010 (along with the 3DS itself). Part of that was due to it being a highly-requested revival of a dormant franchise, it also happened because of its picturesque backdrops. And they’re even more of a sight to behold on the 3DS’ screen in the game’s native resolution. There are times when the game will have Pit survey an environment, as if the game knows you’ll want to ogle at them. The art director(s) did their job well.

As good as this screenshot is, you really have to see it in motion to appreciate it.

And so did the soundtrack composers. This shouldn’t come as a surprise once you hear the dream team Nintendo assembled for it. KIU’s features music from Motoi Sakuraba, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yuzo Koshiro, Masafumi Takada, Noriyuki Iwadare, and Takahiro Nishi — though Sakuraba and Koshiro contributed the most. The result is one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game. With that number of composers, they managed to cover nearly every genre for instrumental tracks, easily putting most modern soundtracks to shame.

The voice acting is also fantastic. And here people didn’t think Nintendo of America was capable of hiring talent — though the Layton games should have shown them that. The game features the talents of Anthony Del Rio, Kari Wahlgren, Troy Baker, and many others. For the standout performances, they somehow managed to get Cree Summer to voice Medusa. And Ali Hillis sounds completely unlike Liara T’Soni and Lightning as Palutena, proving that she’s capable of more range than most people thought.

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a fantastic game, one well worth experiencing if you own the system, provided you have the patience to master its unorthodox controls. The game sold well enough for Nintendo, so it’s possible that we might see a sequel. And I’m going to be honest, it would be better if it’s on Wii U, rather than 3DS, though I wouldn’t be opposed to one on the latter.