Kid Icarus: Uprising

Voices of: Antony Del Rio,Ali Hillis, Hyden Walch, Fred Tatasciore, Kari Wahlgren, Danny Mann, Nika Futterman, Troy Baker, Alan Oppenheimer, Cree Summer
Developer: Project Sora
Director: Masahiro Sakurai
Rating: E10+
Genre: Third Person Shooter
System: Nintendo 3DS
2012

Times Completed:
Tim: 1

Summary: The angel Pit teams with the goddess Palutena to combat Medusa and a shadowy presence pulling the strings behind her.

Review:
Tim: Kid Icarus: Uprising is a fairly remarkable game. It's the third game in the Kid Icarus franchise, and the first in over two decades. The leap between this game and the previous in the series (which was released for the original Game Boy) is stunning. This one is incredibly cinematic, fully leveraging the dual screens of the 3DS in an interesting way. The story is fantastic and the game feels incredibly unique. It's no longer a side-scrolling 2D adventure, but one that feels gloriously 3D. I had a blast playing this game.

I was a huge fan of the narrative and especially the writing. This is one of the funniest games I've ever played. The banter between Pit and the various characters he interacts with is especially hilarious. I loved all the meta jokes throughout this game. I found it interesting that much of the dialogue takes place in-game, while you're distracted by shooting monsters. I'm sure there was a ton I missed because I was intently playing while the dialogue took place. I didn't love that, but I admit it kept the game moving. The dialogue was exceptional- it's funny, irreverent, and memorable. Video game dialogue is almost always a bit cringe-worthy. Not so, here. It was exceptional. That helps create the cinematic quality of the game. The other big contribution is how epic the game feels- the levels feel unique, as Pit battles all over the worlds. He also faces some epic bosses throughout the game. While playing this one, it definitely felt like it would have made a killer movie. The leap from the previous two games to this one is astounding. It really showcased how Kid Icarus could be one of Nintendo's premier franchises. Sadly, even a decade after this game's release, we haven't gotten another entry in the franchise.

Pit is a great character and I loved the depth of his character this game explored. His relationship with Palutena felt so emotional and powerful, too. I really enjoyed these characters together. Medusa, Hades, and all the rest of the mythological characters felt larger than life and fun to watch. Magnus was a great addition. The characters really are so unique in this game.

The controls were fun, but they definitely resulted in some hand cramps. You had to grip the top left button to fire, then move Pit around the screen with your left thumb, and then use your stylus with your right hand to direct Pit's fire. It's a lot to manage and it felt taxing, especially in some of the longer levels. Thank goodness Palutena controlled your flight, or you would have needed a third arm. I found the controls cumbersome, but unique and pretty funny. The levels are beautifully rendered and you're simply mowing down enemies. The time seems to disappear because every level is fairly intense and engrossing. It's a decently long game, and the levels do occasionally get repetitive. Some of them are crazy long, but it's all part of the epic quality of the game. The game gives you a lot of others things to do, which I found marginally interesting. The combining weapons part is fun and it gives you a ton of options as you considering merging different weapons to make new ones. The idol collection is decent, but I never felt that compelled to "collect them all". There's apparently 412 different idols. I was fine ending with 42. There's a treasure hunt and a powers portrait thing, but I just couldn't get that interested in them. I got 61% of the Powers Portrait and couldn't have cared less about getting a higher percentage. It's interesting- this game was incredibly fun from a narrative standpoint, but the completionist aspect of the game felt unnecessarily daunting. I simply couldn't see myself sinking countless hours into this game. Having to replay levels with insane difficult ratings just to open gates to increase my completion percentage was something I had very little desire to do. I did this for a few levels here or there, but I couldn't really be bothered that much. I ended the game with a 78% completion rate and thinking about the insane hours I'd need to sink into this game to 101% it, well, no thank you. This was a game I certainly played for the story.

I really did enjoy Kid Icarus: Uprising. It's clearly the best game in the franchise and it shows the potential of Pit and this world. It's a shame we haven't gotten a fourth game in the franchise yet. This one is a big one and I'm so impressed with people who really invest the time to master this one. I played 16 hours and felt content finishing it. My average intensity was 4.4, so I certainly didn't play at the larger levels of challenge. It was a fun game and I loved playing it, but this wasn't one I ever seriously considered trying to 100%. Still, it felt so epic and cinematic and it's easily one of the best 3DS games.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Game, We Recommend: Kid Icarus, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, Crimson Shroud