Kid Icarus: Uprising - Prepare for the Insanity

[AngryJ]

Reviews are hitting this week, and the general consensus is that this game is crazy. Just how crazy is it?



I have no great love for the first two Kid Icarus games, but I do have great love for Nintendo/Sakurai being weird and creative. Very eager to pick this up this week, along with an exclusive card from the Nintendo World Store. Bummed that those AR cards won't be more readily available, but I'm going to do my best to track down as many as I can. I've already been promised a pack by a certain ghost who attended GDC, and I assume any potential Kid Icarus players here have already jumped on that Nintendo Club offer. (I hope so, since it's already ended)

Maybe we'll even have a Kid Icarus Game Night if there's interest. (Ha!)

[kenjisalk]

I'm glad they're resurrecting the franchise in any form, but I'm not exactly a bit fan of the kind of game this turned into. Plus the feedback that this is an almost ironic self-referential Nintendo game has me very concerned that it was made with little to no real love of the Kid Icarus franchise.

I'm not sure if that approach will make it more fun than it would've been or just have some fun at the expense of making a joke out of the Kid Icarus legacy. I wish we'd have had a GBA 2D Kid Icarus game prior to this, I think it would've been easier to accept such a transition if we'd have had one more traditional entry before this deviation.

Also is nobody still baffled by the control scheme they've gone with that requires a plastic stand to even play comfortably?

In an attempt to stay positive, I think the concept art is outstanding and I want to buy any artbook they might put out.

Also Tempura Wizard is pretty dope and would make an awesome band name.

[AngryJ]

Also is nobody still baffled by the control scheme they've gone with that requires a plastic stand to even play comfortably?

Nearly every review I've seen calls the game out on this. I'm hoping that it's another Metroid Prime Hunters - in terms of controls, NOT CONTENT! - in that because I have giant gorilla paws, it's perfectly comfortable for me even as it's apparently crippling others.

Also, I can understand your concerns, Nathan, but keep in mind that this game is from Masahiro Sakurai, the mind behind arguably the most reverent franchise in history, Super Smash Bros. I'd be really surprised if he didn't have genuine love for Kid Icarus.

[AngryJ]

More thoughts to come, but I LOVE this game. Gives Super Mario 3D Land a run for its money as my favorite game on the system, which is a little easier to say at this early point in the 3DS lifespan.

[AngryJ]

Would anyone want to play the online multiplayer sometime between now and when we record the next show Wednesday night? I've been fun playing against random people, but it'd be nice to have some friends to Skype with as we duke it out.

For all of the games many, many modes and features, it's disappointing to me that there isn't a "club" feature similar to what's used in Mario Kart 7. If Nintendo is serious about this Nintendo Network for the future, the very best thing its developers could do would be to develop a unified standard. Also, voice chat and a PSN/Xbox Live integrated interface of course, but the online options in Kid Icarus are definitely a small step back, which is too bad.

That said, I'm loving the Sakurai feedback loop that made Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Meteos so much fun. Every mode unlocks things that make the game easier and more enjoyable to play, and the difficulty gambling is brilliant. I want many more games to borrow that in the future. It's a very elegant way of communicating that ANYONE can play Kid Icarus, and that's awesome.

[AngryJ]

Twitter user UC_Raider and I will be testing out the multiplayer at 11 p.m. We'll be chatting over Skype, so PM me if you want my contact info.

[Kaz]

I guess I should get this game?

[AngryJ]

In case anyone is just as obsessive as I am, the latest Nintendo Power hits newsstands today and has three exclusive (?) cards. Best Buy's in-store magazine @Gamer, which I've never read, hits newsstands next week and has another three exclusive cards. Also, I was talking to a Nintendo Store fellow who informed me that they have multiplayer tournaments every Friday, and winners receive even more cards.

NFC stuff on the WiiU is going to be my undoing. I love this crap.

[AngryJ]

33 hours! I just completed the first achievement board tonight, and now I'm moving on to the much more challenging Viridi board.

I hope everyone makes the Kid Icarus night this Thursday. (I'll create a new FB event tomorrow after work.) In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone else had acquired AR cards, and if so, I'm also shamelessly begging for you to send them to me. Not sure if I can wait until PAX Prime to pick up my next "fat stack." You will be well-compensated (probably not monetarily though).

[AngryJ]

I love Nintendo and everything they've done with all of its franchises, but I wish more people within the company felt the same way as Sakurai does about Kid Icarus.

“If by ‘lasting universe’ you mean to ask if there’s a sequel, the answer is no … because we pushed a lot into the game in order to let people have this short yet deep experience, but the novelty of that would likely grow thin in the next game. For now, my thought is that perhaps we’ll see someone else besides me make another Kid Icarus in another 25 years.”