Eggplant wizards will make you quit
Describing Kid Icarus as difficult is an understatement. The first level will take a couple of tries. The next level becomes insanely hard, mainly because of the evil eggplant wizards. You reach this maze of sorts in the second level, and in some parts of the maze are wizards that can turn Pit, the main character, into an eggplant as soon as their projectile hits. Once Pit becomes an eggplant, he has to backtrack a long way to the recovery area, a daunting task considering there is no option other than to jump when being an eggplant. It is completely frustrating.
Kid Icarus almost reminds me of Mega Man in a way, since Mega Man has been long renowned for its own incredible difficulty. But there is nothing in Mega Man that is as remotely frustrating as being turned into an eggplant. Curse you eggplant wizards!
The graphics look okay for a Nintendo game. This was released early in the cycle of the NES, so any shortcomings in how the game looks are somewhat forgivable. You can tell where and what everything is, and even though the backgrounds are mostly a bland, simple color, what you see on the screen gets the job done well enough. In fact, the plain black background in the first level almost gives the game a creepier feel, making it more enjoyable.
For the most part, the controls were okay, although there were times when Pit felt more slippery to maneuver than I would have liked. Timing jumps in certain areas is extremely crucial in this game, and it’s frustrating to be off by the slightest of margins and have to start the level over again, but then again this was released in the 1980s, so maybe the controls can be forgiven for a title that is so old.
The music and sound effects sound like a typical early NES title as well, although some of the music is admittedly catchy. Out of all the music I heard, the track to the first level is probably the best one. In fact, now that I am thinking of this, it has become stuck in my head.
The game falls closer to average rather than greatness, but it is worth a try if you are curious about Kid Icarus. Those who have played the game in the past and were overwhelmed by the difficult nature, Kid Icarus hasn’t gotten any easier. But you could do worse for 500 points.
