Welcome to Hedgehog Reviews, where I, Thomas, review the latest and greatest Nintendo games, movies and TV shows. Before getting into this review, I'd like to say that starting from now there will be a new review every month. In the last review, I took some time to talk about one of the best Nintendo Wii U games out so far, Super Mario 3D World. This month, I'll be talking about a hidden gem for the Nintendo 3DS, and a game that I only recently discovered, Kid Icarus: Uprising.
But first, a brief history lesson. Back in 1987, a tough game called Kid Icarus was released for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) in Europe and America. The player took control of a flightless angel called Pit, who had to find the Three Sacred Treasures in order to rescue his goddess, Palutena. A sequel, entitled Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters was released for the GBA (Game Boy Advance) in Europe in 1992 and North America in 1991, but wasn't as well-received as the original.
The third game in the long-lost series, Kid Icarus: Uprising, was released on March 23 2012 in the UK and America. As with the original two games, players control Pit, but this time, instead of starring in your average 2D platformer, you get to soar through the skies, as Palutena has bestowed upon Pit the power of flight. Be warned, though, Pit -- It only lasts five minutes at a time!
Each level, or 'chapter', has it's own flying section (my favourite parts of the game), a land section which plays in a similar way to a third person shooter, and a boss battle. There are also other characters in the game that you get to play as for a short period of time (or even a whole chapter), but like in Review #1, I won't spoil who those characters are. There are also different weapons to choose to play each chapter with, and 9 groups of weapons altogether (Arms, Blades, Bows, Cannons, Claws, Clubs, Orbitars, Palms and Staffs), and each weapon group contains 12 individual weapons, meaning that the game has 108 weapons to choose from altogether. Try them all out, and see which one suits you best!
Something that really impressed me about Kid Icarus: Uprising was the voice acting. The game has a ton of voice acting, something that I didn't know was possible on the Nintendo 3DS until I bought this game. Each level has Palutena, not to mention heaps of other characters from the game, having conversations with Pit as you guide him through each colourful, glorious location in the game to defeat the evil Medusa, a snappy woman with snakes in her hair. With the ability to turn people to stone with a mere glance, Medusa isn't just your average villain. So, if Pit wants to escape her stare, he better... snake a leg! Geddit? Like shake a leg? But... snakes? Because of Medusa's hair? No?
| This three-headed dragon is the Hewdraw. It's not as menacing as it looks though -- it's three heads are always bickering. |
Uprising's graphics are also surprisingly nice for a handheld game. Sure, they're not perfect, but some of the environments, and even characters look almost HD... or at least the 3DS equivalent of high-definition. The music's quite memorable too. I will admit that, even though some of the game's music is brilliant, some themes in the game aren't as good as they could be, and it feels like the music in the game isn't extremely diverse, but the rest of the game more than makes up for its lack of catchy songs. If there is one part of the soundtrack that you should DEFINITELY check out, it's Dark Pit's theme. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
The controls handle as smooth as a silk coat, with you using the circle pad to move Pit, touching the bottom screen to aim, and using the L button to fire (you can hold it for continuous attacks). If you want to practice these skills, you can watch help videos included in the game (which also include Pit and Palutena's quirkiness) and the options to practice fighting in the air or on the ground. It's one of the most simple and easiest ways to control your character in a shooter game. The 3D effect of the Nintendo 3DS, of course, makes the game feel even more real, and it really helps one to immerse themselves into the world of Kid Icarus: Uprising.
The multiplayer mode is also one of the best multiplayer experiences on the Nintendo 3DS, allowing you to play with friends that are already registered on your 3DS friend list, or random players over the internet. The first multiplayer mode, Free-for-all, is pretty self-explanatory. Each player must attempt to obtain the most defeats in order to gain victory in this mode. The other multiplayer mode, Light VS. Dark, has you and two other players pitted (Geddit? 'Pit'ted? Heh heh) against another team of three players. After a team has defeated a certain amount of players on the opposite team, a player on the losing team is chosen to be an angel (either Pit or Dark Pit, depending on their team). The team who's angel or players last longest wins the match.
Now, unfortunately, I don't really have much experience with the streetpass features in Kid Icarus: Uprising, so you may have to look elsewhere for details on that. I do, however know that you can make 'weapon gems' to trade with other players of the game that you meet over streetpass, but that's pretty much it, sadly.
I'm not finished yet, though; Uprising is filled to the brim with special features. The game comes with a small pack of AR cards. In case you didn't know, AR (Augmented Reality) cards are, well, cards that you can point your 3DS camera(s) at to make small figures come alive in your very own home. The Kid Icarus: Uprising Augmented Reality feature lets you collect cards, which you can point your 3DS at to seemingly make come alive. This means you can watch Pit and Medusa duke it out on your kitchen table, or have Dark Pit and Thanatos fight an epic battle while relaxing on your couch.
That pretty much wraps this review up. Join me on 15th May 2014, where I'll be reviewing either The Amazing Spider-Man (the movie), Sonic Lost World (Wii U), or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64/3DS).
Goodbye for now.
Overall Score: 91%
+ Great multiplayer
+ Great voice acting
+ Engaging story
+ Big choice of weapons
- AR Cards can be tough to find and expensive
Quick note: Just want to apologize for the lack of images, there was a small glitch when making this.
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