Kid Icarus (series)

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Kid Icarus is a series of video games first published in 1986 by Nintendo. In Japan it is known as Hikari shinwa (光神話, Myth of Light^?). The games are set in a fantasy world, based on classical antiquity and Greek mythology, called "Angel Land". The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, and platform elements. The Kid Icarus franchise is known as a cult classic and sister series to the Metroid franchise.

1 Overview
2 Games
3 Enemies
4 History
5 Trivia
6 References

[edit] Overview

In the Kid Icarus games, the player controls a young angel named Pit (often erroneously referred to as "Kid Icarus"), the central hero and protagonist. Pit is frequently called upon to rescue Palutena, the Goddess of Light. The main antagonist in the series is the Goddess of Darkness, Medusa. The characters live in the mythical kingdom of Angel Land, which consists of three distinct areas: the Underworld (Medusa's realm), Overworld (mortal realm), and Skyworld (Palutena's realm, including the Palace in the Sky).

The series features several magic artifacts that play an important role in the story. Primary among them are the Three Sacred Treasures: the Mirror Shield, Arrow of Light, and Wings of Pegasus. These ancient relics, rightfully Palutena's, are deeply desired by forces wishing to tip the balance of power in their favor. Often, Pit must recover these treasures to overcome the dark forces that have seized control of the kingdom. As his primary weapon, Pit wields another relic, the Sacred Bow of Palutena.

[edit] Games

The following is a list of the main installments of the series, with the original date of release and the platforms on which they appeared.

Game title(s)	Release date(s)	System(s)
Myth of Light: The Mirror of Palutena – Japan Kid Icarus – America, Europe	18 December 1986 (FDS) – Japan 10 August 2004 (GBA) – Japan July 1987 – America July 1987 – Europe 2007-02-12 USA	Japan: Famicom Disk System, Game Boy Advance America, Europe: NES, Wii
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters – America, Europe	November 1991 – America 21 May 1992 – Europe	America, Europe: Game Boy

[edit] Enemies

One of the enemy creatures in the game is based on the Metroids. Known as Komayto (Komett to the Japananese), they swooped down and attacked. According to the manual, they are supposed to have come from another planet.

The Shulm is another enemy based from another series. They greatly resemble Goombas from the Mario series.

Many of the enemies are based upon mythological creatures. For example the boss of the first dungeon, Twinbellos, is apparently based upon Cerberus or Orthus. The second boss Hewdraw is a large snake-like dragon similar to the Hydra. A Siren also appears as an enemy throughout the game. The most famous enemies are the Eggplant Wizard and the Grim Reaper. The Eggplant Wizard would later appear on Captain N as a minor villain character.

[edit] History

Kid Icarus debuted during the golden era of the NES. A Game Boy sequel, Of Myths and Monsters, was released in 1991. Apart from long-forgotten rumors of a Super NES follow-up that never came to be, no official word of a new game in the series has been announced.

In a 2005 interview with IGN, game designer Shigeru Miyamoto hinted that a new Kid Icarus game could be released for the Wii console. "Well who knows? [...] Okay, we'll get the Eggplant Wizard coming back" Miyamoto stated.^[1] At E³ 2006, after introducing Super Smash Bros. Brawl (in which Pit will be a playable character), Miyamoto suggested that Kid Icarus could very possibly appear on the Wii at a later date.^[2]

The NES version of Kid Icarus was released for the Wii's Virtual Console on 2007-02-12 for 500 Wii Points.

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[edit] Trivia

Several characters from the Kid Icarus series (including Medusa, Pit, and the Eggplant Wizard) appeared in the cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master.
In the Legend of Zelda series, Link often acquires items called the Mirror Shield, Light Arrows, and Pegasus Boots, which could be an homage to the Three Sacred Treasures. Metroid: Zero Mission also pays homage to the Three Sacred Treasures through the mysterious items collected in the game, which function similarly once they become usable.