Kid Icarus (universe)

This article is about the Kid Icarus franchise. For other uses, see Kid Icarus.

Kid Icarus
The Kid Icarus logo, taken from Kid Icarus: Uprising.
Developer(s)	Nintendo, Tose, Project Sora, Sora Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Distributor(s)	Nintendo
Creator(s)	Toru Osawa
Genre(s)	Platform, Third-person shooter
Platform(s)	Family Computer Disk System, Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
Platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Year of inception	1986
First installment	Kid Icarus (1986)
Latest installment	Kid Icarus: Uprising (2012)

The Kid Icarus universe, known as the Myth of Light: The Mirror of Palutena universe (光神話 パルテナの鏡) in Japan, refers to the Super Smash Flash series collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from Nintendo's cult classic Kid Icarus games. The first two games in this action/adventure/platformer series were released for NES and Game Boy over fifteen years ago, while the most recent entry, Uprising, was released in 2012. The revitalization of the series first started with Pit's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which in turn led to the development of Uprising.

Franchise description

Kid Icarus was released in 1987 during the "golden age" of the NES and was met with positive reviews. Its gameplay was based on the engine used for the original Metroid, which was also released in North America and on the very same day in 1987; hence it is often considered a "sister series" to Metroid. In 1991, its sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, was released for Game Boy in North America, and it used the engine to Metroid II: Return of Samus; interestingly, it was never released in Japan. As of 2006, these are the only two games in the series; hence, it is considered a cult series from the past. In fact, the only other appearances of Kid Icarus characters properties in any media were as part of the cartoon Captain N: The Game Master, a microgame in WarioWare: Twisted! and as a collectible trophy in 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee. Pit was originally going to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros., but he was not popular enough and Jigglypuff replaced him. It is also suggested that during the development of Melee, the developers had to decide between characters from three classic NES games to include as a fighter, and the choices were Pit, the Ice Climbers, and the Balloon Fighter. They decided upon the Ice Climbers.

Seemingly a defunct franchise of the past, global interest in Kid Icarus was renewed when the E3 2006 trailer for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl revealed a redesigned Pit as a playable character and the second Nintendo World trailer revealed Kid Icarus-themed stages. Shortly after E3, famed Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto suggested that a new game in the Kid Icarus series could very possibly see release on the Wii. In addition, the NES game was released for Wii's Virtual Console in February 2007 for 500 Wii points.

As Sakurai later noted, the redesigned Pit's appearance in Brawl greatly influenced his decision to jump-start the series' revival with a new installment. Following Brawl's release in 2008, Sakurai directed and wrote the scenario for Kid Icarus: Uprising, a high-budget title for the Nintendo 3DS that features on-rails-shooter segments in the air that are separate from third-person-shooter segments on the ground. The game's overall presentation makes full use of the design style introduced in Brawl, complete with fully voice-acted character dialogue and copious amounts of story-driven cutscenes, but also with a far more satirical tone to the story and dialogue itself. The game was released on March 2012 to glowing reviews; however, Sakurai has yet to confirm interest in a sequel. Nonetheless, the now-familiar modern design for Pit is considered standard for the franchise, and has made a return appearance in Brawl's follow up, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Meanwhile, Of Myths and Monsters was released in Japan for the first time in the country's history on the 3DS Virtual Console, a month before the release of Uprising.

The Kid Icarus games are set in a fantasy world based on Greek mythology and holding a strong visual theme of classical antiquity. The fantasy world is titled Angel Land, and it is divided vertically into three realms: the Underworld ruled by the Goddess of Darkness, Medusa; the Overworld of mortals; and the Skyworld of angels, ruled by the Goddess of Light, Palutena. In the first game, Medusa wages war against Palutena and enslaves her in the Underworld. It is up to the young angel Pit to wield the Sacred Bow of Palutena to combat Medusa's forces and defeat her, and throughout the game he collects a series of powerful equipment called the Three Sacred Treasures from boss monsters. He eventually destroys Medusa, saves Palutena, and restores peace to Angel Land.

In the Super Smash Flash series

In Super Smash Flash 2

Pit was initially included as a late addition for the first roster of Super Smash Flash 2 in 2008, though the restructuring in 2010 left his fate in the air. Six years later, Pit has finally been reconfirmed as playable character.

Character

• Pit: A young, angel knight who serves the goddess Palutena and saves the kingdom of Angel Land from the evil of the Underworld goddess Medusa. The name "Kid Icarus" refers not to Pit as an alternative name, but more as to what kind of entity Pit is. Pit was revealed through leaks before being officially confirmed on the May 29th, 2016 dev blog. His appearance, moveset and voice clips are taken from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, while the line he shouts during his Star KO, "I never learned how to read!" is taken from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Stage

• Palutena's Shrine: