Kid Icarus: Uprising

by Nintendo

• Pit returns in an all new adventure only for the Nintendo 3DS
• Collect special AR cards(6 AR Cards) to interact with characters from the game using the 3D cameras and AR software on the system
• Difficulty slider allows players of a range of skill levels to enjoy the Kid Icarus experience
• Blast your way through missions in the air and go hand to hand against Medusa's minions on the ground
• 1 player storyline campaign or up to 6 players in Multiplayer (local and Internet play options are available)

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002I0EMBI
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 23, 2012
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (187 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #611 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #4 in Video Games > Nintendo 3DS > Games > Adventure

Product Description

Medusa has been resurrected and is gathering the underworld forces of darkness to fulfill her ambition. You play as an angel named Pit who is bestowed the power of flight from Palutena, the Goddess of Light. Repel the Medusa's underworld army with your choice of an array of weapons like: Blades, Claws, Bow, Cannon, Mace, Staff and others that you will discover along your journey. Multiplayer mode allows for competitive gameplay locally or over a wireless Internet connection. Its time for Medusa to meet the power of light and only you can guide Pit to victory!The game comes packed with a black stand for use with your 3DS console.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 98 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow. March 23, 2012

By Aku

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

I picked this up, expecting a clumsy Star Fox-y experience and a few hours of entertainment. I was very wrong.

This game is big. Freaking HUGE, considering its genre. Not really sure where to begin, in fact. I believe I'll leave out everything concerning the storyline, except for this little tidbit: if you are the kind of person who can't stand constant banter while playing, there's an option to turn it off. However, I LIKE the constant banter, it breaks the fourth wall constantly and doesn't take itself seriously, allowing cheesy lines to just work.

EDIT: all this talk about the complexity of the game and I didn't even mention how it looks. Silly me. Anywho, this is easily the most diverse and prettiest game on the 3DS yet. You'd think "aerial battle" would leave little room for variety, but each chapter has constantly shifting environments that go from pretty to trippy to occasionally creepy. Sometimes you will fly gracefully and be able to take in the sights, other times the camera will spin you 360-degrees while ten floating eyeballs fire at you nonstop. Animation is extremely fluid and framerate never drops in single player, with online rarely hiccuping at the 6-player chaos going on. That's all pretty impressive considering I cranked the 3D up at all times.

Well anyway, the game plays like 1/3 Star Fox and 2/3...I dunno how the hell you'd describe it. Super Smash Bros. in three dimensions comes close, as you run around, shoot/swat at anything that lies before your path and dodge projectiles that can (and will) block the entire screen. The air parts are the easiest, as it shares similar-yet-advanced controls with Star Fox 64 3D. Unlike that game, you can move and aim in different directions using the slider and touch screen, respectively, which gives an amazing level of aim. A charged shot loads while you have a moment of peace, movement is quicker when you're not shooting, certain enemy projectiles can be shot back or reflected...there's a lot going on.

This gets even more complex on the ground. Pit is an agile cat, able to pull off charged shots with the same ease you had in the air. But land combat also includes dashing (which itself has its own charged shots depending on which direction you go), grinding rails, bunny-hopping and camera control. The last one is the finicky bit. A lot of reviewers apparently can't wrap their heads around the touch screen being used to move the camera AND the aiming reticule with different motions, it's usually the dominant complaint in any review of the game so far. But while the control layout itself is abstract, it is by no means unusable. I kinda relate it to a similar "holy crap this is difficult" feeling you get playing rhythm games like Rock Band, where the input method itself works fine but it's the person playing who has to adapt. But this will differ for everyone, and just because I have yet to feel anything remotely painful enough to stop playing, doesn't mean you can show up and play the game flawlessly.

Those are the only two things you actually DO throughout the whole game, which consists of plenty of storyline chapters and an online mode. Sounds pretty simple, eh? It's not. As soon as you complete the first mission - set on the "baby" difficulty - you are awarded with hearts (in-game currency) and perhaps a new weapon. These are doled out from playing the missions themselves and finding hidden chests, or from completing a task on the HUGE achievement list. Weapons not only come in nine different classes, there are easily a hundred different weapons to choose from, and the stats vary on EVERY SINGLE ONE, and the bullets fired all vary in shape/speed/homing capacity/look/size/damage depending on HOW it's fired and what weapon it's fired from, and melee attacks have varying range/power/speed/combo length, and two weapons can be fused to create a new weapon with hybrid stats. You get all that? If you have no interest in the weapon at all, you can sell it for more hearts, which in turn can be used to buy more weapons. I know some of you may be imagining a nightmare scenario where you have to equip each weapon and halfheartedly play a mission to get a feel for it. Fear not: you can try out any weapon you want while in the weapons menu.

See, look at all that text, and I didn't even mention the bonus box. I dunno what the game calls it, but the bonus box is a Tetris-like system where certain skills (poison, grenades, health boost, dozens of others) can be equipped by sliding their blocky shape into said box. These show up in-game on the bottom screen, and can be activated with touch or the d-pad. These can change your playstyle just as drastically as a different weapon class, so experimentation is key.

Sound like a lot of grinding? Well, it COULD be, if you take the easy way out and pick "wuss" mode. But the difficulty is extremely adjustable, allowing you to wager hearts and say "Yeah, I can beat this." I wouldn't recommend this early on, you will get stomped. But when you DO feel up to it, don't think the game will be completely out of surprises just yet: hidden areas will only open if you hit the difficulty threshold, and that's where you'll find even greater challenge and loot.

As that wasn't cool enough, 99% of what you unlock in the storyline will become available to use against people all over the world. There are only two game types - free-for-all deathmatch and a protect the leader-ish Light vs. Dark mode - but the infinite weapon variations more than make up for it. Once again there is no online voice chat, not even for friends, but to be honest there's so much going on I don't know what I'd say to my partners that would lessen the chaos. And there are items you can only collect/use from playing online, too, giving even more variety.

On top of all that, you have a card-battle system which uses the 3DS camera, a Smash Bros.-like figurine collection, hidden pictures slowly revealed via achievements and customizable menu screen. Yeah, really. It is insane how much content is packed in that little cartridge, and anyone who thinks they're up to testing the unusual control method could do worse than pick this game up.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Kid has returned March 24, 2012

By Diego Herrera

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

This is a great game for so many reasons. The gameplay is very fun and amazing. The visual and sounds are top notch, and the game is very customizable in regarding a person's preference. You can change the control scheme to your liking in almost every way, but also the game has a difficulty slider that can be used to provide either a causal playthrough or a difficult and rewarding experience. In regards to the controls, it'll take some time to get used to, but you should be okay after the first or second stage. The game divides the fight into flight sections and on foot sections. Flight sections are basically an on rail shooter and are pretty amazing in terms of visuals. The on foot sections are similar to third person shooters and is fun to move around Pit on land, but takes some time to get used to because you have to use the camera which takes time to get used to. Both sections are very fun and great in terms of gameplay, it only takes time to get used the controls that may put some people off. The replay value is crazy good because of the fact that there are many weapons in the game and for those that love to get 100%, it'll you awhile. There are 9 different types of weapons such as blades, staffs, cannons, bows, etc... Each of these of different gameplay attributes that can appease to anyone with a certain playstyle. Close quarter combat, mid range, or long range weapons are here and are all fun to mess around with. On top of buying weapons and finding weapons through playing, there is also an interesting thing called "fusing" where you can combine two weapons that make another weapon that will be a more powerful weapon. Another wrinkle into why this game great. This game has a multiplayer that I only have played little bit, but it was pretty fun. Overall this game for $40 is a great deal, however, since this game is now $30 it's a steal to get. For those of you who have a 3DS, you must have this game. For those without a 3DS, this game and Super Mario 3D Land are great excuses to finally jump on the 3DS train.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Game March 23, 2012

By Matt

Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun: 5.0 out of 5 stars   

The controls while in the air are pretty good and solid. On the ground it gets messy and annoying. It's something that you can overcome, though and should not stop you from playing this amazing game. You also have a lot of customization options so eventually you'll get it to be more bearable once you get used to how the game works.

It has the highest replay value of any 3DS game I've played yet. There's a lot of modes to play, lots and LOTS of stuff to collect. There's attention to detail in this game.

In short, it's a VERY solid game. Sure, the controls are irritating, especially considering that you should be able to use the Circle Pad Pro for it PROPERLY, but once you get over that hangup, there's an awesome game to explore.

Top 5 3DS game of all time and that is despite the control issue.