Kid Icarus

This article is about the video game. For the video game series, see Kid Icarus (series).
Kid Icarus
North American box art
Developer(s)Nintendo R&D1
Tose
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Satoru Okada
Producer(s)Gunpei Yokoi
Designer(s)Toru Osawa
Yoshio Sakamoto
Artist(s)Toru Osawa
Makoto Kano
Composer(s)Hirokazu Tanaka
SeriesKid Icarus
EngineMetroid engine
Platform(s)
Release
  • Family Computer Disk System
    • JP: December 19, 1986
  • NES
    • EU: February 15, 1987
    • NA: July 1987
  • Game Boy Advance
    • JP: August 10, 2004
  • Nintendo 3DS
    • JP: January 18, 2012
    • EU: February 2, 2012
    • AU: April 12, 2012
    • NA: April 19, 2012
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Kid Icarus[a] (光神話 パルテナの鏡 Hikari Shinwa: Parutena no Kagami, "Light Mythology: Palutena's Mirror") is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. It was released in Japan in December 1986, in Europe in February 1987, and in North America in July.

The plot of Kid Icarus revolves around protagonist Pit's quest for three sacred treasures, which he must equip to rescue the Greek-inspired fantasy world Angel Land and its ruler, the goddess Palutena. The player controls Pit through platform areas while fighting monsters and collecting items. The objective is to reach the end of the levels, and to find and defeat boss monsters that guard the three treasures. The game was developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division with assistance with an external company (later identified to be Tose), which helped with testing.[1] It was designed by Toru Osawa and Yoshio Sakamoto, directed by Satoru Okada, and produced by Gunpei Yokoi.

Kid Icarus had a mixed critical reception but became a cult classic.[2][3][4] Reviewers praised its music and its mixture of gameplay elements from different genres, but criticized its graphics and high difficulty level. It was included in several lists of the best games compiled by IGN and Nintendo Power.

It was later re-released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan in 2004. It was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007 and the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013. A 3D Classics remake was released in Japan in 2011 and in North America, Europe, and Australia in 2012. In 2016, Kid Icarus was included on the North American and PAL region releases of the NES Classic Edition. It was released on Nintendo Switch Online in 2019.

A sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, was released for the Game Boy in 1991. A third entry in the series, Kid Icarus: Uprising, was released for Nintendo 3DS in March 2012, after Pit's inclusion as a playable character in the 2008 game Super Smash Bros. Brawl.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Monnens, Devin (March 19, 2012). "Making of a Myth: The Grueling Development of the Original Kid Icarus". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  2. ^ "'Kid Icarus: Uprising' Shows What the 3DS Can Really Do. Finally". METR. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  3. ^ "Kid Icarus Of Myths and Monsters". Cult of Games. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  4. ^ "Kid Icarus Review". IGN. 7 March 2007. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.