Kid Icarus (series)

Kid Icarus, known in Japan as Hikari Shinwa (光神話?, "Myth of Light"), is a franchise of fantasy video games by Nintendo. 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 sibling series to the Metroid franchise.

The first installment, Kid Icarus, was released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was received to critical acclaim despite poor sales. A sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters was later released for the Game Boy. On June 15, 2010, at their E3 conference, Nintendo announced Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS, thus reviving the franchise after a 19-year hiatus.

History

After Nintendo's release of commercially successful platforming games in the 1980s, including Donkey Kong, Ice Climber, and Super Mario Bros., as well as the critically acclaimed adventure game The Legend of Zelda, the company was interested in entering a different genre. They began work on an action game.^[1] The game was called Metroid. Nintendo released Metroid for the Family Computer Disk System on August 6, 1986, and on the Nintendo Entertainment System one year later.^[1] One year later Kid Icarus was developed alongside as its sister game, it shares elements and programmers with Metroid.^[2] The game was produced by the same man who produced Metroid, Gunpei Yokoi, who previously produced Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior (1982) and the original Mario Bros. (1983), and it featured music written by Hirokazu Tanaka, who also composed for Duck Hunt (1984).^[1]

After the release of its handheld sequel, Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters, the series received no new installments for nearly two decades. In 2006, Pit was revealed to appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl with a new design. This appearance eventually led to rumors that a series revival was planned for the Wii. On June 15, 2010, during their E3 event, Nintendo unveiled Kid Icarus: Uprising for the Nintendo 3DS.

Characters

The Kid Icarus series has a cast of recurring characters. The most common characters in the series are Pit, Palutena and Eggplant Wizard.

References

Nintendo franchises
Mario	Super Mario Mario Kart Mario Party Donkey Kong Yoshi Wario
Others	Animal Crossing Art Academy Brain Age Chibi-Robo! Custom Robo Excite F-Zero Fire Emblem Game & Watch Glory of Heracles Golden Sun Kid Icarus Kirby The Legendary Starfy The Legend of Zelda Metroid Mother Nintendogs Pikmin Pilotwings Pokémon Pushmo Punch-Out!! Puzzle League Rhythm Heaven/Rhythm Tengoku Star Fox Super Smash Bros. Touch! Generations Wars Wave Race Wii Xeno