Kid Icarus Uprising Review

Let's start this review with a history lesson.

Kid Icarus was an NES game about an angel named Pit who had to fight against the evil forces of Medusa. It got a sequel on the original Game Boy that has been forgotten by time. Several years later, Pit became a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. And now this.

Kid Icarus Uprising is the latest effort from Kirby and Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai. I love Sakurai's work. Each of his games I have played has been fantastic.

However, this could possibly be his best.

Hear me out-Kirby Super Star was a great, great game. However, at times it could be frustrating, The Great Cave Offensive for example. On the other hand, any frustration to be had in Kid Icarus Uprising is made insignificant in comparison to what it does right.

Kid Icarus Uprising doesn't have any Game Overs, and that's important, because you will die. A lot. One major complaint of the game is that the controls are flawed. However, once you get used to them, you are treated to one of Nintendo's finest handheld games to date. Maybe it's hard to coordinate flying with the enemies' attacks. Maybe the camera and ground controls are a tad fidgety. Maybe it's hard to keep up with the pace of the rail-shooter segments. It doesn't matter. In the face of all that's good about this game, you can and will put up with it's flaws.

Kid Icarus Uprising is one of Nintendo's first games since Super Smash Bros. Brawl to have a functional achievement system. You have to beat the level to gain the achievements, however, so they can be hard to gain. This system gives the game humongous replay values. One downside you may notice about the game's style is that it borrows from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The menu is virtually identical, some enemies are lifted, and some features are copied over as well, not all of which seem immediately useful. Again, it doesn't matter.

Hold on, though. I haven't talked about the best part of Kid Icarus Uprising. The banter. Throughout the game, the characters will be bickering nearly constantly. Instead of having long talk sequences, the talking happens during gameplay. The script is written so well, however, that it becomes truly exhilarating. These arguments are so hilarious you may actually want to die just to hear them again. Unfortunately, if the game has one flaw that does matter, it's that the bosses are too easy. Instead of hearing all of their dialogue, you will find yourself beating them before they even get halfway through their lines. This can be frustrating if you want to know what they were going to say.

In short, this is an awesome game. I declare it worthy of buying the system for. A 10/10? Not quite, but close. Is it Sakurai's best work? Perhaps. Is it the best game of the year? We'll see.

My final score for Kid Icarus Uprising is a 9/10. Buy this game. If you don't have a 3DS, buy one of those too. You won't regret it.